Guard News - The National Guard

Guam National Guard Respond to Cabras Island Explosion - Exercise Only
October 16, 2007 — Guam Governor, the Honorable Felix P. Camacho, has been advised that President George W. Bush has issued a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Guam. Dept of Homeland Security and Guam Fire... MORE

New agreement to help balance active Army, National Guard
October 12, 2007 — WASHINGTON - A new agreement between the active Army and Army National Guard represents a big step toward achieving the force structure balance Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. calls... MORE

Director of Army National Guard Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody and Lousiana Adjutant General and Chairman of the Adjutants General Association of the United States Force Structure Committee Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau sign a memorandum of understanding to formalize the Army plan to rebalance. The signing ceremony took place at the annual Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference in Washington.

Recruiting and retention numbers exceed goal
October 12, 2007 — ARLINGTON, Va. - During Fiscal Year 2007, the Army National Guard exceeded its congressional end strength goal for the first time in more than three years, and the Air National Guard just missed its... MORE

Guard unit helps protect nation's skies
October 12, 2007 — MIAMI, Fl. (AFPN) - On Feb. 4, 2007, the Indianapolis Colts played the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI in Miami's Dolphin Stadium.As the Colts' offense took the field with 1:32 left in the third... MORE

Crew chief Staff Sgt. Thomas Fitzgerald sprints to his F-15 Eagle after an alert alarm announces the immediate launch of aircraft during a training exercise for Operation Noble Eagle Oct. 3 at the 125th Fighter Wing, Det. 1, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla. The detachment provides the Continental NORAD Region commander rapid response to invasion of the sovereign airspace of the U.S., and responds with appropriate defense measures against all hostile actions directed at the people and property of the U.S. during Operation Noble Eagle.

Soldiers killed in January helicopter crash interred at Arlington Cemetery
October 12, 2007 — ARLINGTON, Va. - Four UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters thundered over Arlington National Cemetery in an aerial salute for a group interment to 12 Soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq earlier this... MORE

Army honor guard Soldiers hold 12 folded American flags during an interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery Oct. 10 for 12 Soldiers killed in Iraq 10 months ago. The Soldiers, 10 from the Army National Guard and two from the active duty Army, were killed northeast of Baghdad when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was shot down.

Guard Soldiers compete with Army's top 24 warriors
October 11, 2007 — FORT LEE, Va. - Out in a field here behind an operations center for the U.S. Army's 2007 Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year event, Staff Sgt. Mark Dornbusch and Spc. Erik Nowak both made... MORE

Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth O. Preston takes a moment to visit the National Guard's competitors at Ft. Lee for Army Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year. Staff Sgt. Mark Dornbusch, center, the Army National Guard NCO of the Year and Spc. Erik Nowak, Army Guard Soldier of the Year, competed to become the Army's top "warriors" in a field 26 Soldiers from 13 U.S. Army major commands. It was the first time that the Army National Guard and Army Reserve had competed with the active duty Army as separate entities.

National Guard celebrates Army recruitment success
October 5, 2007 — ARLINGTON, Va. - Several Army National Guard Soldiers shared in a piece of Big Army's sweet recruiting success on Thursday. Twelve Soldiers from each of the Army components participated in a... MORE

Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Richard Cody swears in new Army recruits in a ceremony at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. On the far right, new Soldiers Paul Stuart of Fairfax, Va., and Erika Hanberry of Virginia Beach, Va., represent the Army National Guard.

Guard unit recognized for record deployment
October 5, 2007 — ARLINGTON, Va. - A recently-returned Minnesota National Guard unit is getting the kudos it deserves this week.The House of Representatives passed a Concurrent Resolution Oct. 1 that commended Soldiers... MORE

Family and friends greet U.S. Army Soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division as they arrive at the Cottage Grove Armory in Minnesota July 16, 2007. Minnesota National Guard's 1st Brigade Combat Team has been deployed for 22 months with 16 months out of the deployment in a combat zone.

Ohio air show features World War II Mustangs
October 3, 2007 — COLUMBUS, Ohio - James Denman was one of the first to arrive at Ohio's Rickenbacker International Airport for the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends, a four-day air show hosted in conjunction with Air... MORE

Jeff Michael brought his P-51 'Obsession' from Florida to be a part of the 2007 Gathering of Mustangs and Legends air show held at Rickenbacker International Airport.

Policy Change Boosts G.I. Bill Eligibility for Some Guard, Reserve Members
October 2, 2007 — A recent Defense Department policy change widens the eligibility window for some Reserve-component troops who want to use their Montgomery G.I. Bill education benefits, a senior DoD official said here... MORE

Orange County Choppers unveil Guard's "Patriot Chopper"
October 2, 2007 — ARLINGTON, Va. - Hundreds of Soldiers gathered here in front of the Army National Guard Readiness Center on Sept. 27 to witness the unveiling of the "Patriot Chopper," the first of three bikes to be... MORE

Paul Teutul Sr., of Orange County Choppers fame, rides the National Guard's "Patriot Chopper" in front of the Army National Guard Readiness Center in Arlington, Va., during a Sept. 27 unveiling ceremony.

