Guard News - The National Guard

Reserve wing will be first to host Guard associate
July 31, 2007 — TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) - The Air Force Reserve Command's 507th Air Refueling Wing begins a new partnership in August when members of the Oklahoma Air National Guard team up for the drill... MORE

Col. James McCormack and Col. Jeffery Glass prepare for takeoff during their first duo commander mission July 26 at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. Colonel McCormack is the 137th Airlift Wing commander, and Colonel Glass is the 507th Air Refueling Wing commander. Colonel McCormack's Air National Guard wing is slated to stand up as a KC-135 Stratotanker associate wing affiliated with Colonel Glass's Air Force Reserve Command wing in late 2007. The merger is the first time an Air National Guard wing has associated to an Air Force Reserve wing.

Civilian hospital provides training for Texas National Guard medics
July 30, 2007 — Patients in the emergency room at the Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, may find they are being treated by someone in a camouflage uniform.That's because a dozen health care... MORE

Spc. Manuel Chavarria (left) starts an IV on a patient in the Emergency Department of the Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital staff. The Texas National Guardsman trains in the civilian hospital during their drill weekends.

Leaders endorse Pakistan, National Guard partnership
July 26, 2007 — WASHINGTON - The chief of the National Guard Bureau and Pakistani military officials said Wednesday they strongly support a partnership between the National Guard and Pakistan.LTG H Steven Blum and... MORE

Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense; retired Lt. Gen. Tariq Waseem Ghazi, Pakistan's former defense secretary; LTG H Steven Blum, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Marine Lt. Gen. Frances Wilson, president, National Defense University, talk about a possible National Guard State Partnership Program with Pakistan at a dinner at Blum's official residence at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2007.

Apache pilots save critically-wounded Soldier with unorthodox evacuation
July 24, 2007 — LOGISTICS SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, Iraq - Two pilots from Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (Attack), 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, risked their lives in an unorthodox casualty... MORE

Chief Warrant Officer-4 Kevin Purtee (left) and Chief Warrant Officer-2 Allen Crist, Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (Attack), man the AH-64 helicopter they used to help save the life of a critically wounded Soldier.

49th Soldiers earn prestigious German marksmanship award
July 20, 2007 — FORT GREELY, Alaska - The distinctive foreign marksmanship award attached to Class A uniforms by a cord is sometimes seen worn by Soldiers who've been stationed in Germany. Stateside Soldiers rarely,... MORE

Staff Sgt. Steven Mich evaluates the handling of a German pistol during a German marksmanship competition held by the 49th Missile Defense Battalion.

Safety, Alaskan Style
July 19, 2007 — FORT GREELY, Alaska - When it comes to safety, Soldiers stationed at this distant, somewhat extreme corner of the world must be on top of their game. Nearly all Soldier activities, both on duty or... MORE

Grizzly bears outside Fort Greely fence. Although not common, the last Grizzly bear sighting was June 12, 2007.

Changing with the Guard
July 18, 2007 — DENVER (AFPN) - Seventy Air National Guardsmen are slated to begin working at the Air Reserve Personnel Center later this year for the first time in its history.The new Guardsmen are a result of the... MORE

National Guard task force keeps Army helicopters in the fight
July 17, 2007 — CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - A unique National Guard maintenance task force keeps Army helicopters flying in Iraq and Afghanistan.The National Guard has four Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depots... MORE

Army National Guard Sgt. Morley Wagner determines which one of numerous circuit cards and multiple transducers is failing in an automated flight control system at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, on July 4, 2007. Wagner is a member of Task Force AVCRAD (Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot), which maintains components from Army National Guard, Regular Army and Army Reserve helicopters flying missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Maryland brigade assumes Iraqi mission from Indiana
July 17, 2007 — VICTORY BASE, Iraq - It is an old Army tradition marking one unit leaving and another taking its place. The flag of one unit is ceremoniously rolled and covered by a thin green case, while the flag... MORE

Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Sann, left, brigade sergeant major for the 58th Brigade Combat Team, left, and Col. Sean Casey, commander of the 58th BCT, uncase the unit's colors during a transfer of authority ceremony in which the 58th BCT assumed responsibility for garrison operations of Victory Base Complex, Iraq, from the 38th Division Support Command, Tuesday, July 10, 2007. The 58th BCT will be responsible for all daily operations on VBC.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy) (Released)

Air Guard opens new combat training runway
July 13, 2007 — HATTIESBURG, Miss. - It's a 3,500-foot-long stretch of cement with a few hundred feet added on, just in case. That's not much space to safely land a heavily loaded, half-million pound cargo plane on,... MORE

A Mississippi Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster lands July 9 at the Air National Guard's first assault runway training facility at Camp Shelby, Miss. Called "Shelby Aux Field," the 210-acre airfield is one of only two facilities in the world designed for C-17 short-field landing operations. It was constructed to meet the training demands of the Air Guard's 172nd Airlift Wing, which operates and maintains eight of the aircraft.

