Cajun Navy Ground Force will be on Pine Island until mid-December
Since Hurricane Ian, the Cajun Navy has had multiple groups on the island.
Because there are various units of the Cajun Navy, Rob Gaudet has named the group he founded, Cajun Navy Ground Force. Ground Force director of donor and sponsor relations, Camille Baker, said it can be confusing having so many different groups working under the same name.
“We’re just completely different groups, with different core tenets. We just keep our noses down and try to do what we do for our group, but it is very confusing with each storm, not only in our own hometown, but when we go into other areas,” Baker said.
The term Cajun Navy was first coined during a press conference after Hurricane Katrina, when citizens decided to begin helping one another, she said. In 2016 when there was a mass flood in Louisiana, Gaudet saw folks asking for help on social media and decided to put his talents to use to get groups of volunteers together. Because several Cajun Navy groups were born under this name, today these groups head to disaster areas under various leadership. The Ground Force Cajun Navy division has three different programs, Baker explained.
The first is Safe Camp (swift action force emergency camp), where they set up a distribution point for all people to come together. This set up includes medical services and supply distribution — all the different services that are not available to citizens after a storm. It’s a priority, she said, not to leave a footprint, so there is no evidence left of their having been there.
The second program is community caretaking. This is where the hardest hit area is located, the places they are likely to find those who cannot care for themselves, such as veterans, the elderly, or the disabled.
The third program is Ground Force Dispatch. These are people who work behind the scenes, without whom, Baker said, they couldn’t get anything done.
“We have our three core departments and these are our three tenets — under promise over deliver, always find a way to say yes and stay positive in every situation. We might not always agree with one another, but we have to stay positive,” Baker said.