The Iowa Army National Guard said Friday it is sending two heavy-lift helicopters and 11 soldiers to Texas to support emergency response operations in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

The state of Texas requested the support from Iowa, which is sending its troops and a pair of CH-47F Chinook helicopters to assist in the Houston area, said Col. Gregory Hapgood Jr., the Iowa National Guard's public affairs officer. The aircraft and crew will be utilized to move supplies, equipment and people, he added.

The Iowa Guard's mission offers an opportunity to return a favor from July 1993, when giant, double-rotor Chinook helicopters from the Texas National Guard and the Iowa National Guard had key roles in re-opening the Des Moines Water Works treatment plant. The facility was inundated by a major flood that cut off drinking water for about 250,000 people in central Iowa and a huge effort was undertaken to reopen the plant.

The Texas and Iowa Chinook helicopters became a common sight on the Des Moines skyline and were used to transport generators, pumps and other heavy equipment, as well as sandbags. The Guard also used Vietnam-era UH-1 "Huey" helicopters.

"This is exactly the way the system should work," Hapgood said. "If a state needs help, they can reach out and ask for it, and then other states will bring the capability that they need."

The Iowa National Guard crews and aircraft were scheduled to arrive Friday night at the Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex outside of Dallas, where they will be based for the duration of their assignment.

The support to Texas is being provided under an Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which is an agreement executed previously between all 50 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia, to assist one another in times of crisis.

The compact is a national, mutual aid and partnership agreement that allows state-to-state assistance during governor-declared or federally declared emergencies. Once the conditions for providing assistance to a requesting state have been set, the terms constitute a legally binding contractual agreement that make affected states responsible for reimbursement.

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The Iowa team includes seven soldiers from Company B, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion of Davenport; one soldier from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, a 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the 34th Infantry Division of Boone; one soldier from Detachment 1, Company D, 2-211th General Aviation Support Battalion of Davenport; one soldier from Company C, 2-147th Aviation of Boone; and one soldier from the 671st Troop Command of Johnston.