Guard News - The National Guard

N.J. Airman adopts and brings home a dog from Kuwait
April 23, 2019 — LUMBERTON, N.J. – The month leading up to Staff Sgt. Dannielle Garcia’s deployment was a somber one. First, her dog Pepper was diagnosed with a brain tumor, then she made the tough decision to... MORE

U.S. Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Dannielle Garcia and her dog Mina sit for a portrait in Lumberton, N.J., March 4, 2019. Garcia volunteered to care for Mina after she was found as a stray on a base in Kuwait in 2018, and had her shipped home in January of 2019. Garcia is an Emergency Management Specialist with the 108th Civil Engineer Squadron.

104th Fighter Wing firefighters answer the calls for help
April 23, 2019 — WESTFIELD, Mass. – The responsibility of being a dispatcher at the 104th Fighter Wing fire department is an important one, as the dispatcher working in the alarm room is involved with emergency... MORE

Caleb Holden, 104th Fighter Wing firefighter, prepares to answer 911 calls in the Fire Department alarm room April 18, 2019, at Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts. The firefighter on shift in the alarm room is reponsible for answering emergency calls and ensuring the proper aid is sent to assist.

N.C. Soldier reflects on her 2004 deployment to Iraq
April 19, 2019 — RALEIGH, N.C. – Fifteen years. Could it have been that long? I was traveling to a long-overdue reunion. It took one of our own dying to bring up the idea of getting together. My first deployment... MORE

Staff Sgt. Mary Junell stands on her assigned truck while she was serving in Iraq in 2004 with the North Carolina National Guard’s 1450th Transportation Company. The unit spent several months on the roads in Iraq before they were able to get armor on their vehicles; a common occurrence in the early years of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Oldest units in the military muster together after 382 years
April 18, 2019 — SALEM Mass. - Every April, in a coastal city north of Boston, the Salem Muster is commemorated. For the ceremony this year, the mild overcast day was welcomed, as in the past, the unpredictable New... MORE

Members of the oldest military units in the nation, the 101st Engineers, the 101st Field Artillery, the 181st Infantry and the 182nd Infantry gathered for the 382nd Salem Muster on Salem Common, April. 13, 2019, just as the same units did in 1637.

109th Airlift Wing hosts youth leadership conference
April 17, 2019 — STRATTON AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.Y.— More than 100 teenagers from five Schenectady County high schools learned how to avoid destructive behavior during a day-long youth leadership conference... MORE

Students from Schenectady County Schools spent the day at Stratton ANGB learning about destructive decisions on April 16, 2019.

Army Guard missile brigade executes unique mission
April 12, 2019 — ARLINGTON, Va. – The mission of the Colorado Army National Guard’s 100th Missile Defense Brigade is unique, but, for some brigade Soldiers, also fairly straightforward. “To me, it’s very simple,” said... MORE

A ground-based interceptor missile launched by the Colorado Army National Guard's 100th Missile Defense Brigade heads skyward to intercept an incoming target missile during a training mission at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in 2008. Based at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., the brigade is the only unit of its type in the National Guard and has a detachment at Vandenberg and subordinate units at Fort Greely, Alaska.

Kentucky Guard member lets strength, courage define her
April 11, 2019 — FRANKFORT, Ky. – In late March of 2018, Natalie Wamsley was finishing up warrant officer candidate school (WOCS), maxing her last Army Physical Fitness Test and taking another successful step in her... MORE

Newly appointed Warrant Officer Natalie Wamsley salutes her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Wamsley, during a commissioning ceremony in Frankfort, Ky., March 19, 2019. Wamsley completed warrant officer candidate school March 1 while battling cancer.

