Guard News - The National Guard

A first of its kind, Adriatic Thunder
June 18, 2021 — ZAGREB, Croatia – Soldiers and Airmen from the Minnesota and Iowa National Guard conducted the Midwest Croatia Kosovo Exercise Adriatic Thunder with the Kosovo Security Forces and Croatian Armed... MORE

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Gene Harrigan, the defensive cyber operations team chief of the information with Minnesota National Guard Joint Force Headquarters Defensive Cyber Operations Element, explains information to Capt. Genti Koqinaj of the Kosovo Security Forces during a joint cyber training exercise, Midwest Croatia Kosovo Exercise Adriatic Thunder at Dr. Franjo Tudman Croatian Military Academy, Zagreb, Croatia, on June 15, 2021.

Task Force Phoenix trains at North Fort Hood for deployment
March 29, 2021 — NORTH FORT HOOD, Texas – Flexibility and adaptability have been key for the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade in the lead-up to a 9-month deployment to the Middle East.The brigade is poised to deploy to... MORE

Staff Sgt. Jose Bulow, a flight medic with Golf Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), is hoisted into a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, March 26, 2021, at North Fort Hood, Texas, as part of training before a 9-month mission to the Middle East. Golf Company is attached to Task Force Phoenix, led by the California Army National Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade.

Iowa National Guard expands COVID-19 vaccinations
March 8, 2021 — SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Active-duty service members were vaccinated at the Iowa Air National Guard clinic in Sioux City during the March training weekend.Two months after the initial rollout of the... MORE

U.S. Marine Corps recruiter Staff Sgt. Jason Homard receives a COVID-19 vaccination at the Iowa Air National Guard clinic in Sioux City, Iowa, March 6, 2021. The National Guard clinic was given permission to expand COVID-19 vaccinations to active-duty members during March training weekend.

KFOR conducts radio tower maintenance
February 3, 2021 — CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo – U.S. Soldiers assigned to Regional Command-East, Kosovo Force 28, and radio systems contractors conducted radio tower maintenance visits in Kosovo Jan. 28.Sgt. 1st Class Rod... MORE

Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Finken, a contracting officer representative with Regional Command-East, Kosovo Force, inspects contractors performing maintenance during a radio systems inspection at Mount Golesh in Kosovo Jan. 28, 2021. During the inspection, the contractors check voltage on batteries, test transmitting power and perform other maintenance checks to ensure radio communication can be maintained.

Kenyan-born Red Bull Soldier deploys to Africa
February 2, 2021 — CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – For many military members, a deployment means an opportunity to visit a foreign land. But for Spc. Abraham Kiplagat, an infantryman with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion,... MORE

Abraham Kiplagat in the Horn of Africa, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Sept. 9, 2020. Kiplagat, an Iowa National Guard Soldier and Red Bull, is serving as an infantryman with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment.

Iowa National Guard members receive COVID-19 vaccine
January 11, 2021 — SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The first round of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed to National Guard units around the nation. Initial inoculations were given to unit members of the Iowa National Guard’s... MORE

Technical Sgt. Perla Solis, 185th Air Refueling Wing medical technician, administers the first of two COVID-19 vaccines to an Airman from the Iowa Air National Guard at the Sioux City, Iowa, clinic on Jan. 9, 2021.

Iowa National Guard trains with Ukrainian forces
December 21, 2020 — CAMP MARECHAL DE LATTRE DE TASSIGNY, Kosovo – Soldiers with Troop B, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, Iowa Army National Guard, conducted obstacle and barrier removal training with the Ukrainian... MORE

Soldiers with Troop B, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, Iowa Army National Guard, prepare to conduct obstacle and barrier removal training at Camp Marechal de Lattre De Tassigny in Kosovo on Dec. 16, 2020. U.S. forces serving in support of NATO’s Kosovo Force provided crowd and riot control support as their Ukrainian counterparts removed barriers. KFOR ensures a safe and secure environment in Kosovo through regular preparation and training with multinational forces.

Colorado, California National Guard win sniper championships
December 14, 2020 — BARLING, Ark. – Twenty-three two-person sniper teams from across the National Guard and 12 interservice teams competed in the 50th Winston P. Wilson Sniper Championship and the 30th Annual Armed... MORE

Staff Sgt. Jared Ramey, Ohio National Guard, prepares his equipment during the Stalk event Dec. 9, 2020 at the 50th Winston P. Wilson and 30th Armed Forces Skill at Arms Meeting Sniper Championships hosted by the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center, with the help of the U.S. National Guard Sniper School. The competition was held at the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center Dec. 4-10, 2020.

Task Force Bayonet Soldiers train in electronic warfare
September 24, 2020 — CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – Soldiers with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment from Minnesota, conducted Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems training Aug... MORE

A Soldier with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment, looks through the optic device of the Drone Defender V2 during Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems training at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Aug. 19, 2020. The Drone Defender V2 is an electronic warfare weapon capable of downing and disabling a small unmanned aircraft system, also known as a drone.

185th ARW exercise held despite COVID-19, Hurricane Sally
September 16, 2020 — SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing is conducting a mobility exercise this week after making a last-minute decision to move the event away from the Gulf Coast... MORE

Iowa Air National Guard members from the 185th Air Refueling Wing board a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules from the Illinois Air National Guard’s 182nd Airlift Wing in Sioux City, Iowa, Sept. 14, 2020, for a mobility training exercise.

Iowa National Guard members clear debris in wake of derecho
August 19, 2020 — CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Iowa National Guard Airmen and Soldiers are assisting with cleanup operations in eastern Iowa this week following a severe windstorm that caused widespread damage. Airmen from the... MORE

Staff Sgt. Jerad Keegan, 185th Air Refueling Wing Civil Engineering Squadron, Iowa Air National Guard, uses a chain saw to clear downed trees in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Aug. 18, 2020. Extremely high winds uprooted trees and caused widespread structural damage and power outages throughout Southeast Iowa.

Iowa National Guard helps with derecho cleanup
August 18, 2020 — CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Nearly 200 Soldiers and Airmen have been mobilized to eastern Iowa to help emergency management crews clear and remove debris from the devastating Aug. 10 derecho. Since beginning... MORE

Iowa National Guard Soldiers with the 831st Engineer Company
worked Aug. 15-16, 2020, to clear downed trees to reach a substation that supplies power to parts of Cedar Rapids. An Aug. 10 derecho caused widespread damage in the area.

Lt. Gen. Jon A. Jensen is new Army National Guard director
August 11, 2020 — ARLINGTON, Va. – During one of the most tumultuous times in U.S. history, the head of the Minnesota National Guard stood at the epicenter of a national tempest, balancing response efforts to the... MORE

Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, administers the oath of office to Lt. Gen. Jon A. Jensen as the 22nd director of the Army National Guard Aug. 10, 2020, at the Temple Army National Guard Readiness Center in Arlington, Virginia.

Iowa National Guard helps set up COVID-19 test site
May 28, 2020 — SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – Members of the Iowa Air and Army National Guard, working with the Iowa Department of Public Health, helped set up a COVID-19 test site in Northwest Iowa.The site in the hamlet of... MORE

Iowa Air National Guard Senior Airman Manuel Zertuche, a 185th Air Refueling Wing medical technician, works with medical staff to administer a COVID-19 test at the Sioux Center, Iowa, “TestIowa” site May 27, 2020.

Iowa National Guard opens COVID-19 test site in Storm Lake
May 18, 2020 — STORM LAKE, Iowa – Members of the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing and the Army National Guard’s D Company, 334th Brigade Support Battalion, have opened a COVID-19 testing site in... MORE

A sign at the entrance of the COVID-19 test site in Sioux City, Iowa, instructs motorists to keep their windows closed as they make their way to a temporary drive-through test site at the Western Iowa Technical Community College parking lot, May 7, 2020.

Nursing and the National Guard run in this family
May 7, 2020 — LAURENS, Iowa – John Fansega, Mikenzy Fansega and Noah Anderson, a father and two siblings from Laurens, have the unique opportunity to serve their community as a family. All three are in the Iowa... MORE

Capt. John Fansega, his daughter, Spc. Mikenzy Fansega, and his son, Spc. Noah Anderson, serve together in the Iowa National Guard. John is a civilian nurse and Mikenzy and Noah are in nursing school.

Iowa National Guard transports COVID-19 tests by air
May 6, 2020 — SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Iowa Army National Guard pilots helped transport COVID-19 tests from a Test Iowa site in Sioux City to the State Hygienic Lab in Coralville May 4.The pilots, Chief Warrant Officer 4... MORE

An Iowa Army National Guard UH-72 Lakota helicopter departs the Iowa National Guard Readiness Center in Iowa City, Iowa, after transferring COVID-19 test kits May 4, 2020. The helicopter transported the test kits from a Test Iowa site in Sioux City to the State Hygienic Laboratory in Coralville, Iowa.

Iowa Guard Soldier helps community with virtual instruction
May 4, 2020 — DES MOINES, Iowa – On a sunny afternoon downtown, Spc. Taylor Lenhart is doing exactly what she joined the Iowa National Guard to do: helping her local community in times of crisis as a... MORE

Spc. Taylor Lenhart, a military police Soldier with the 186th Military Police Company, Iowa Army National Guard, helps move a traffic barrier in Des Moines April 27, 2020. Lenhart is one of 60 military police Soldiers supporting the first drive-through COVID-19 testing site in Iowa. Before duty, Lenhart helps her community as a karate instructor by providing virtual classes.

Iowa State grads dominate National Guard COVID-19 task force
April 30, 2020 — JOHNSTON, Iowa – In mid-March, the Iowa National Guard was ramping up its response to COVID-19 when it established Task Force Central at Camp Dodge to direct efforts in some of the most populated... MORE

Capt. Theodore Knust, personnel officer at the 734th Regional Support Group, participates in a briefing at the Task Force Central command post in Johnston April 29, 2020. Knust received his commission with the Cyclone Battalion at the Iowa State University Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program more than 10 years ago. Now he’s working alongside seven other former Cyclones during the Iowa National Guard’s response to COVID-19.

Iowa National Guard couple combats COVID-19
April 13, 2020 — JOHNSTON, Iowa – More than 200 Soldiers and Airmen in the Iowa National Guard have been called to state active duty to help combat COVID-19. Many of them have spouses and children at home and go weeks... MORE

Spc. Janet Fonseca, a motor transport operator with the 1168th Transportation Company, Iowa Army National Guard, delivers medical supplies to Benton County emergency personnel in Vinton, Iowa, April 8, 2020. Fonseca and her husband, Pfc. Cesar Galvan, are both serving on state active duty in the 1168th to transport medical personal protective equipment to help combat the spread of COVID-19.

Iowa Guard’s 132d Cyber Range Hosts Training Event

New York National Guard Brings Fallen Warrant Officers Home

Southern Strike Joint Combat Exercise Concludes in Mississippi

Massachusetts, New York Guard Units Compete in Shooting Match

Ukraine Delegation Visits Washington National Guard Leaders