OACOMA, S.D. - Leaders from the South Dakota National Guard met Thursday with representatives from several Native American to discuss partnership opportunities for community service projects on their reservations.
Representatives from the Yankton, Oglala, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes listened to briefings on the role and capabilities of the Guard, and how they are able to support communities with engineer construction, material transportation and medical support services.
Guard leaders and tribal members saw the meeting as an opportunity to generate awareness of Guard services, what some of the needs are on the reservations, and how they can work together.
"We wanted to engage the tribes to enter into a partnership with the South Dakota National Guard," said Maj. Gen. Tim Reisch, adjutant general of the SDNG. "The partnership would involve the National Guard conducting training on the reservations that would result in improvements to the infrastructure, such as road development, construction services, providing medical care and other types of support that are consistent with the missions of the Guard."
"I appreciate Gen. Reisch setting up this meeting with the different tribes to discuss some of the common goals we can achieve together," said Richard Leasure, environmental director and emergency manager for the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
"The presentations we received and the talks we had were very pretty positive," said Donna Salomon, public relations coordinator for Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Yellow Bird Steele. "I see our partnership building as viable. Working with the Guard would create something beneficial for our tribes and the communities."
Some of the potential projects discussed included medical screenings and examinations, veterinarian services, firewood transportation, and road construction and maintenance.
"Most of the reservations, especially in the last couple years, experienced different types of disasters - flooding, heavy snowfall, loss of power, freezing rains. To have a Guard unit come in to assist with firewood delivery or assist our Indian Health Services with medical assistance, dental care or optical services would be a benefit to both of us," Leasure said.
"I'd like to see some help with road development and our infrastructure,"
Salomon said. "Sometimes we do not have the funds for needed projects and are reliant on other federal agencies to come in and help. I think the Guard has the right capacity to help us bridge that gap."
The National Guard provides community services through its Innovative Readiness Training program, or IRT. The IRT program partners with local organizations to provide a benefit to communities while providing hands-on, readiness-training opportunities for the Guard and other U.S. military units throughout the country. The program is built upon the long-standing tradition of the National Guard, acting as good neighbors at the local level in applying military personnel to assist worthy civic and community needs.
"The National Guard is a community-based organization," Reisch said. "We want to go out and continue to partner with our communities so we can continue to have membership from a broad range of communities, as well as provide services to them."