November 22, 2021 (St. Paul, Minnesota) – Today, Governor Walz has activated the Minnesota National Guard to
serve as skilled-nursing “rapid response teams” to support healthcare facilities experiencing
severe staffing shortages.

“Our force is highly adaptive and with training will assist Minnesota’s healthcare community in
responding to healthcare staffing shortages,” said Army Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke, the
Minnesota National Guard’s Adjutant General.

Over the next seven days, 400 citizen-Soldiers and Airmen will train as certified nursing
assistants and temporary nursing aides to support this activation. The Minnesota Department of
Health and Minnesota National Guard medical staff will provide the training.

“One of the Minnesota National Guard’s pillars is people as they are our most valuable
resource,” said Manke. “We acknowledge that we share this resource with employers, and we
know these activations can disrupt their businesses and organizations. We appreciate the
employers of our citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, as we could not conduct our federal, state, and
community missions without their support.”

“We thank our military families for their service, too, as we know they have to adjust their lives
when activations occur,” said Manke.

Since mid-October, more than 70 service members have supported COVID-19 communitybased
testing at locations in Stillwater, Crookston, Hutchinson, Inver Grove Heights, Wadena,
and Hibbing. Since the beginning of November, nearly 50 Guard members have supported
transition care units at sites in Shakopee, Brainerd, and St. Paul.
For more information, contact the Minnesota National Guard public affairs office at 651-282-
4410 or mn.ng.web@mail.mil.

More information about the call to action initiated by Gov. Walz can be found here.

Images of training are available for public use and can be found here. Video is available here.

About the Minnesota National Guard
Established in 1856 and headquartered in St. Paul, the Minnesota National Guard has more
than 13,000 soldiers and airmen who serve in 58 communities across the state. The citizensoldiers
and airmen of the Minnesota National Guard are ‘Always Ready’ to fight the nation’s
wars, protect the country, respond to state emergencies and contribute to local communities.
For more information about the Minnesota National Guard, visit
https://MinnesotaNationalGuard.ng.mil.