50 States = 50 Micros - Louisiana
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
I chose the state of Louisiana for my 50 States = 50 Micros cache due to the fact that not only have I spent a lot of time in this state the last couple of years but it is also where the 86th IBCT Mountain spent a great deal of their time training up for their current mission to Afghanistan. I will be choosing a few passages from Wikipedia in a sort of random way for this state.
The spot where I have chosen to place this cache is one that I have felt needed a small cache for awhile. If you visit this cache you are standing near the road that leads to Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, where the 86th IBCT, now in Afghanistan, did the majority of their training for their mission.
The State of Louisiana (i /lu??i?zi'æn?/ or i /?lu?zi'æn?/; French: État de Louisiane, [lwizjan] ( listen); Louisiana Creole: Léta de la Lwizyàn) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties. The largest parish by population is Jefferson Parish, and the largest by land area is Cameron Parish.
Some Louisiana urban environments have a multicultural, multilingual heritage, being so strongly influenced by an admixture of 18th century French, Spanish and African cultures that they have been considered somewhat exceptional in the U.S. Before the American influx and statehood at the beginning of the 19th century, the territory of current Louisiana State had been a Spanish and French colony. In addition, the pattern of development included importing numerous Africans in the 18th century, with many from the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture.
Recently Louisiana has mostly been in the news for its devestating losses in several Hurricanes the first of which was Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane,[ as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall.
Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 3 storm on the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge. The most severe loss of life occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed, in many cases hours after the storm had moved inland. Eventually 80% of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes became flooded, and the floodwaters lingered for weeks. However, the worst property damage occurred in coastal areas, such as all Mississippi beachfront towns, which were flooded over 90% in hours, as boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland, with waters reaching 6-12 miles (10-19 km) from the beach.
At least 1,836 people lost their lives in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Economist and crisis consultant Randall Bell wrote: "Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States. Preliminary damage estimates were well in excess of $100 billion, eclipsing many times the damage wrought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992."
The levee failures prompted investigations of their design and construction which belongs to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as mandated in the Flood Control Act of 1965 and into their maintenance by the local Levee Boards. There was also an investigation of the responses from federal, state and local governments, resulting in the resignation of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Michael D. Brown, and of New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Superintendent Eddie Compass. Conversely, the United States Coast Guard (USCG), National Hurricane Center (NHC) and National Weather Service (NWS) were widely commended for their actions, accurate forecasts and abundant lead time.
Four years later, thousands of displaced residents in Mississippi and Louisiana were still living in trailers. Reconstruction of each section of the southern portion of Louisiana has been addressed in the Army Corps LACPR Final Technical Report which identifies areas not to be rebuilt and areas and buildings that need to be elevated
My first very bumpy trip to Louisiana was for this very interesting weather event:
Hurricane Gustav (pronounced /'g?st??v/) was the second most destructive hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm was the seventh tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season. Gustav caused serious damage and casualties in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba and the United States. Gustav caused at least $6.6 billion (2008 USD) in damages. Gustav triggered the largest evacuation in United States history. More than 3 million people fled the oncoming hurricane.
It formed on the morning of August 25, 2008, about 260 miles (420 km) southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and rapidly strengthened into a tropical storm that afternoon and into a hurricane early on August 26. Later that day it made landfall near the Haitian town of Jacmel. It inundated Jamaica and ravaged Western Cuba and then steadily moved across the Gulf of Mexico.
Once into the Gulf, Gustav gradually weakened because of increased wind shear and dry air. It weakened to a Category 2 hurricane late on August 31, and remained at that intensity until landfall on the morning of September 1 near Cocodrie, Louisiana. Weakening continued, and Gustav weakened to a tropical storm that evening and to a tropical depression the next day as it meandered around the south-central US. The weak system became extratropical on September 4 and was absorbed by another low on September 5.
In total, an estimated 153 deaths had been attributed to Gustav in the U.S. and Caribbean. Damage in the U.S. totaled to $4.3 billion (2008 USD) with additional damage of $2.1 billion in Cuba and $210 million in damage in Jamaica.
I then came down here for a conference and visited this fine city while it was still rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina. I was amazed at the devestation that still showed many years later.
New Orleans (pronounced /nu? '?rli?nz/ or /nu? ?r'li?nz/, locally [nu? '?rl?nz] or ['n?rl?nz]; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuv?l ??le?~] ( listen)) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana.
The city is named after Philippe II, Duc d'Orléans, Regent of France, and is well known for its distinct Spanish architecture, as well as its cross cultural and multilingual heritage.New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is often referred to as the "most unique"] city in America.
New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River. The boundaries of the city and Orleans Parish are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south) and Jefferson to the south and west.] Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north and Lake Borgne lies to the east.
My most recent trips were down here to set up for and assist the 86th IBCT complete their training to go to Afghanistan
JRTC moves to Polk
In 1991, the Joint Readiness Training Center moved from Fort Chaffee, Ark., to Fort Polk, and once again, the post was called on to prepare soldiers for conflict. Each year, JRTC conducts several rotations for units about to deploy. Since 1991, Soldiers have deployed from Fort Polk to Haiti, Southwest Asia, Suriname, Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations.
JRTC is focused on improving unit readiness by providing highly realistic, stressful, joint and combined arms training.
With a strong emphasis on realism, JRTC provides rotating units with the opportunity to conduct joint operations. The exercise scenarios replicate many of the situations and challenges a unit will face. These include meetings with government officials, compensating citizens for destroyed property, battling insurgents, handling media requests, and working with non-governmental organizations.
The rotating units are watched by trainer/mentors, who play a key role at JRTC. The trainer/mentors observe unit performance, control engagements, teach doctrine, coach, monitor safety, and conduct After Action Reviews. Trainer/mentors are required to have successfully performed the duties of their counterpart. They are expected by be well-versed in current operational doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures.
The scenarios used in these rotations are continually adapting to the realities of the changing battlefield. Role-players, most of them from the Middle East, act as Afghan or Iraqi citizens, and rotating units face both simulated attacks and non-kinetic issues such as trying to bring electricity to a village. Even goats are used to bring a sense of realism to the surroundings.
[edit]Today
Currently Fort Polk is providing contingency training for the Army's light infantry and special operations forces and is deploying soldiers in support of Operations Joint Endeavor, Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle, and Iraqi Freedom. Fort Polk is currently in the process of nearly doubling the size of its training area. The goal is to have training on the new land by the end of 2011.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Abar arrqrq