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Warrior Resilience & Fitness
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Leadership
WRF Division Chief
RADM Matthew E. Kleiman, MSW, LCSW, BC
As NGB-J1 WRF Division Chief, RADM Kleiman directs the National Guard Bureau’s efforts to enhance the wellness and resilience of National Guard Service members through the implementation, coordination, and alignment of Army and Air National Guard prevention programs across the 54 states, territories, and DC. He also serves as the Director of Psychological Health for the Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
He was detailed to the U.S. Coast Guard from 2010-2016 as the Chief of Behavioral Health Services. Prior to that, he served in the Office of Health Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security as a principal advisor on resilience and behavioral health policies.
RADM Kleiman is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and Assistant U.S. Surgeon General. Prior to transferring to the Public Health Service in 2005, he was a commissioned officer in the Air Force, where he served as a clinical social worker for six years.
He has two grown children. He and his wife are enjoying their status as empty nesters.
WRF NGB-J1 WRF Deputy Division Chief
MAJ Mehdi A. Kohanbani, 34A3L3H
As NGB-J1 WRF Deputy Division Chief, MAJ Kohanbani assists in directing the National Guard Bureau’s (NGB) efforts to enhance the wellness and resilience of National Guard Service members through the implementation, coordination, and alignment of Army and Air National Guard prevention programs across the 54 States, Territories, and DC.
He served as the Officer in Charge (OIC) for Enlisted Incentives for the Army National Guard. Prior to that he helped stand up the NGB-J1 Readiness Team as it underwent a tranche that brought personnel and resources from the NGB Army and Air staffs to more than doubled the size of the original organization.
MAJ Kohanbani is a commissioned officer in the Army National Guard. He has worked with the NGB since 2008 where he started in Recruiting. He has also worked with the G2 and the NGB Army Staff Office of the General Staff. He is currently on his third tour with the NGB-J1. Prior to his time in the National Guard, MAJ Kohanbani worked as a manager with Wegmans Food Markets.
He has a six-year-old daughter and enjoys spending time with her.
WRF Resilience, Risk Reduction, & Suicide Prevention (R3SP) Branch Chief
LTC Agata Zana, MSW
As NGB-J1 WRF Resilience, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention (R3SP) Branch Chief, LTC Zana implements Total Force Fitness across 54 States, Territories, and DC through policy and fiscal oversight of the Army National Guard’s Substance Abuse Prevention, Drug Testing, and Resilience Programs, and NGB’s Suicide Prevention Program.
She deployed to Iraq as a Battalion S3 under Operation Iraqi Freedom, and to Kuwait and Qatar as a company commander under Operation Enduring Freedom.
LTC Zana and her family emigrated from Poland as political refugees after her father was imprisoned for Solidarity activism. She joined the NC National Guard in 2001 and commissioned in 2003. She later obtained her MSW from UNC Chapel Hill where she supported domestic violence and sexual assault response efforts with local law enforcement, rape crisis centers, and domestic violence shelters.
She and her husband share one son and two 40-mile-an-hour couch potatoes in the form of retired greyhounds.
WRF NGB-J1 WRF Prevention, Pilots, and Partnerships (P3) Branch Chief
MAJ Emily Vernon, M.Ed
As NGB-J1 WRF Prevention, Pilots, and Partnerships (P3) Branch Chief, MAJ Vernon supports the National Guard Bureau’s efforts to identify innovative solutions to improve prevention and wellness programs available to Service members in the National Guard.
She deployed to Kuwait as the Executive Officer of a Combat Heavy Equipment Transporters Company under Operation Enduring Freedom in 2011.
MAJ Vernon is currently a Logistics Officer in the Maryland National Guard. She joined the North Carolina National Guard in 2003 and received a commission in 2007. She graduated from UNC Chapel-Hill in 2007 with a degree in Linguistics and Public Policy. She received a M.Ed in Secondary Education, Spanish, and ESL from George Washington University in 2011.
When not on military orders, MAJ Vernon serves as the Joint Force Headquarters Sexual Assault Response Coordinator for the Maryland National Guard. Always a teacher at heart, MAJ Vernon served as a Spanish and Special Education teacher at KIPP DC KEY Academy Middle School in Washington D.C. from 2009-2015.
She and her husband have three children and a pit bull.
WRF Resources
Organization Chart
Leadership
WRF Fact Sheet
CNGBI 0300.01
CJCSI 3405.01