Guard News - The National Guard

Rules restrict political activity by DOD personnel
January 5, 2012 — WASHINGTON - With election activity steadily picking up, defense officials are in the process of issuing regular election-year guidance to remind military and Defense Department civilians that they're... MORE

Texas Guard unit signs forward operating base over to Afghan control
January 5, 2012 — PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Another big step in the transition process has been taken with Forward Operating Base Lion now under the direct control of the Afghan government.A provincial... MORE

Panjshir Provincial Governor Keramuddin Karim triumphantly raises a key of the city given to him by U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel Gajewski, Chicago native and 321st Civil Affairs Brigade, Provincial Development Support Team commander, during a transfer of authority ceremony at Forward Operating Base Lion Dec. 28. The ceremony marked the official handover from U.S. forces to Afghan control.

Afghanistan: Oklahoma Guard combat medic demonstrates resiliency
January 4, 2012 — PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Spc. Ashley Jones sat in her bed late one night last month at Craig Joint Theatre Hospital on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, waiting to join the solemn group of Soldiers... MORE

Oklahoma Army National Guard Spc. Ashley Jones receives the Purple Heart from Army Brig. Gen. Gary Volesky, deputy commanding general for maneuver with Combined Joint Task Force-1, at Craig Joint Theatre Hospital on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, on Dec. 19, 2011, for injuries sustained as a result of an improvised explosive device the previous day.

The National Guard's contribution: 300,000-plus Iraq deployments
January 4, 2012 — ARLINGTON, Va. - On Dec. 18, 2011, when the final U.S. troops crossed the Iraqi border into Kuwait, the National Guard had deployed more than 250,000 Guard members in support of the war.Already... MORE

Citizen-Soldiers with the Kentucky National Guard's 223rd Military Police Company conduct a briefing at Camp Liberty, Iraq, before an escort mission in 2008 in front of their vehicles. (Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill)

Health concerns prompt Exchanges to remove dietary supplements
January 4, 2012 — WASHINGTON - The Department of Defense has implemented a temporarymoratorium on the sales of products containing DMAA within militaryfacilities.The moratorium will remain in effect pending further... MORE

The dos and don'ts of the political season
January 4, 2012 — VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. - With the presidential primarieslurking around the corner, there are a few things service members mustremember during this upcoming political season.When you joined the... MORE

Wisconsin prepares to leave Iraq
January 4, 2012 — BAGHDAD - It's been a long deployment for 3,200-plus soldiers of the Wisconsin National Guard's 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, but it is finally coming to an end.Sometime in early January, the... MORE

Spc. Andrew Alexander of the Wisconsin National Guard scans the roads from the gunner's turret of a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle.

Adjutant general: "This is an historic moment for the National Guard"
January 3, 2012 — ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - Florida National Guardsman and chief of the National Guard Bureau Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley will officially join the Joint Chiefs of Staff.President Barack Obama signed a... MORE

N.Y. Guard Counterdrug Task Force helps keep 100 schools drug-free
January 3, 2012 — SCOTIA, N.Y. - Throughout 2011, more than 100 communities acrossNew York State welcomed Soldiers and Airmen of the New York National Guard,not to hear about their overseas wartime experiences, but to... MORE

Kuwait: North Carolina Guard brigade takes command at Camp Arifjan
January 3, 2012 — CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - The North Carolina Army National Guard'sGreensboro-based 113th Sustainment Brigade accepted the critical mission ofsupporting American forces in Southwest Asia from the... MORE

Army Command Sgt. Maj. Stanley Massengale, Army Col. David Jones and Army Command Sgt. Maj. William Gill salute during the singing of the national anthem at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Dec. 27, 2011, before the transfer of authority ceremony between the Tennessee Army National Guard's 230th Sustainment Brigade and the North Carolina Army National Guard's 113th Sustainment Brigade. Massengale, the command sergeant major for the 230th SB, cased his unit's colors while the 113th SB's commander and command sergeant
major, Jones and Gill, unfurled their flag to symbolize the transfer of
command for the unit.

