The 201st Regional Support Group is a regional support group of the United States Army and the Georgia Army National Guard. It was established as of October 1, 2013 from the former 78th Homeland Response Force. It is formally designated the "'Region IV HRF / 201st RSG"'. On November 1, 2010, the 201st RSG became the 201st Homeland Response Force. On October 1, 2013, it took its current designation. Once home-stationed in Decatur, it has, since Jan. 11, 2011, occupied the former headquarters of Naval Air Station Atlanta at what has become the Clay National Guard Center since late September 2009. As 2011 progressed, many of the units that make up the Region IV HRF have been relocated from their present armories to facilities at Clay.
Mission
The Region IV HRF / 201st RSG mission is to man, train and equip a homeland response force that can provide a response capability to assist civil authorities in saving lives and mitigating suffering in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives incident. At the same time, the 201st must provide trained and ready troops to support overseas contingency operations. The HRFs are designed to foster a dialogue between regional first responders and other agencies. The Region IV HRF plays an important role at the regional level in terms of helping develop and build regional plans and in working with southeastern emergency managers to build a functioning and cohesive connective tissue at the regional level. One of the important concerns the HRF construction seeks to alleviate is the need to respond to multiple, simultaneous disasters. Through these HRFs, the Georgia Department of Defense has the federal capacity to command and control response to multiple disasters or emergencies throughout the nation, simultaneously.
Deployments
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, every unit assigned to the Region IV HRF has mobilized and deployed in support of Overseas Contingency Operations, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and various military bases across the United States. On February 8, 2009, The 110th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion prepared to deploy to Iraq for a year-long mission. While there, the 110th acted as higher headquarters for active, Guard and Reserve units, while also upgrading and repairing the equipment destined for return stateside as part of the draw-down of forces from Iraq. In Spring 2011, the 201st Regional Support Group-Agriculture Development Team 1 deployed to Southeastern Afghanistan. It is the first of three such Georgia Teams that are part of the National Guard Program to help the Afghans improve their farming and agribusiness techniques, thereby enhancing the country's agricultural economy and steering Afghan farmers away from growing poppy, which is used for making heroin. In July of 2018, the Headquarters / Headquarters Company of the 201st RSG deployed to Iraq for a 9 month deployment. The mission was to conduct Base Operations in three separate locations in Iraq. Each location had a Base Operational Support - Integrator staff that managed daily base operations and security. In addition to the BOS-I mission, the Brigade Commander and the Senior Enlisted Advisor of the 201st RSG deployed to Iraq to serve as the base command team for Al Asad Air Base.
There are ten HRFs in the National Guard throughout the nation, one per FEMA region. This allows closer and more familiar correspondence with regional and civilian responders. As a result, the reaction time to disasters will be much faster due to geographical locations. The 10 HRF Guard Forces will consist of 577 personnel and be composed of:
