ARLINGTON, Va. – Air Force Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus remarks as prepared for his Ceremonial Assumption of Responsibility as 30th Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
Admiral Grady, thank you for hosting and for your incredible leadership to our force—it is very appreciated. General George, General Allvin, General Officers, Senior Civilians, Senior Enlisted leaders and honored guests—thank you for joining us. Today, I am humbled to formally begin my term as the 30th Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
I must first thank my wife, Shannon—the love of my life for 35 years and counting—my children Whitney, Clay, Luke, Noah, and Austin—and our six wonderful grandchildren. I am inspired by you all every day, and so blessed by the support you’ve given me during our years of service together. Thanks to my incredible dad, Don who could not be here today, but who sent my mom Sandy to hold down the fort…See, I’m already using Army terms! Thanks, mom, for being here—you are amazing. To my brother Jeff and my sister Michelle, your support has always been terrific! To my extended family and incredible friends from inside the military and out, I cannot thank you enough for your tremendous support. Not a moment of this journey would be possible without my family and friends. GEN Grass—thank you for taking a chance on a Wing Commander from Toledo to be your Executive Officer! Your mentorship has been instrumental.
GEN Hokanson, Gen Lengyel, thank you for all you’ve done to transform our National Guard. It has been a privilege to learn from your leadership, and I intend to continue building on your tremendous work. Thanks to the 29 Chiefs who came before me and the Adjutants General across our 54 states, territories, and the District of Columbia—your vision, leadership, tenacity and tireless efforts have ensured our Soldiers and Airmen are manned, trained, and equipped for every mission; that we are capable and credible in every domain; that we are well-integrated with the Joint Force, our Allies and partners, the Inter-Agency, and our local communities.
Most of all, I’d like to thank the men and women of the National Guard—I am so proud to represent you, our elite and ready warfighting force. You are critical to our nation’s defense—and you respond with selflessness and honor to help our communities when in need. Thanks for everything you and your families sacrifice in service to this great nation.
(Origin Story)
I grew up in Putnam County Ohio, named after Israel Putnam, who, on 19 April 1775, had horse-riders come up to him while he was working in his field and say “Shots heard at Lexington and Concord.” He left his plow and tavern to ride 100 miles to join the Army, and later commanded under Gen George Washington.
Little did I know, I would become a Guardsmen too. It seems like only yesterday when I knocked on the door of Maj Retired Don Schmenk, a Vietnam War veteran with 235 combat sorties in the F-100, and told him, “I think I want to fly for the Air Force.” I left his home an hour later with a dream of flying fighters. He, along with my father, a Piper J-3 Cub pilot, inspired me to make aviation a career and to apply to the US Air Force Academy. But over the course of my service flying in the Active Duty and the National Guard, I never imagined how far beyond the cockpit my experiences might take me until GEN Grass brought me to the Pentagon. There I learned how truly dynamic, versatile, resilient, and responsive our National Guard is as a warfighting force, with strategic depth and as an operational reserve for our services, and as responders from over 2500 communities across our nation to serve our citizens in time of need.
(Importance of People)
We succeed because of the awesome power of our people. Our profession of arms is collaborative and cooperative; every detail of every job counts. Every single Soldier and Airman in this organization is vital to our success and our nation’s freedoms. They selflessly defend our nation and our freedoms—often making great sacrifices to serve in harm’s way.
They deserve our respect and gratitude for answering the call to service—particularly our enlisted Airmen, Soldiers, and their families.
At two am one night while overseas on a combat deployment, I walked the flightline to find Sgt. Mike Green resting on a bunker next to an F-16. This was not like Mike, who was always hustling. I asked him, “What’s up, how are you doing in this 110 degree heat?” He told me, “I just talked to my wife, and found out I just became a Dad!” We high-fived, then off he went to swap out an F-16 engine so the jet could fly the next morning’s combat mission. I will never forget that moment—Sgt Green wanted so badly to be with his family on that very special day, yet he carried on to get the mission done. Over and over our service members make sacrifices like this as they answer the nation’s call, move towards the sound of the guns, defend our freedoms, and respond when others need help the most. They are our most critical asset and they will always be my highest priority.
