In the quickening Sunday night breeze, three Air Force National Guardsmen leaned against the concrete pillars of Death Valley, taking a break at the end of a day of watching over medical and relief workers in the PMAC. With Hurricane Gustav rushing toward the Louisiana coast, the drizzling rain and sudden gusts reminded the men their job is only beginning.”There will be no surprises this time,” said Craig Juan, 1st sergeant. “I think we’re a lot more prepared than we were for Katrina.”Juan, Michael Upshaw, 1st lieutenant and commander of the operation, and Milton Ramirez, master sergeant and second in command, finished their shift — which began at 6:30 a.m. — as the night crew came on for their 13-hour shift beginning at 8:30.Glass from an escalator on the stadium’s west side lay shattered twenty yards from where the guardsmen relaxed, and Gustav’s winds wrapped around the stadium howling as the Tiger faithful had only one day before.All three were “knee deep” in New Orleans and surrounding areas during Hurricane Katrina’s 2005 landfall.”Here, it’s all security-focused operations,” said Ramirez, “So the medical folks can do their job without having to worry about their own safety.”Currently 50 Air Force National Guardsmen, based in Belle Chasse, La., are residing in the PMAC basement to provide security wherever medical and relief personnel go on campus. They have been working in the PMAC and Huey P. Long Fieldhouse, which are being used as special needs medical shelters.More than 300 patients are housed in the two facilities as of Sunday night, at least 250 of whom are in the PMAC.Upshaw said he expects at least an additional 60 guardsmen to join the security contingent by Monday. Their efforts began Saturday, aiding the LSU Police Department with gameday security.”We’re Tiger fans,” Juan said. “It was frustrating because we were 50 yards away from the field, and we couldn’t even see it.”Juan said the three men watched LSU’s season opener together on a fellow guardsman’s computer.No security issues arose Sunday, and Upshaw said he does not anticipate any problems, but is “prepared to deal with them in case.”Do the three guardsmen believe Gustav will be as severe as Katrina?”We have no idea,” said Upshaw, reiterating their mission on campus. “We’re not weathermen.”—-Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected]