When the mud slides, the trucks roll

A light medium tactical vehicle from the 1114th Composite Truck Company is temporarily parked in an area closed off due to a storm-driven mudslide in Montecito, CA. The California National Guard stepped in to provide civil authorities with air and ground support during disaster response efforts during the second week of January.

A light medium tactical vehicle from the 1114th Composite Truck Company staged at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, CA, prepares to deploy for a disaster response mission.

Sgt. Diana Martinez, a transportation specialist with Detachment 1, 1114 Composite Truck Company carefully picks her way through the rain and mud-choked streets of Montecito, CA. 

Deep mud coats the street in an area closed off due to a storm-driven mudslide in Montecito, CA. Civilian construction equipment and heavy trucks joined in the recovery efforts, clearing streets of soil and debris left in the wake of mudslides that demolished homes and left roads impassable.

Sgt. Jose Paiz (right) and Staff Sgt. Michael Aguilar, both of the 1114th Composite Truck Company from the California National Guard, guide a woman to safety through thick knee-deep mud in Montecito, CA. The 1114th is credited with rescuing or evacuating more than 1,800 people in the Montecito area following a deadly mudslide that struck the city in the predawn hours of January 9.

Staff Sgt. Michael Aguilar of the 1114th Composite Truck Company, California National Guard, trudges through knee-deep mud from his Humvee back to a Montecito home. He helped rescue three people and a dog who were trapped with no way to leave their neighborhood.

Sgt. Jose Paiz of the 1114th Composite Truck Company walks back to his Humvee after checking the depth of mud further down the street during a rescue mission in Montecito, CA. The mudslides came in the early morning hours of January 9, destroying an estimated 65 homes, damaging hundreds of others, and killing at least 20.