Guard News - The National Guard

Top Air Guard members became DC VIPs
August 13, 2007 — ARLINGTON, Va. - The Air National Guard's top six enlisted Airmen of the year were centers of a lot of attention and praise and received many rewards when the Air Guard's command chief master sergeant... MORE

The Air National Guard's Airmen of the Year, from left: Senior NCO - Senior Master Sgt. Lawrence Taylor, 270th Air Traffic Control Squadron, Oregon; First Sergeant - Senior Master Sgt. Dorothy Pearson, 116th Air Control Wing, Georgia; Honor Guard Program Manager - Tech. Sgt. Wendy Haight, 123rd Airlift Wing, Kentucky; Honor Guard Member - Tech. Sgt. Celia Herrera, 107th Air Control Squadron, Arizona; Noncommissioned Officer - Tech. Sgt. Michael Keller, 179th Airlift Wing, Ohio; Airman of the Year - Staff Sgt. Jesse Permenter, 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, Washington.

Mississippi airlift wing used in Utah miner rescue
August 13, 2007 — JACKSON, Miss. - It was a routine day at the 172nd Airlift Wing in Jackson, Miss., until the phone rang around 1:50 pm. The call was an emergency airlift request to transport equipment to the stranded... MORE

Members of the 172nd Airlift Wing in Jackson, Mississippi and the 190th Air Refueling Wing in Topeka, Kansas supply dunnage to load an emergency vehicle headed for the stranded miners in Utah on Thursday. The National Guard coordinated the emergency airlift mission which picked up the vehicle at Forbes Field in Kansas on Thursday.

Craig receives Bronze Star from Blum, Taylor
August 10, 2007 — WASHINGTON - Two men who Sgt. 1st Class John Craig met in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina LTG H Steven Blum and Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor played a predominant role in recognizing... MORE

With Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor (far right) and his wife Mitzi Craig looking on (far left), Sgt. 1st Class John Craig receives the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service from LTG H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, on Aug. 2 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington.

Guard supports camp that helps at-risk youth
August 9, 2007 — Twenty-five years ago Dave Mickelson set out to help the youth in his community. At the time he was a police detective and a member of the Army National Guard, so he had some resources he could rely... MORE

Campers listen intently to Air Guard Staff Sgt. David Fort as he teaches them about survival techniques after Fort led them on a two mile hike in the Roosevelt Forest in Colorado July 10, 2007. The youth had lunch on a cliff overlooking a waterfall before heading back to camp.

Missouri Air Guard airlifts near North Pole
August 9, 2007 — KANGERLUSSUAQ, Greenland - They have deployed and airlifted cargo around the world, but never above the Arctic Circle. This was the farthest north they had ever flown, they said.Airmen from the... MORE

Tech. Sgt. Kelly Kunkel from the Missouri Air National Guard's 139th Airlift Wing refuels a C-130 on the flight line at Kangerlussuaq Airport, Greenland.

Northern Grip: New York Air Guard supports far reaching science missions
August 2, 2007 — CAMP SUMMIT, Greenland - The gray and orange LC-130 Hercules, one of the world's largest cargo aircraft with skis, touched down 10,600 feet above sea level onto the frozen ice sheet here July 24 to... MORE

A 109th Airlift Wing LC-130 Hercules is loaded with cargo at Summit Camp on the Greenland Ice Sheet July 24. The wing's gray and orange "skibirds" are the world's largest ski-equipped cargo aircraft.

Vaccine shots leave mark on Rio Grande Valley residents
August 1, 2007 — BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Four-year-old Jeremiah Burkett will be ready for pre-kindergarten this fall, at least as far as immunizations go, thanks to the free vaccination service given during Operation... MORE

Texas Army National Guard Spc. Stephanie Cardenas, an Emergency Medical Technician for Joint Forces Headquarters of San Antonio, gives a vaccination shot to four-year-old Jeremiah Burkett while he is comforted by his mother. The boy will be ready for pre-kindergarten this fall, at least as far as immunizations go, thanks to the free vaccinations offered in Brownsville during Operation Lone Star.

Knott first Guard Soldier to pick up the Pace
August 1, 2007 — ARLINGTON, Va. - The award on the office wall will look good for many years to come.But the true reward for Lt. Col. Joseph Knott, who became the first National Guard Soldier to win the Pace Award... MORE

Lt. Col. Joseph Knott receives the Headquarters, Department of the Army Pace Award from Joyce Morrow on July 27 in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. Knott is the first National Guard Soldier to win the award in its 45 years. He won the award based on his work in 2006 on the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program.

Reserve wing will be first to host Guard associate
July 31, 2007 — TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) - The Air Force Reserve Command's 507th Air Refueling Wing begins a new partnership in August when members of the Oklahoma Air National Guard team up for the drill... MORE

Col. James McCormack and Col. Jeffery Glass prepare for takeoff during their first duo commander mission July 26 at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. Colonel McCormack is the 137th Airlift Wing commander, and Colonel Glass is the 507th Air Refueling Wing commander. Colonel McCormack's Air National Guard wing is slated to stand up as a KC-135 Stratotanker associate wing affiliated with Colonel Glass's Air Force Reserve Command wing in late 2007. The merger is the first time an Air National Guard wing has associated to an Air Force Reserve wing.