Non-standard load: Pennsylvania Chinook airlifts C-130 fuselage
September 28, 2007 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - Residents of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area may have been a tad startled on the afternoon of Sept. 14 when they saw the fuselage of a C-130 aircraft flying through the sky... MORE

Members of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 104th Aviation Battalion airlifted a C-130 Sept. 14 in two massive pieces from Forty Fort Airport in Luzerne County to Tobyhanna Army Depot in Monroe County using a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

NGB chief and Pakistan military officials visit Stryker brigade in Pennsylvania; relationship forming
September 28, 2007 — WASHINGTON - The chief of the National Guard Bureau and Pakistani military officials visited the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) at the Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training in central... MORE

Lt. Col. Marc Ferraro, brigade commander, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, briefs a member of the Pakistani military delegation on features and benefits of the Stryker vehicle Sept. 14.

Air Force Heritage Week soars in Ohio
September 26, 2007 — COLUMBUS, Ohio (AFPN) - Ohio officials honored the Air Force when the lieutenant governor proclaimed Sept. 24 to 30 as Air Force Heritage Week in a ceremony held Sept. 24 at Rickenbacker Air National... MORE

Disabled Veteran Foundation riders visit Oregon National Guard Headquarters in Salem
September 26, 2007 — SALEM, Or. - Emmy-nominated actor, Jack Scalia, visited Soldiers at the Oregon National Guard's Anderson Readiness Center in Salem, Ore., on Sept. 24. But instead of arriving in a limousine, as is... MORE

Riders with Operation American Spirit, stopped at the Oregon National Guard's Anderson Readiness Center, in Salem, Ore., Sept. 24, 2007. From left to right: Oregonian Kerry Kingsley-Smith, Actor Jack Scalia, Organization Executive Director, John Wordin, former Army Soldier, J.R. Martinez. The group plans to ride from Seattle to San Diego in order to raise funds and awareness for severely injured military veterans.

Kentucky Soldiers clean up Iraqi neighborhood
September 24, 2007 — The call came across the radio as the humvee rattled and shook down a dirt road in the Al Furat section of Baghdad - activity in a nearby abandoned building directed at Soldiers manning guard towers... MORE

Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, joke with a local Iraqi girl while on patrol in the Al Furat section of Baghdad, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2007. Soldiers from the unit have been working with local officials to assist with rebuilding schools and other facilities in the area.

Blum addresses National Guard issues with defense scribes
September 24, 2007 — WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Guard has its highest-quality, best-trained personnel force in history but continues to face a domestic equipment shortage, said LTG H Steven Blum, the chief of the... MORE

LTG H Steven Blum, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, spoke to a group of defense reporters Sept 19.

143rd Infantrymen join Hondurans on range, in sky
September 21, 2007 — SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras - Airborne infantrymen from the Texas Army National Guard's 36th Infantry Division shared their small weapons training expertise with an elite group of Honduran military... MORE

Members of the Honduran rapid response team (left), known as the Peacekeeping Operations Battalion, shot more ammunition in two days than they usually fire all year during their coalition training with 36th Infantry Division Soldiers Sept. 11-13.

It's JUNIOR! He'll drive the Guard car next year
September 20, 2007 — DALLAS, Tx. - Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose family's name is part and parcel with the American motorsports legend, will drive the Chevrolet that the National Guard will sponsor in NASCAR's top-level... MORE

Dale Earnhardt Jr., left, will drive the National Guard car next year in NASCARS's top-level Sprint Cup series for Hendrick Motorsports. He stood with Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard, and Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Motorsports owner, in Dallas where the announcement was made on Sept. 19.

Maryland National Guard Responds to Peru Earthquake
September 19, 2007 — BALTIMORE, Md. - Two crews from the Maryland Air National Guard's 135th Airlift Squadron found themselves unexpectedly pressed into service following an 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Peru Aug. 15."They... MORE

Senior Airman Kenneth Cumbie, 612th Air Base Squadron here, drives a forklift to load medical supplies onto a C-130J from the Maryland Air National Guard. Approximately 30 Soldiers and Airmen are responding to the Aug. 15 earthquake in Peru and are taking with them 4,470 pounds of medical supplies for relief efforts.

Connecticut Guard Squadron Assists Mortuary Mission at Dover Air Force Base

Oregon Guard Advances Drone Capabilities With New Training Systems

Army Updates Standards for Appearance, Grooming, Uniform Wear in New Directive

Pennsylvania Guard Hosts Helicopter Orientation for Emergency Responders

Exercise Thunderstruck 2.0 Tests Oklahoma Guard's Unmanned Aerial System Capabilities