(SOP: Introduction)
I believe in three simple tenets—what I call my standard operating procedures, or SOP—Service, Optimism, and Passion. I am committed to bringing service, optimism, and passion to each day as I serve alongside you in my new role.
(Service)
Starting with service: Our spirit of service is at the heart of everything we do. We serve our nation and our people. We serve the Constitution. We serve in the profession of arms. We serve alongside our allies and partners, our active duty counterparts, and our interagency colleagues.
My family personally experienced the incredible National Guard spirit of service back in 1992. Shannon and I were stationed at Homestead Air Force Base when Hurricane Andrew destroyed our first home and two cars. The National Guard was there for us then just as they are right now, as our Guardsmen are working tirelessly to respond to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. They are rescuing families in devastated areas. They are clearing roads and establishing distribution sites, so our fellow Americans can regain access to life-saving food, water and power. They are bringing more than disaster response expertise to these communities—they are bringing hope and compassion to neighbors in need. When we work to serve each other, there is nothing we can’t achieve together.
(Optimism)
My second tenant is optimism. Now, that might seem strange in light of the challenges we face today both at home and abroad, and challenges that lie ahead. But we serve because we believe we can make a difference—
because we believe progress is possible. And optimism is a force multiplier for turning those beliefs into action. My Mom and Dad always taught me—approach challenges not as problems, but as opportunities to excel.
We believe our homeland can be more secure, and our world more stable. We believe our organization can be stronger and more efficient. These are the beliefs we must carry with us every day. And every day, through a collection of seemingly small, incremental improvements applied across this great organization, we become exponentially stronger together, and stronger tomorrow. As one of our great leaders, Colin Powell once noted, optimism is not “hope.” Optimism is believing in what is possible and committing to the hard work to get it done. It’s a force multiplier!
(Passion)
And that leads me Passion, what I call the “good energy”—when we wake up every morning with a new opportunity to serve the team, create more dilemmas for our competitors, and improve our ability to fight, defend and respond when called. Some days, it’s harder than others to find that passion. During my first week at the Academy, I remember wondering, “Am I going to make it through four years of this demanding program?” Then I walked past a pillar in the gym with a quote on it that read, “Tough Times Don’t Last, Tough People Do.”
That simple reminder of resilience and passion still drives me today as I commit to giving you my all as Chief of the National Guard Bureau!
(Conclusion)
As I hope I have conveyed to you so far, everything I do in this new role will be in the service of our people, so that together we can ensure mission success. Every policy we improve, every nation and community we visit, and every decision we make will put our elite Soldiers, Airmen, and civilians front and center. You bring strength, courage, and honor to this organization—without you, we cannot succeed.
During my time as Chief, we will remain focused on readiness every day—particularly in light of intensifying Great Power Competition. We are defending a great nation that more than 333 million people call home. We are defending a constitution that over 1.3 million Americans have died to uphold. We must always be ready—to ensure our freedoms and our security are never in doubt.
We will remain passionate about partnerships. We are all part of a team—local communities across America, our governors and Adjutants General—our Joint Force, our members of Congress, the interagency, our international partners, and more.
This great, diverse team is the foundation that makes us stronger together and stronger tomorrow. We must accelerate our integration and build new partnerships to secure the ultimate deterrence against potential adversaries.
We will remain energized about modernization—not only to ensure our Soldiers and Airmen are equipped for today’s missions, but to ensure our organization is constantly evolving and modernizing to meet future challenges. We must be deployable, interoperable, and sustainable as the operational reserve and strategic depth for our Services. For 387 years, we have never stopped improving—we will not stagnate, and we will not stop innovating. The National Guard is and always will be a proven and experienced force that is ready today, and more ready tomorrow.
Finally, we will forever be passionate about the National Guard, our Soldiers and Airmen, and their families. Together we can turn problems into opportunities, strengthen our collective defense both at home and overseas, and create dilemmas that deter our strategic competitors, to preserve our freedoms and our way of life. Thank you all for your support—I am honored to serve with you.
Together, we will be “Always Ready, Always There.”