Ohio Airmen brothers have each others' backs
April 10, 2019 — SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – It's National Siblings Day and an appropriate time to take a look at the story of the Crum brothers in Ohio.Senior Master Sgt. Justin Crum, the 178th Wing plans branch... MORE

Second lieutenant Josh Crum, the 178th Communications flight quality assurance officer in charge, and Senior Master Sgt. Justin Crum, the 178th Wing plans branch superintendent serve together at Springfield-Beckley Air National Guard Base in Springfield, Ohio. The Crum brothers support one another and compete with each other to become the best in their career field.

Airmen encouraged to reach out to new performance team
April 5, 2019 — HULMAN FIELD AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ind. –When it comes to resilience, it is very important to the 181st Intelligence Wing that all Airmen are mission ready. That is why the Human Performance... MORE

The 181st Intelligence Wing created its Human Performance Team(HPT) to assist Airmen with any issues that might crop up. “We have many resources available to Airmen,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. In Suk Hong Peebles, the 181st IW chaplain. “We wanted to bring those resources together to become a team.”

Citizen-Warrior: Illinois Soldier embraces deployment challenges
April 3, 2019 — CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Army Sgt. Gabrielle Calderon wasn’t supposed to deploy, but when a last-minute opportunity to support the mission in Iraq was offered, the Illinois Army Guard Soldier didn’t... MORE

U.S. Army Sgt. Gabrielle Calderon, 108th Sustainment Brigade, is an Army leader at Camp Taji, Iraq, Mar. 2, 2019. Calderon is deployed to Iraq to train, advise and assist the Iraqi Army maintenance mission at Taji.

Survivors and Ohio Guard members remember deadly tornado
April 2, 2019 — XENIA, Ohio – In a matter of minutes on the afternoon of April 3, 1974, the relative quiet on a spring day in the small southwestern Ohio town of Xenia was shattered. A powerful F-5 tornado tore a... MORE

Ohio National Guard Airmen on state active duty assist in the cleanup efforts in Xenia, Ohio, after an April 3, 1974, tornado. The F-5 storm that destroyed or damaged thousands of homes, businesses and schools was responsible for 33 deaths, and hundreds more injured.

'Sleeping with the fishes' gives Guard kids a chance to bond
April 1, 2019 — KURE BEACH, N.C. – Children of National Guard services members have a unique experience. They are not entirely Army or Air Force brats as children of active duty service members call themselves, but... MORE

Children of North Carolina National Guard Soldiers and Airmen spent the night at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher March 23, 2019, as part of the Sleeping With The Fishes sponsored by Kids on Guard.Kids on Guard is a nonprofit organization that supports the North Carolina National Guard Family Programs.

Bolt the therapy dog breaks the ice at Alaska's 176th Wing
March 29, 2019 — JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – When Bolt, a honey-colored golden retriever, saunters into a 176th Wing office suite, the Airmen greet him like a star quarterback or a celebrity. Because... MORE

Alaska Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Amanda Plazio, 176th Force Support Flight, greets therapy dog, Bolt, Jan. 23, 2019, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Bolt works closely with 176th Wing Director of Psychological Health, Diann Richardson, as part of the licensed clinical social worker’s outreach to the wing.

Oregon Soldiers push themselves toward medical careers
March 26, 2019 — SALEM, Oregon – Citius, Altius, Fortius is the motto for the Olympic games. Translated from Latin, it means, “Faster, Higher, Stronger,” encompassing the gains in human accomplishment and one’s... MORE

Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers and Oregon Health Science University (OHSU) medical students Capt. John Avery Harrell, left, and Sgt. Zach Bolte pause for a photograph together at the OHSU Life Sciences Building, following afternoon classes on March 5, 2019, at the OHSU campus in Portland, Oregon. Harrell and Bolte both deployed and served together during Operation Inherent Resolve in 2017, and attended the University of Oregon for their undergraduate studies at the same time before beginning their medical school studies in August of 2019 at OHSU.

