Teams work to help neighborhoods with levee systems Published June 3, 2011 By Sgt. Jesica Geffre 116th Public Affairs Detachment BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota National Guard members that are part of Civil Military Assistance Teams (CMATs) are hard at work building levee systems throughout the Bismarck-Mandan and Morton and Burleigh county areas. 1st Lt. Matthew Voeller, with Battery A of the 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, is the officer-in-charge of a CMAT constructing a levee system north of Memorial Bridge on the Mandan side of the Missouri River. The objective of the CMAT here is to keep back overland flooding by building a levee system that spans the entire neighborhood to the north. The south part of the levee links in with HESCO barriers placed by contractors that will buttress the bridge. "The majority of residents already had some type of existing structure," Voeller said. "However many were inadequate and needed strengthening." Those dikes that were not up to standard were re-enforced by Guardsmen with the guidance of the U.S. Army Engineer Corps and the civil engineers from Morton County. Voeller said that while some people did a very good job of building their structures to protect their homes, his team needs to ensure that they meet the height and width requirements necessary to hold back the anticipated floodwaters, as well as keep the integrity of the system throughout the length of the area. This will protect the residents' homes and keep the water from coming overland and flowing further south. Voeller said this particular mission is close to completion and that the locals have been extremely supportive and expressed their gratitude for the help of the National Guard. Mike Aubol, Morton County civil engineer, is working along with the National Guard and going through the whole development doing what he hopes will be a final inspection. Aubol will be giving recommendations to the crew as to what needs to be improved upon and taking measurements to ensure the levee is constructed to the correct level. Sgt. 1st Class Bill Kilmer, Minneapolis, Minn., is a platoon sergeant in the North Dakota National Guard but says that he's had many different jobs while working flood duty so far. "I've done traffic control points, filled sandbags and now building this levee system," Kilmer said. Kilmer has served on flood duty previously in Valley City in 2009. He says quite a few of his crew has a decent amount of experience on flood duty. "They've been doing a good job, and staying motivated," Kilmer said. CMATs have also had a lot of support from the residents that they are helping protect. "The people have been great, very appreciative and bringing us water and snacks," Kilmer said. "They're very grateful to have the security from the structures that we've been putting up." Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on America, the North Dakota National Guard has mobilized more than 3,500 Soldiers and more than 1,800 Airmen in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Currently, about a dozen North Dakota Guardsmen are serving overseas while more than 4,000 remain in the state for emergency response and national defense. For every 10,000 citizens in North Dakota, 65 serve in the North Dakota National Guard, a rate that's more than four times the national average.