Guard News - The National Guard

Obstacles don't slow Pennsylvania Guard chaplain assistant
November 10, 2021 — MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Over snaking slant walls and treacherous jumps, under menacing barbed wire and slogging up a steep climb with a 50-pound sack of sagging sand, Master Sgt. Joshua March pushed through... MORE

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Joshua March, chaplain assistant of the 193rd Chaplain Corps, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Nov. 9, 2021. March, a drill status Guardsman, is a world champion in obstacle course racing outside of his service with the Air National Guard.

29th ID cadet continues family's long legacy of service
November 8, 2021 — NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Upon swearing into the Virginia Army National Guard Aug. 20, 2021, Cadet Ethan Pulket began adding to his family's legacy of more than 200 years of combined military service. For... MORE

Cadet Ethan Pulkit swears into the Virginia Army National Guard in front of family, friends and peers during a ceremony Aug. 20, 2021, at Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia. Pulket will be following in his family's footsteps and be part of the fourth generation to continue the legacy of military service to the nation and the 29th Infantry Division.

Pa. Guard facilitates emergency communication best practices
November 4, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - More than 60 emergency management communicators gathered in-person and virtually to discuss disaster communications and best practices Nov. 3-4.The FEMA Region 3-facilitated... MORE

Maj. Victor Yartz, left, Pennsylvania National Guard, and Sgt. Craig Polen, Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Communications Information Services, work at the FEMA Region 3-facilitated Fall Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Group at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 2021. Pennsylvania State Police set-up their mobile command center at the event.

Fort Indiantown Gap the busiest Guard training center again
October 28, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – For the second year in a row and fifth time in the past seven years, Fort Indiantown Gap was the busiest National Guard training center in the country.During the 2021 fiscal... MORE

A Soldier from 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, provides dismounted security while the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle gunner provides rear security on the road during improvised explosive device training at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, Aug. 11, 2021. Fort Indiantown Gap was the busiest National Guard training center in the country in 2021.

New York Guard hosts biological, chemical dispersal drill
October 26, 2021 — NEW YORK – The New York National Guard's 24th Civil Support Team is hosting 124 counterparts from 19 other states in New York City this week to support a homeland security exercise focused on figuring... MORE

New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt Jonathan Vasconez, a member of the New York National Guard's 24th Civil Support Team, takes notes while collecting data at a testing location in the World Trade Center Subway Station in New York City Oct. 19, 2021, while participating in a study on how chemical and biological agents would disperse in a big city. The New York National Guard's 24th Civil Support Team, based in New York City, hosted 124 Guard Soldiers and Airmen from around the country who participated in the Department of Homeland Security study.

Task Force Phoenix CEMA cell counters unmanned aerial systems
October 19, 2021 — CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – Coalition forces are countering adversary unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the U.S. Central Command area of operations with a rapidly evolving set of tools and training.Task... MORE

Staff Sgt. Daniel Butts, with the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, trains with a SPECTRE Virtual Reality Trainer during a counter-unmanned aerial system (CUAS) course at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Course instructor Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Meneely stands behind him.

Titan of Air Force history honored in Pennsylvania hometown
October 7, 2021 — BOYERTOWN, Pa. - Pennsylvania’s prominence in U.S. Army history and its role in today’s force is well known - from watershed events at Valley Forge and Gettysburg to being the home of the U.S. Army... MORE

Brig. Gen. Michael Regan, Pennsylvania deputy adjutant general-air, right, with Gen. Carl Spaatz re-enactor Chris Boswell following a road dedication ceremony in Boyertown, Pa., June 28, 2018. Spaatz, the first chief of staff of the newly formed Air Force following the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947, grew up in Boyertown and is touted as one of its greatest citizens.

Army unveils new Black Hawk variant at Fort Indiantown Gap
October 7, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – The U.S. Army unveiled the newest variant of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, the UH-60V, during a ceremony Oct. 6 at the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Eastern Army National... MORE

A UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter is parked on Muir Army Airfield for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new variant Oct. 6, 2021, at the Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. EAATS was the first unit in the Army – active-duty, National Guard or Army Reserve – to receive the new variant.

Pa. Guard, Lithuanians train together in platoon exchange
September 22, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – Fort Indiantown Gap hosted 33 Soldiers from Lithuania’s land forces reserve component Sept. 6-17 for an annual platoon exchange, part of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s... MORE

Lithuanian Soldiers rush to treat simulated casualties Sept. 10 at the Medical Battalion Training Site (MBTS) at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. Thirty-three Soldiers from Lithuania’s land forces reserve component came to Fort Indiantown Gap Sept. 6-17 for an annual platoon exchange, part of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s State Partnership Program.

Arkansas, North Dakota Guardsmen win rifle, pistol competition
September 13, 2021 — NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Fifty-three four-person teams from across the National Guard competed in the 50th Winston P. Wilson Rifle and Pistol Championship Aug. 28-Sept. 2."We are truly honored to... MORE

Staff Sgt. James Dansie, Utah National Guard, fires his pistol Sept. 2, 2021, during the General George Patton Combat Pistol match of the 50th Winston P. Wilson and the 30th Armed Forces Skill at Arms Championships, hosted by the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center, held at the Robinson Joint Maneuver Training Center, North Little Rock, Ark.