World War I: Enormous parade honored New York Guard Soldiers
March 25, 2019 — NEW YORK – On March 25, 1919, 20,000 men of the New York National Guard’s 27th Division owned the streets of Manhattan. Two million people turned out to see the division march five miles up Fifth... MORE

Soldiers of the 27th Division Headquarters Detachment march up Fifth Avenue past 42nd Street during the massive welcome home parade for the New York National Guard Soldiers on March 25, 1919, in New York City. About 20,000 members of the 27th Division, which was made up of National Guard Soldiers from around New York, took part in the parade up Fifth Avenue.

Service in New York's 'Fighting 69th' is a family tradition
March 21, 2019 — NEW YORK — For New York Army National Guard Capt. Richard Reilly, family traditions and regimental history go hand in hand at the 69th Infantry Regiment. Reilly, commander of Delta Company, 1st... MORE

New York Army National Guard Capt. Richard Riley, the Delta Company commander, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, leads his Soldiers through Manhattan on March 16, 2019. Riley was leading his Soldiers through the 69th’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Brazilian-American Guard NCO translated Partnership ceremony
March 20, 2019 — NEW YORK—When the New York National Guard signed a State Partnership Program agreement with Brazil on March 14, Staff Sgt. Norma Saderi was front and center, alongside two four-star officers and a... MORE

New York Army National Guard Soldier Staff Sgt. Norma Saderi, Joint Task Force-Empire Shield, translates from English to Portuguese for a state partnership signing, on the USS Intrepid, Manhattan, New York, March 14, 2019.

Mass. Air Guard maintainer views sheet metal work as art
March 20, 2019 — ARLINGTON, Va. – Airman 1st Class Jose Lozada Jr. believes aircraft structural maintenance is more than just repairing physical damage. “I’d describe it as art,” said Lozada, a sheet metal technician... MORE

Airman 1st Class Jose Lozada Jr., a sheet metal technician with the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing, removes rivets to repair cracks on an F-15 Eagle tail cone in Westfield, Massachusetts, March 3, 2019. Lozada, who also has automotive body and repair jobs on the civilian side, said that even after a little more than a year of working in aircraft structural maintenance, the thrill of being around F-15s still hasn't worn off. "Working on a jet still leaves me speechless," he said. "Just to even think that I went from something so small [automobiles] to working on something so big."

Wyoming combat medics maintain skills and share techniques
March 19, 2019 — CAMP GUERNSEY JOINT TRAINING CENTER, Wyo. – Sometimes they are the Soldiers hanging around the ambulance during annual training—dispensing Motrin and advice to drink water and change socks. Other... MORE

Wyoming Army National Guard Sgt. Shawn Todd, a combat medic assigned to Recruiting and Retention Battalion and Sgt. 1st Class Ethan Schanzenbach, 213th Regional Training Institute senior medical noncommissioned officer, treat a neck wound on mock patient, Spc. Tailor Johnson, a combat medic assigned to the 115th Field Artillery Brigade, during 68W annual sustainment training at the 213th RTI in Guernsey March 6, 2019.

Army Guard helicopter maintainers tout realism in training
March 18, 2019 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – For Sgt. 1st Class Kyle Moyer's maintenance students at the Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, making mistakes is unofficially part of the training... MORE

Army Sgt. Daniel Bryd, with the Tennessee Army National Guard's 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 230th Aviation Regiment, replaces an engine starter on a hardware maintenance trainer as part of a reclassification course at the Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, Feb. 27, 2019. The trainer is a non-flyable air frame that gives students hands-on experience with maintenance and repair procedures.

Iowa Air Guard’s 132nd Security Forces Squadron Conducts Annual Training in Hawaii

Wisconsin Air Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing Partners With UW Health for Medical Airmen Training

Connecticut Army Guard Partners With Coast Guard to Dislodge Beached Buoy

Minnesota Guard Among First to Field Army’s Newest M250 Automatic Rifle

Soldier’s Medal Awarded to Georgia Guardsman Who Pulled Driver From Burning SUV