Civilian hospital provides training for Texas National Guard medics
July 30, 2007 — Patients in the emergency room at the Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, may find they are being treated by someone in a camouflage uniform.That's because a dozen health care... MORE

Spc. Manuel Chavarria (left) starts an IV on a patient in the Emergency Department of the Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital staff. The Texas National Guardsman trains in the civilian hospital during their drill weekends.

Leaders endorse Pakistan, National Guard partnership
July 26, 2007 — WASHINGTON - The chief of the National Guard Bureau and Pakistani military officials said Wednesday they strongly support a partnership between the National Guard and Pakistan.LTG H Steven Blum and... MORE

Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense; retired Lt. Gen. Tariq Waseem Ghazi, Pakistan's former defense secretary; LTG H Steven Blum, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Marine Lt. Gen. Frances Wilson, president, National Defense University, talk about a possible National Guard State Partnership Program with Pakistan at a dinner at Blum's official residence at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2007.

Apache pilots save critically-wounded Soldier with unorthodox evacuation
July 24, 2007 — LOGISTICS SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, Iraq - Two pilots from Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (Attack), 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, risked their lives in an unorthodox casualty... MORE

Chief Warrant Officer-4 Kevin Purtee (left) and Chief Warrant Officer-2 Allen Crist, Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (Attack), man the AH-64 helicopter they used to help save the life of a critically wounded Soldier.

49th Soldiers earn prestigious German marksmanship award
July 20, 2007 — FORT GREELY, Alaska - The distinctive foreign marksmanship award attached to Class A uniforms by a cord is sometimes seen worn by Soldiers who've been stationed in Germany. Stateside Soldiers rarely,... MORE

Staff Sgt. Steven Mich evaluates the handling of a German pistol during a German marksmanship competition held by the 49th Missile Defense Battalion.

Safety, Alaskan Style
July 19, 2007 — FORT GREELY, Alaska - When it comes to safety, Soldiers stationed at this distant, somewhat extreme corner of the world must be on top of their game. Nearly all Soldier activities, both on duty or... MORE

Grizzly bears outside Fort Greely fence. Although not common, the last Grizzly bear sighting was June 12, 2007.

Changing with the Guard
July 18, 2007 — DENVER (AFPN) - Seventy Air National Guardsmen are slated to begin working at the Air Reserve Personnel Center later this year for the first time in its history.The new Guardsmen are a result of the... MORE

National Guard task force keeps Army helicopters in the fight
July 17, 2007 — CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - A unique National Guard maintenance task force keeps Army helicopters flying in Iraq and Afghanistan.The National Guard has four Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depots... MORE

Army National Guard Sgt. Morley Wagner determines which one of numerous circuit cards and multiple transducers is failing in an automated flight control system at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, on July 4, 2007. Wagner is a member of Task Force AVCRAD (Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot), which maintains components from Army National Guard, Regular Army and Army Reserve helicopters flying missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Maryland brigade assumes Iraqi mission from Indiana
July 17, 2007 — VICTORY BASE, Iraq - It is an old Army tradition marking one unit leaving and another taking its place. The flag of one unit is ceremoniously rolled and covered by a thin green case, while the flag... MORE

Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Sann, left, brigade sergeant major for the 58th Brigade Combat Team, left, and Col. Sean Casey, commander of the 58th BCT, uncase the unit's colors during a transfer of authority ceremony in which the 58th BCT assumed responsibility for garrison operations of Victory Base Complex, Iraq, from the 38th Division Support Command, Tuesday, July 10, 2007. The 58th BCT will be responsible for all daily operations on VBC.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy) (Released)

Air Guard opens new combat training runway
July 13, 2007 — HATTIESBURG, Miss. - It's a 3,500-foot-long stretch of cement with a few hundred feet added on, just in case. That's not much space to safely land a heavily loaded, half-million pound cargo plane on,... MORE

A Mississippi Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster lands July 9 at the Air National Guard's first assault runway training facility at Camp Shelby, Miss. Called "Shelby Aux Field," the 210-acre airfield is one of only two facilities in the world designed for C-17 short-field landing operations. It was constructed to meet the training demands of the Air Guard's 172nd Airlift Wing, which operates and maintains eight of the aircraft.

Guard Plans to Adjust Number of Troops Serving on U.S.-Mexican Border
July 12, 2007 — WASHINGTON - The National Guard plans to adjust the number of personnel performing security duty along the U.S.-Mexican border from about 6,000 to about 3,000 members, a National Guard Bureau... MORE

Ice and fire: Eskimos in Kuwait
July 11, 2007 — CAMP BUERHING, Kuwait - Hot like a giant hairdryer; like standing under a giant magnifying glass; or like turning an oven to 127 degrees, jumping in and closing the door.These are ways Eskimo members... MORE

The Alaska National Guard's 3rd Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment has left its mark at Camp Buerhing, Kuwait, seen here July 3, 2007.

New York Guard Helps Floridians Recover from Hurricane

New Mexico National Guard Helps Rescue Flood Victims

From Ohio to Alaska, Airmen Unite for Space Intelligence

National Guard Bureau Hosts Cybersecurity Awareness Panel

Alaska Air Guard Conducts Communications Out Exercise