Guard News - The National Guard

Alaska Guard Delivers Meat to Storm-Ravaged Community
November 25, 2024 — JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Two years after the remnants of Typhoon Merbok flooded communities across thousands of miles of western Alaska, the community of Toksook Bay made a big step... MORE

Alaska Army National Guardsmen from the 207th Aviation Troop Command and Bison Company, 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, load frozen meat for transport via UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter during an Innovative Readiness Training mission at the AKARNG hangar in Bethel, Alaska, Nov. 18, 2024. Two years ago, the community of Toksook Bay, whose population is almost entirely members of the Alaska Native Nunakauyarmiut Tribe living a subsistence lifestyle, lost thousands of pounds of meat that spoiled due to extended power outages caused by Typhoon Merbok flooding.

Medical Training Brings New Opportunities to Blackfeet Tribe
July 22, 2024 — BROWNING, Mont. – U.S. service members from more than 50 units across the country are in Montana for Blackfeet Tribal Health - Operation Walking Shield, an Innovative Readiness Training medical... MORE

U.S. Army Spc. Brianna Bottorff, a combat medic assigned to the 215th Medical Company, Indiana Army National Guard, triages a patient at the Blackfeet tribal Health - Operation Walking Shield Innovative Readiness Training medical mission at Browning High School in Browning, Mont., July 17, 2024.

Air Guard Helps Provide Free Medical Care to Virgin Islands
June 20, 2024 — RED HOOK, Virgin Islands - Approximately 240 service members from across the United States provided no-cost health care to more than 2,000 Virgin Islands residents June 1-9.The event, spanning three... MORE

Staff Sgt. Siya Liu, 349th Aerospace Medical Squadron health services management technician, Travis Air Force Base, Calif., greets a patient at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, June 1, 2024. Ivanna Eudora Kean High School was transformed into a reception and treatment area during Virgin Islands Wellness Innovative Readiness Training June 1-8, 2024.

Idaho, Nevada Guard Offer Free Health Care to Tribal Members
June 3, 2024 — LAPWAI, Idaho - The Idaho and Nevada National Guard provided medical care to the Nez Perce and Shoshone-Paiute Tribes during the Operation Nimiipuu Health community health care partnership May... MORE

About 50 Idaho and Nevada National Guard Soldiers and Airmen conducted two weeklong medical visits for members of the Nez Perce and Shoshone-Paiute Tribes May 13-24, 2024. Free health care was offered as part of the Department of Defense Innovative Readiness Training program.

Kentucky Guard Airlifts Materials for Arctic Circle Housing
May 15, 2024 — JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - More than 20 Kentucky Air National Guard Airmen deployed to Alaska in April to airlift 15 tons of homebuilding materials to the North Slope of Alaska to... MORE

Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing unload pallets of cargo under blizzard conditions during an engine-running offload from a Kentucky C-130J Super Hercules aircraft in Deadhorse, Alaska, April 26, 2024. The cargo consists of construction materials to build homes for civilians as part of Innovative Readiness Training, a Defense Department program that provides service members with real-world deployment experience while offering lasting benefits to civilian populations.

Alaska Guard Helps Provide Free Health Care to Kodiak Residents
May 10, 2024 — KODIAK, Alaska - Alaska National Guardsmen from the 176th Wing and the 207th Aviation Troop Command based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson began Kodiak Arctic Care ‘24 on May 6, flying equipment... MORE

Alaska Air National Guard Senior Master Sgt. Shannon Weaver, right, a loadmaster from the 144th Airlift Squadron, 176th Wing, guides a forklift loading equipment onto a C-17 Globemaster III in support of the Kodiak Arctic Care 24 Innovative Readiness Training Mission at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 6, 2024. Personnel from across the U.S. Uniformed Services partnered with the Kodiak Area Native Association to deliver free medical, dental, optometry and veterinary services to residents across Alaska’s remote Kodiak Island borough.

Montana, NM, Arizona Guard Provide Health Care on Reservation
August 29, 2023 — FORT BELKNAP AGENCY, Mont. - More than 100 service members, including Montana, New Mexico and Arizona National Guard personnel, conducted medical operations to support the 2023 Walking Shield... MORE

Over 100 service members from the Montana, Arizona and New Mexico National Guard, U.S. Army Reserves, U.S. Public Health Service and U.S. Air Force conducted medical operations for two weeks in August to support of the 2023 Walking Shield Innovative Readiness Training at the Fort Belknap Reservation, Montana.

