MILWAUKEE – The National Guard’s mission triad to defend the homeland, support the warfight/deter adversaries and build partnerships delivers outsized impact at home and abroad, National Guard Bureau senior leaders told officers meeting at the 147th National Guard Association of the United States conference on Saturday.
Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau and Senior Enlisted Advisor John Raines outlined their priorities and highlighted the Guard’s unique value as an elite, cost-effective force.
“You are the heart of the National Guard,” Nordhaus told conference attendees. “Our 433,000 Soldiers and Airmen make us a lethal warfighting and response force. Thanks to you, your families and your employers for ensuring our Guard remains Always Ready, Always There.”
Comprising 20% of the Joint Force at just 4% of the Defense Department’s budget, the National Guard provides 30% of the Army’s and 40% of the Air Force’s operational forces. Guardsmen serve in every state, three territories and the District of Columbia. They hail from almost every ZIP code and serve in every combatant command.
Each assuming their roles last fall, the NGB leadership team charted their priorities for the Guard: warfighters and families, readiness, partnerships and modernization. These focus areas, they said, will yield a stronger, more capable National Guard.
“I’m a car guy,” Raines said. “I think of our priorities as a tachometer. For us, RPM means readiness, partnerships, modernization. When these efforts align, we will make our Guard better every day.”
Nordhaus said the National Guard’s missions are synonymous with the Interim National Defense Strategy Guidance, which prioritizes homeland defense, deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and burden sharing with allies and partners. “The Guard is essential to President Trump’s vision of peace through strength and Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s focus on restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence,” he said.
Recent missions underscore the Guard’s combat capabilities. In June, during Operation Midnight Hammer—the largest B-2 Spirit stealth bomber strike in U.S. history—pilots from the Missouri Guard’s 131st Bomb Wing flew side-by-side with the U.S. Air Force’s 509th Bomb Wing mission partners. Guard maintainers, weapons technicians, tankers and fighters were also instrumental in the mission’s success.
Last April, as part of Operation True Promise, the D.C. Air National Guard’s 121st Fighter Squadron deployed six F-16s to intercept enemy drones and cruise missiles targeting Israel. The Tennessee Guard’s 134th Air Refueling Wing provided critical in-flight refueling for this mission, with 11 Tennessee and four D.C. Airmen later earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for their heroism.
The NGB leaders said the Guard's combat readiness translates to extraordinary domestic response capabilities.
This year, thousands of Guardsmen from multiple states have been activated to support domestic missions from the Southern Border to Washington D.C., to New York, when more than 6,800 New York National Guardsmen were activated to secure prisons during a correctional officer strike.
In 2024, National Guardsmen supported domestic missions with more than 6.7 million personnel days, spanning aircraft alert, air and missile defense, counterdrug and disaster response.
Last September, thousands of Guard troops from multiple states responded to historic flooding from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and Tennessee to aid with search and rescue, debris removal and commodity distribution.
Tennessee National Guard Specialists Brandon Moore and Ethan Ward of the 776th Maintenance Company rescued six people in Erwin, Tennessee, after their own high-water vehicle was submerged in the flood waters, forcing them to escape the cab to save themselves first.
“Even though I was in the rough position as well, the moment that the civilians washed up to us, I knew that my emotions had to be set to the side to take care of them,” Moore said. “It was a very life changing experience (and I would never) change what happened because I was there for a reason.”
This July, Texas National Guard troops, later joined by Guardsmen from Arkansas, Arizona and North Dakota, responded within hours to extreme flooding in Central Texas. Working with interagency partners, Texas Army National Guard aviators and search and rescue crews evacuated more than 525 people, including children from Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas.
“The crews in the Texas Guard have a general sentiment of, ‘We never want there to be a reason to respond, but if there is, we want to be there,’” said Army Capt. Connor Garrison, a company commander in the Texas Army Guard’s 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation Regiment. “The amount of pride I have for our team and the work that was put in for this response is hard to put into words.”
International partners also boosted the response.
The Czech Republic, a long-standing partner with the Texas and Nebraska National Guard through the DoD National Guard State Partnership Program, deployed a 16-person search-and-rescue team with four dogs to Kerrville, Texas, to aid local efforts.
“This international support isn’t by chance,” Raines said,” it’s just one example of the power of our partnerships. It’s the result of the enduring, reciprocal relationships our Guardsmen have built over decades through the State Partnership Program.”
The NGB leaders also celebrated recent Guard achievements: historic recruiting years for each service component, Army Guard combat training center rotations, the establishment of the first Air Guard cyberspace wing and the addition of next-generation aircraft and equipment, among others.
“Our nation needs us to continue to think big, lead change, innovate and collaborate,” Nordhaus urged. “We must evolve our homeland, warfight and partnership efforts to meet future challenges, so we will be stronger together and stronger tomorrow.”