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Military

National Guard Keeping Fans Safe At World Series

A member of the Missouri National Guard during the 2013 World Series in St. Louis.
Sgt. Jacqueline Courtney
A member of the Missouri National Guard during the 2013 World Series in St. Louis.

It doesn't matter if you're rooting for the Cardinals or the Red Sox, if you're watching the World Series at Busch Stadium, the Missouri National Guard is there to keep you safe. (Pun intended.)

According to the American Forces Press Service, the Guard's 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment has a lot of balls to juggle:

The team’s goal (is) to assess suspected or known terrorist threats, advise civilian authorities of appropriate responses, and assist local emergency responders in the event any incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear activity were possible.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Juan Gallego was part of a group including the Guard, the Energy Department, and the St. Louis Fire Department, that took initial readings of radiation at Busch Stadium to set a baseline standard:

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“We’ve walked around the stadium and done some background readings of radiation and will use that information so we can plug the readings into a computer, then during the games if we see any elevated reading we can respond.

"If there’s a spiked reading, it will come over the computer. We would then disseminate the information and do further monitoring to make sure the reading is not a threat.”
Here's another interesting Missouri National Guard connection to this World Series: Remember Angie Johnson, the former Air National Guard Tech Sergeant who gained fame when video of her singing "Rolling in the Deep" in Afghanistan went viral? She'll be singing "God Bless America" during the 7th inning of tonight's game. Go Angie!
Angie Johnson Sings 'Rolling in the Deep'