New York Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Brandi Stenzel of Niagara Falls, N.Y. and a member of the 107th Airlift Wing, packs her cold weather gear in preparation for missions as part of the New York National Guard initial response force for Operation Polar Vortex. With heavy lake effect snows and wind chill warnings forecasting three feet of snow and temperatures at or below zero, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo mobilized 300 members of the New York National Guard to prepare to assist civil authorities during the storm's passage this week. Members of the New York National Guard's 107th Airlift Wing in Niagara Falls, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry and 105th Military Police Company in Buffalo and the 174th Attack Wing in Syracuse will all provide soldiers and airmen along with vehicles to support local authorities as needed.