Guard Plans to Adjust Number of Troops Serving on U.S.-Mexican Border
July 12, 2007 — WASHINGTON - The National Guard plans to adjust the number of personnel performing security duty along the U.S.-Mexican border from about 6,000 to about 3,000 members, a National Guard Bureau... MORE

Ice and fire: Eskimos in Kuwait
July 11, 2007 — CAMP BUERHING, Kuwait - Hot like a giant hairdryer; like standing under a giant magnifying glass; or like turning an oven to 127 degrees, jumping in and closing the door.These are ways Eskimo members... MORE

The Alaska National Guard's 3rd Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment has left its mark at Camp Buerhing, Kuwait, seen here July 3, 2007.

Illinois Unveils Mental Health Services for Returning Guardsmen, Veterans
July 9, 2007 — WASHINGTON - All Illinois National Guard troops returning from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan now will be screened for traumatic brain injury and get access to post-traumatic stress disorder help... MORE

Happy Hooligans fly first UAS mission from Fargo
July 6, 2007 — Fargo, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven and N.D. National Guard Adjutant General Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk announced July 2 that the 119th Wing, North Dakota Air National Guard, has flown its first... MORE

Happy Hooligan Predator operators are seated at their positions in the Ground Control Station (GCS), Fargo, N.D.

Ohio town pulls together, honors airman killed In Iraq
July 5, 2007 — McCLURE, Ohio - In small town America, when people see a funeral procession approaching, they still pull their cars over to the shoulder and pay their respects. But when McClure, Ohio, recently lost... MORE

Lt. Col. Kevin "Sonny" Sonnenberg during his deployment to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar in 2005.

Some in recovery, others see major rainfall
July 5, 2007 — CAMP MABRY, Austin, Texas - The heavy thunderstorms that resulted in flooding all across Texas during the past 20 days is abating in some parts of Texas but may result in additional flooding through... MORE

Cooks Compete in Coveted Competition
July 3, 2007 — CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. - It was more than the mid-day sun and the hot kitchen causing the food service specialists of the Coshocton based 1485th Transportation Company, 112th Transportation Battalion to... MORE

Akron, Ohio resident Pfc. Marshall Conyers, food service specialist, prepares French onion soup, June 16 as he and other Soldiers of the 1485th Transportation Company, 112th Transportation Battalion compete in highly prestigious Connelley competition.

Huey's last hurrah
July 2, 2007 — CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. - As you go about your daily routine during annual training this year and the familiar "womp-womp-womp" sounds of helicopters fill the air, stop for a moment and turn your head... MORE

Chief Warrant Officer Brian Michael, a pilot with Company B, 1st Battalion, 137th Aviation Regiment prepares the UH-1H Iroquois for one of its last missions with the Ohio Army National Guard. Michael flew the Iroquois, more commonly known as the Huey during the Vietnam War.

Turnover of Eagle Base symbolizes success in the Balkans
July 2, 2007 — TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina - The Stars and Stripes flew over Eagle Base for the last time on the morning of June 30, the day the United States turned this sprawling military installation over to its... MORE

U.S. Ambassador Douglas L. McElhaney; LTG H Steven Blum, the chief of the National Guard Bureau; and Maj. Gen. Richard Wightman Jr., senior military representative at NATO Headquarters in Bosnia and Herzegovina honor arriving officials from Bosnia-Herzegovina during ceremonies marking the turnover of Eagle Base, near Tuzla, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, from the United States to the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 30, 2007. More than 100,000 members of the active duty and Reserve components of the U.S. military have served at Eagle Base since it opened 12 years ago.

Citizen-Soldiers Honor Fallen Firefighters
July 2, 2007 — KABUL, Afghanistan - Warriors from 218th Enhanced Separate Brigade from the South Carolina National Guard assigned to Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix in Afghanistan paid tribute over the weekend to... MORE

Maine Guard Airmen Exercise Rapid-Response Communications Skills

Louisiana Guard Hosts International Interrogation Competition to Build Readiness

Air Reserve Component Test Center Marks Milestone With F-35 Test Force at Eglin AFB

Texas Guard Members Bolster Border Patrol Efforts along Rio Grande

Washington Army Guard Soldiers Participate in Norwegian Foot March