Guard News - The National Guard

West Virginia Guard members serve in their local hospitals
January 31, 2022 — CHARLESTON, W.Va. – “Always ready, Always there” is proving to be the undeniable truth, not just a motto, for West Virginia Army National Guard members serving on the COVID-19 response mission in... MORE

West Virginia Army National Guard Pfc. Kristen Denny of Martinsburg, West Virginia, is working in the Berkley Medical Center in Berkley Springs, W.Va., as part the COVID response mission. This mission in her hometown is the first for Denny, who graduated in August from Army basic training and advanced individual training as a carpentry and masonry specialist.

Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy grad going to West Point
January 20, 2022 — CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A West Virginia National Guard Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy graduate has made history by becoming the first cadet to receive an appointment to the U.S. Army’s military service... MORE

Mountaineer Challenge Academy Cadet William Farkas with Brig. Gen. William "Bill" Crane, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, and Command Sgt. Maj. Dusty Jones, Senior Enlisted Leader, while receiving the Adjutant General's Award for Academic Excellence. Farkas has received an appointment to West Point.

West Virginia military, Army to work on tech challenges
December 23, 2021 — CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Military Authority will participate in the U.S. Army’s Catalyst-Pathfinder Program to provide opportunities for the West Virginia National Guard to engage... MORE

The West Virginia Military Authority will participate in the U.S. Army’s Catalyst-Pathfinder Program to provide opportunities for the West Virginia National Guard to engage academic institutions and industry partners to solve military technological challenges.

Year in Review: National Guard delivered at home and abroad
December 22, 2021 — ARLINGTON, Va. – When a series of tornadoes slashed across parts of eight Midwest states late in the evening of Dec. 10, Spc. Zach Neisz sprang into action. He grabbed an ax, flashlight and medical... MORE

New Jersey National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from 1st Battalion, 114th Infantry Regiment, 508th Military Police Company, 108th Wing, and 177th Fighter Wing, arrive near the U.S. Capitol Jan. 12, 2021. National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from every state, territory and the District of Columbia traveled to Washington to support federal and district authorities for the 59th Presidential Inauguration.

West Virginia’s 111th Engineer Brigade ends Mideast mission
December 13, 2021 — CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia National Guard welcomed home 120 Soldiers from the 111th Engineer Brigade deployed to the Middle East since late February.“We are so happy to have our Soldiers... MORE

The West Virginia National Guard welcomed home 120 Soldiers from the 111th Engineer Brigade deployed since late February 2021 to the Middle East in a homecoming ceremony at McLaughlin Air National Guard Base, Charleston, West Virginia, Dec. 11, 2021. During the deployment, the unit was headquartered at Camp Buehring, Kuwait.

Deployed son carries on father’s legacy, commands same unit
November 30, 2021 — UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - Many fathers can only dream that their children will follow in their footsteps. Col. Robert J. Kincaid Jr. turned this dream into a reality for his dad.Kincaid Jr., the... MORE

Col. Robert J. Kincaid Jr., the commander of the 111th Theater Engineer Brigade, is in the same spot his father was 18 years ago – commanding the 111th while deployed to the Central Command Area of Operations. Col. (Ret.) Robert J. Kincaid Sr. was the commander of the then 111th Engineer Group during a deployment to the Middle East in 2003.

West Virginia Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy hits milestone
November 22, 2021 — KINGWOOD, W.Va. – The West Virginia National Guard’s Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy program graduated its 5,000th cadet Nov. 19, as 106 members of Class 2-2021 completed the program at Camp... MORE

Class 2-2021 of the West Virginia National Guard’s Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy completed the program Nov. 19 at Camp Dawson in Kingwood, West Virginia. The 106 cadets are now among more than 5,000 who have graduated from the program since it began in 1993.

Guard partnership program adapts, continues to grow
November 15, 2021 — WASHINGTON – A National Guard program formed in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union has adapted and continues to provide benefits to partnerships around the world, Army Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson,... MORE

West Virginia National Guardsmen show members of the Peruvian military how to do field maintenance of Humvees. The Peruvian soldiers deployed as part of an international peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.

29th Infantry Division moves 5,000 Afghans through Kuwait
November 5, 2021 — CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – On a particularly hazy mid-September day in Kuwait, Maj. Gen. John Rhodes, commanding general of Task Force Spartan and the National Guard’s Virginia-based 29th Infantry... MORE

Afghan evacuees board a U.S.-chartered flight for their destination after a two-week stay in Kuwait, where they received medical screenings and were processed by Task Force Spartan personnel. Approximately 5,000 evacuees processed through Kuwait.

111th Med Group hosts Advanced Trauma Life Support course
October 21, 2021 — HORSHAM, Pa. – More than a dozen Air National Guard members from six states learned the ABCs during a medical course hosted by the 111th Medical Group.Not the song to teach preschoolers the alphabet,... MORE

U.S. Air National Guard Maj. Sammar Atassi, an internal medicine physician assigned to the 130th Medical Group headquartered at McLaughlin Air National Guard Base in Charleston, West Virginia, intubates an infant training mannequin during the Advanced Trauma Life Support course at Biddle Air National Guard Base in Horsham, Pennsylvania, Sept. 28, 2021. Sixteen service members from nine ANG units in six states participated in the class, which was hosted by the 111th Medical Group.

