An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Aug. 3, 2010

Leaders say volunteers key to Guard's success

By Sgt. Darron Salzer National Guard Bureau

NEW ORLEANS - National Guard leaders said today that if citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen continue to deploy in support of overseas missions, their family readiness groups will need to be supported at the same pace.

"If we allow these rotations and what we do to become common, accepted and routine, then we need to give the families the focus that we should and that they deserve," Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry "Bud" Wyatt, the director of the Air National Guard, told an audience at the 2010 National Guard Volunteer Workshop, which began here today.

In a panel discussion, Guard leaders also answered questions from the audience about how to ensure that critical family support programs remain in place and also provide the support they should.

"I think it's important to take the resources that we have and spend them responsibly," Wyatt said, "so that when people question our family support programs, we can show with pride and dignity that the funds and the people that we have in these programs are the highest priority.

"These should be the last programs the military looks at to cut back."

Wyatt said that the pressures on the economy are obvious, and there are concerns about possible family program cuts in the future.

"Your immediate response is why anyone would cut back on the most important part of combat readiness, but it's not easy," he said adding that the services are also cutting back on equipment accounts.

Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Carpenter, the acting director of the Army National Guard, said family readiness groups have developed a "partnership" with their Soldiers.

"For as much as the servicemember took an oath to serve [their] country, many of you might as well have signed the same oath, because you are just as committed as that Soldier," he said.

Carpenter credits the Army Guard's end strength to successful family programs. "The story from the inside of the Army National Guard is that every Soldier has either reenlisted or volunteered to be a part of the Army National Guard since 9/11," he said.

"We are nine years into two wars and we have an excess of Soldiers, and that's a great story about the Army National Guard and its family programs."

Carpenter said the Army is looking at the programs available to the families of unmarried Soldiers. "And I am confident that at the end of the process the right support will go to the right people.

"For us here in the Army National Guard, people are our number one priority, and taking care of people is absolutely part of that process."

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Hussein Mashal, an infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, Illinois Army National Guard, listens to questions from troops about sniper training at a range near Toruń, Poland, June 7, 2025.
A Career of Service: Illinois Army Guard Soldier Reflects on Time in Active Component, Army Guard, and Army Reserve
By Staff Sgt. Amber Peck, | July 11, 2025
TORUŃ, Poland — Sgt. 1st Class Hussein Mashal, an Illinois Army National Guard Soldier with nearly two decades of service, has checked a lot of Army boxes – service in all three components – active, Reserve, National Guard –...

Brig. Gen. Leland D. Blanchard II, the Adjutant General (TAG) for the D.C. National Guard, recognizes members of the 113th Wing D.C. Air National Guard and members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) during Cyber Shield 2025 at the Virginia National Guard's State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, VA, on June 11, 2025. Cyber Shield, the longest and largest Department of Defense cyber exercise sharpens skills, tests tactics, and strengthens collaboration in computer network defense measures and protecting our nation's critical infrastructure from evolving cyber threats and cyber incident response.
District of Columbia Guard, Jamaican Defence Force Partner at Cyber Exercise
By Ayan Sheikh, | July 10, 2025
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Members of the District of Columbia Air National Guard’s 113th Communications Squadron joined more than 900 participants from across the U.S. military and allied nations for Cyber Shield 2025, a two-week...

Colorado Army National Guard Soldier Sgt. 1st Class Robert F. Cruz, 8th Civil Support Team, receives the Soldier’s Medal for Heroism from The Adjutant General of Colorado, Maj. Gen. Laura Clellan, during a ceremony at the Colorado Freedom Memorial in Aurora, Colorado, July 9, 2025. Cruz was awarded the medal after rescuing an unconscious driver from a burning vehicle without regard for his own safety. The Soldier's Medal is the highest U.S. Army award for acts of heroism in non-combat situations.
Colorado Soldier Receives the Soldier’s Medal for Heroism
By | July 10, 2025
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert F. Cruz, 8th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, Colorado Army National Guard, was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for heroism July 9 in an official ceremony at the...