Hokanson: Names in bronze one of the reasons the National Guard keeps our promise to be Always Ready, Always There
September 10, 2021 — NEW YORK – As Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson ran his fingers over the letters spelling out one of the names cut into the 9/11 Memorial here Wednesday, he pondered the consequences of the terrorist attacks... MORE

Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief, National Guard Bureau, places a flag and pauses to remember U.S. Military Academy classmate Douglas Gurian, among the almost 3,000 names engraved in the 9/11 Memorial. “It was an attack on our nation, and deeply personal to so many of us,” Hokanson said. The National Guard transformed from a strategic reserve to an operational force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. This image was acquired using a cellular device.

Pennsylvania Guard responded in force on 9/11
September 10, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – At approximately 10:03 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in western Pennsylvania. Within hours, Soldiers and Airmen from the Pennsylvania... MORE

Left to right, Maj. Gen. William Lynch, Pennsylvania National Guard adjutant general; Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge; and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Paul Evanko leave a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from the Pennsylvania National Guard's Company G, 104th Aviation Regiment, at the Flight 93 crash site in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo by Terry Way/Commonwealth Media Services)

National Guard members reflect on 9/11 experiences
September 10, 2021 — ARLINGTON, Va. – On Sept. 4, 2001, then-Army Staff Sgt. Timothy Redmond was starting his first day as an assistant district attorney in New York City.One week later, recalled the Green Beret with the... MORE

A graphic illustration of the World Trade Center Twin Towers coming out of the Pentagon with a keystone on the bottom. The towers’ gradient from blue to red symbolizes the lives lost on 9/11. As the nation commemorates the tragic day 20 years ago, National Guard members and retirees reflect on their experiences, and how the day’s events changed the course of the Guard.

RED HORSE Ready! 111th squadron always set to ‘saddle up’
September 8, 2021 — HORSHAM, Pa. – With the shift in mission at the 111th Attack Wing from A-10 Thunderbolt II to the remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper, there are those in the community who are sometimes surprised that the... MORE

Members of the 201st Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers, or REDHORSE, Detachment 1, pose for a picture at Biddle Air National Guard Base in Horsham, Pennsylvania, May 15, 2021. This is the first official group photo of the 201st REDHORSE Det. 1 in the Operational Camouflage Pattern, or OCP, utility uniform on base since they returned from their recent deployment overseas.

Pennsylvania Airmen serve nearly 5,000 meals in IRT project
August 13, 2021 — DOVER, Del. – Napoleon is credited with observing that “An Army marches on its stomach” – underscoring the vital role that suitable provisions like food have played in executing military operations... MORE

Air and Army National Guardsmen from Pennsylvania and New Hampshire planned, ordered, prepared and served nearly 5,000 meals to more than 200 military service members participating in the Central Delaware Partnership for Hope, an Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) project where service members offered no-cost health care to members of the Dover community in August 2021.

Guardsman sets records at CMP National Trophy Rifle Matches
August 9, 2021 — NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The National Guard All Guard Service Rifle team broke two national records and earned 10 first or second place honors during the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) National... MORE

Master Sgt. Greg Neiderhiser, Pennsylvania National Guard, had a perfect shot during the Hearst Doubles Match at the 2021 CMP National Trophy Rifle matches Aug. 4, 2021, in his final event as an All Guard member.

EAATS receives new Black Hawk variant
July 28, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – The Pennsylvania National Guard's Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (EAATS) received the first fielding of UH-60V Black Hawks from the Utility Helicopter... MORE

A UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter is secured after being flown to Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., on July 27, 2021.

Pennsylvania National Guard vaccination mission ends
July 1, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – After over three months and more than 80,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, the Pennsylvania National Guard's public vaccination mission has come to an end.Operation... MORE

Spc. Christopher Valencia, combat medical specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 112 Infantry Regiment administers a COVID-19 vaccine to Romero Sergio at the Esperanza Community Vaccination Center in Philadelphia on May 17, 2021.

Pennsylvania helicopter crews practice using water buckets
May 26, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – Pennsylvania National Guard helicopter crews conducted water bucket training May 11 at Fort Indiantown Gap.Crews in UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters filled... MORE

One CH-47 Chinook and two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters conduct water bucket firefighter training May 11, 2021, at Memorial Lake State Park and Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania National Guard crews take water from Memorial Lake and drop it in Fort Indiantown Gap’s training corridor.

Pennsylvania-California military ties date back to Civil War
May 11, 2021 — CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – As Soldiers of California’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade trade places with their counterparts of Pennsylvania’s 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade, troops will be... MORE

U.S. Soldiers with the California National Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade are taking over the aviation mission in the Middle East from the Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade, taking part in Pennsylvania-California military cooperation that has been going on since the Civil War.

Puerto Rico Air Guard Conducts Deployment for Training at Aviano

Alaska Air Guard 168th Medical Group Trains for High-Stakes Missions

Civic Leaders Fly With Alaska Air Guard During Red Flag Alaska 25-2

Washington Army Guard Trains in Water Bucket Operations

Alaska Army Guard Rescues Family Stranded on River During Storm