West Virginia Guard played pivotal role in Afghan evacuation
September 9, 2021 — CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Soldiers and Airmen of the West Virginia National Guard were critical components of Operation Allies Refuge, the State Department-led project of evacuating Afghan citizens and... MORE

A West Virginia Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster lll carrying Afghanistan evacuees arrives at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy Aug. 22, 2021. Two aircrews from the 167th Airlift Wing transported passengers and cargo into and out of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

New Hampshire Guard radar operators train at Northern Strike
August 12, 2021 — GRAYLING, Mich. – Field artillery firefinder radar operators honed their skills to detect enemy fire during Northern Strike 21-2 at Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center."We trained our... MORE

Soldiers with the 197th Field Artillery Brigade, New Hampshire Army National Guard, set up their AN/TPQ-53 Firefinder Radar during Northern Strike 21, Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center, Grayling, Michigan, Aug. 8, 2021.

165th AW participates in Northern Strike 21 medical exercise
August 10, 2021 — SAVANNAH, Ga. – Over 85 Air National Guard Airmen from multiple medical units across the United States and its territories attended the first all-Air National Guard mobile medic training during... MORE

Airmen load mannequin patients onto a KC-46 Pegasus during mobile medic training at the Northern Strike 21 exercise Aug. 2-8, 2021. The Air Dominance Center at the 165th Airlift Wing in Savannah, Georgia, hosted over 85 Air National Guard Airmen from multiple medical units across the United States and its territories for the training.

Disasters, COVID fail to stop Guard unit from deployment
July 23, 2021 — WASHINGTON – Soldiers with the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team overcame "several challenges of biblical proportions" to prepare and complete an 11-month deployment to the Middle East to support... MORE

South Carolina Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to Alpha Company, 4-118th Infantry Regiment, 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team, conduct tank gunnery training while deployed in the Middle East, Feb. 4, 2020.

National Guard support critical to U.S. European Command
July 22, 2021 — STUTTGART, Germany – From Poland to Kosovo, Lithuania to Ukraine, Soldiers and Airmen from the U.S. National Guard operate alongside allies and partners throughout Europe. They train in all domains,... MORE

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Justin Sachariason, left, a Soldier assigned to the Florida Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, instructs 1st Lt. Almir Sarac, a soldier with the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, how to shoot the M4A1 carbine rifle at Manjaca Training Area, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 19, 2021.

West Virginia, Qatar formalize military partnership
June 21, 2021 — DOHA, Qatar – Brig. Gen. William Crane, the adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, and Staff Brigadier Khalid Al-Khayareen, director of the International Forces Affairs Directory for... MORE

Members of the West Virginia National Guard and the Qatar Emiri Land Forces at QELF headquarters in Doha, Qatar, June 21, 2021. West Virginia and Qatar formalized their partnership during the visit with Qatari Armed Forces as a part of the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program.

Iowa, Virginia, W.Va. aviation Soldiers train in Pennsylvania
June 21, 2021 — FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – Approximately 145 aviation maintenance Soldiers from the Iowa, Virginia and West Virginia National Guard honed their skills repairing helicopters at Muir Army Airfield June... MORE

Approximately 145 aviation maintenance Soldiers with B Company, 248th Aviation Support Battalion, 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, 29th Infantry Division, Iowa, Virginia, and West Virginia National Guard, honed their skills repairing helicopters at Muir Army Airfield June 1-15 at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.

WVNG medical unit ensures Soldier readiness, COVID response
June 10, 2021 — CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The second floor of the U.S. Army Reserve building may seem at first glance like an unassuming office space.Within that space, however, resides a unit that plays a crucial role in... MORE

Members of the West Virginia National Guard helped conduct a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Buffalo, West Virginia, March 26, 2021. More than 200 employees were vaccinated, demonstrating a whole of government public-private partnership that has helped West Virginia become a nationally recognized leader in COVID-19 vaccine administration.

WVNG helps prepare Peru military for peacekeeping mission
June 8, 2021 — LIMA, Peru – Two members of the West Virginia National Guard helped prepare members of the Peruvian Army and Marine Corps for a global peacekeeping mission as part of the ongoing relationship between... MORE

Members of the West Virginia National Guard train Peruvian Armed Forces on the M1165 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle as part of the National Guard’s State Partnership Program in Lima, Peru, June 3, 2021. Peru will use the training on an international peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.

National Guard participates in multinational exercise
May 19, 2021 — MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama Army Guardsmen are participating in the largest exercise since COVID-19 shut down most training and travel. Exercise Defender-Europe 21 began with 26 nations, including the... MORE

National Guard units from Alabama, Florida, West Virginia, Tennessee and Ohio are participating in Defender-Europe 21 and linked exercises to demonstrate and develop the extensive military capabilities NATO allies need to prevent conflict.

NASA Apollo, Artemis Missions Cross Paths at Colorado Guard Site

South Carolina Air Guard Showcases ACE Concepts

Florida Army Guard Makes Major Training Exercise Possible

Pennsylvania Guard’s 213th RSG Trains on Heavy Vehicles

Indiana National Guard Conducts Intensive Mortar Training