Nevada Guard trains with police in New Year's Eve exercise
January 3, 2012 — LAS VEGAS - Army Sgt. Dale Peterman didn't pop champagne this NewYear's Eve. He didn't kiss his wife at midnight or watch "Dick Clark's NewYear's Rockin' Eve."Peterman was a few blocks from Las Vegas... MORE

Nevada Army National Guard Spc. Ashlee Wolf stands guard on New
Year's Eve here for Vigilant Sentinel, a three-day training exercise where Nevada Guard members work in association with Las Vegas Metro Police.

National Guard's senior officer elevated to Joint Chiefs of Staff
December 30, 2011 — WASHINGTON - The chief of the National Guard Bureau is a statutory member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.With the stroke of a pen, the same month the nation's oldest military institution celebrated its... MORE

National Guard on-duty for New Year's Eve
December 30, 2011 — NEW YORK, N.Y. - The 280 members of the New York National Guard's Joint Task Force Empire Shield will be on duty New Years Eve assisting police in security missions here.National Guard members also... MORE

New York Army National Guard Spc. Melvin Seally, assigned to Joint Task Force Empire Shield, the New York National Guard's full-time security force in New York City, patrols Pennsylvania Station with police officers on Christmas Eve. The members of Joint Task Force Empire Shield will be on duty New Years Eve supporting civilian police agencies.

Domestic disaster relief and a birthday among National Guard 2011 highlights
December 29, 2011 — ARLINGTON, Va. - The National Guard made history throughout 2011, but no more than when President Barack Obama signed into law the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which included a provision... MORE

Maryland National Guard members, seen here in Salisbury, Md., on Aug. 28, 2011, worked around the clock to support civilian law enforcement and firefighting agencies during Hurricane Irene.

Colorado National Guard high-altitude aviation training: local school, global impact
December 28, 2011 — This story is the first in a series of three about Colorado's High-altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training SiteOne of four Army National Guard aviation training schools, the High-altitude Army... MORE

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jonathan Licuanan and Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ryan Mahany take turns piloting a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, while following the directions of their instructor pilot, Colorado Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Mark Grayson, Aug. 25, 2011. Licuanan and Mahany are students at the Colorado National Guard's High-altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site in Gypsum, Colo.

N.C. National Guard drives into history as last convoy out of Iraq
December 28, 2011 — CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - In the early morning hours of Dec. 18, while most service members stationed here were sleeping, a small group of Soldiers from the North Carolina Army National Guard's 1452nd... MORE

North Carolina Army National Guard Soldiers of the 1452nd Transportation Company pose for a group photo in front of an M-1070A1 Heavy Equipment Transporter in Kuwait, Dec. 19, 2011, just one day after their convoy was the last to depart Iraq.

Dempsey: hazing, bullying "intolerable" within military
December 27, 2011 — WASHINGTON - Emphasizing that bullying and hazing undermine everything the military stands for, the top U.S. military officer said every member of the armed forces has a personal responsibility to... MORE

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Nov. 14, 2011.

NORAD tracks Santa's flight
December 23, 2011 — WASHINGTON - As children go to bed tomorrow with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, the staff at North American Aerospace Defense Command will be busy tracking Santa Claus' global... MORE

The North American Aerospace Defense Command based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., will again track Santa Claus on his annual Christmas Eve flight to deliver presents to children around the globe.

DOD Officials: National Guard border support to shift to the air
December 21, 2011 — WASHINGTON - Defense Department and National Guard support to southwest U.S. border security will change in the next few months from a ground effort to primarily air, Defense and Homeland Security... MORE

The U.S. border with Mexico seen on Aug. 25, 2010, near Nogales, Ariz. Up to 1,200 National Guard troops have deployed to the four Southwest Border states in support of the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement there.

Florida Guard members part of final "New Dawn" air mission
December 21, 2011 — KUWAIT CITY - As the remaining military forces in Iraq crossed the Iraqi border into Kuwait early morning Dec. 18, Soldiers from the Florida National Guard's 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment... MORE

Alaska Air National Guard Rescues Injured Snowmachiner

Maine Guard Mobilizes to Support Rhode Island Blizzard Response

Massachusetts Guardsman Invents Portable Cyber Training, Development Platform

National Guard, French Army Leaders Mark Shared History, Alliance in Ceremony

National Guardsmen Train in Pennsylvania to Use Small Drones