Massachusetts Guard Cyber Team Helps Town Check Security
August 16, 2023 — TEWKSBURY, Mass. – Four Massachusetts National Guard members worked with the Town of Tewksbury to identify weaknesses in their cybersecurity and suggest improvements.Two Soldiers and two Airmen... MORE

Lt. Col. Chris Elgee, team lead and cyber officer with the Massachusetts National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters, briefs leaders of the Guard and local and state officials on a cyber assessment of the Town of Tewksbury by the Massachusetts National Guard. Two Guard Soldiers and two Airmen worked with Tewksbury officials to identify weaknesses in their cybersecurity and suggest how it could be improved.

New York Air Guard Medical Personnel Train at California Clinic
August 2, 2023 — COVELO, Calif. – Seventeen Air National Guard Airmen from New York’s 109th Airlift Wing spent two weeks in California providing free medical, dental and veterinary care at the Round Valley Indian... MORE

U.S. Air Force Capt. Jessica Alves, a medical specialist assigned to the 109th Airlift Wing, New York Air National Guard, works with a patient during an Innovative Readiness Training mission in Covelo, California, June 16, 2023. IRT missions offer no-cost medical care to U.S. communities while providing hands-on experience to service members.

Alaska National Guard Helps Clear Oil Spill Response Site
August 1, 2023 — SHEPARD POINT, Alaska - When the Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989, more than 11 million gallons of heavy crude oil spilled into the sound, impacting about... MORE

Alaska Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Robert Neff, an engineering craftsman from the 176th Civil Engineer Squadron, cuts a tree as part of an Innovative Readiness Training project at Shepard Point near Cordova, Alaska, July 26, 2023. Twelve 176th Wing Guardsmen are clearing a 5.5-acre site for the Shepard Point Marine Tribal Transportation Oil Spill & Marine Casualty Response Facility.

IRT Hoosier Care Offers Free Medical Care to Community
June 8, 2023 — TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - An Innovative Readiness Training mission called IRT Hoosier Care provides vision exams, single-vision eyeglasses, dental exams and extractions and basic medical exams — including... MORE

Senior Airman Blessed Velasquez, left, and Airman 1st Class Samantha Heaton, right, both optometry technicians at Joint Base San Antonio, set up a horopter at the Terre Haute Boys and Girls Club in Terre Haute, Ind., June 6, 2023. Service members from across the globe are participating in an Innovative Readiness Training mission called IRT Hoosier Care that provides no-cost medical, dental and vision services to the public.

New Hampshire Guard Serves Kids’ Dental Needs
January 10, 2023 — MANCHESTER, N.H. – Mouths open, eyes hidden by sunglasses, Keyla and Samuel Chilel appeared to doze off in their dental chairs. Keyla was having a tooth pulled; her brother was getting a... MORE

A New Hampshire Army National Guard dental team confers with Andrea Iasillo of the Manchester Health Department in a mobile dental clinic Jan. 7, 2023, at Beech Street Elementary School. From left are Spc. Hayley Minahan, Lt. Col. Christopher Fauver, Sgt. Katie Lindh, and Maj. Jacob Ayers.

Virginia, Massachusetts Guard Support Free Clinic in Georgia
September 9, 2022 — COLUMBUS, Ga. – Virginia and Massachusetts National Guard Soldiers and Airmen supported a no-cost health clinic offering vision, dental and other basic medical services Aug. 3-18 in the Columbus,... MORE

Virginia and Massachusetts National Guard Soldiers and Airmen supported a free health clinic offering vision, dental and other basic medical services Aug. 3-18, 2022, in the Columbus, Georgia, area. The clinic was part of the Department of Defense-funded Innovative Readiness Training program.

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.

Oregon National Guard Opens Its First Off-Road Tank Trail

Arkansas Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing Takes 1st C-130J Flight

Louisiana National Guard Upgrades Advanced Radar Systems

Alaska Air Guard Rescues 8 People in 4 Missions

Air Guard Conducts Sentry South-Southern Strike Exercise