Guard News - The National Guard

MING Soldier helps at vaccination events with sign language
May 17, 2021 — MARINE CITY, Mich. – During a recent COVID-19 vaccination clinic, Michigan Army National Guard Sgt. Bill Fitrakis, assigned to the 1460th Transportation Company as a truck driver, was able to put his... MORE

Michigan Army National Guard Sgt. Bill Fitrakis, 1460th Transportation Company, certified in American Sign Language, explains the COVID-19 vaccine process during a vaccination clinic at the Marine City Middle School in Marine City, Michigan, April 27, 2021. Due to most of sign language being a visual language, he cannot wear a mask as it would not impart the message.

28th ECAB officially released, completes Mideast mission
May 17, 2021 — CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – The 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade formally transferred authority of its mission in the Middle East to the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade.The ceremony included the... MORE

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, operated by Soldiers with the 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade, flies over an airfield in the 28th ECAB's area of operations in the Middle East.

WING lays foundation for partnership with Papua New Guinea
May 17, 2021 — MADISON, Wis. – One Wisconsin Army National Guard officer has spent the better part of the last year laying the foundation for the Wisconsin National Guard’s new state partnership with Papua New... MORE

Capt. Christopher Meza, a Wisconsin Army National Guard officer, with senior leaders from the Papua New Guinea Defense Force. Meza spent nearly six months in Papua New Guinea where he represented the Wisconsin National Guard as part of its new State Partnership Program partnership with Papua New Guinea.

Missouri Airmen mother, daughter join in fight against COVID
May 14, 2021 — ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Missouri National Guard Senior Airman Terra Waitl from the 139th Logistics Readiness Squadron's material management office was activated for food bank missions in May last year.But... MORE

Senior Airman Terra Waitl, right, who is assigned to the 139th Logistics Readiness Squadron’s material management office, Missouri Air National Guard, outside the Nutrition Center in St. Joseph, Missouri, Nov. 12, 2020. The Missouri National Guard has been assisting at food banks across the state as part of Missouri’s COVID-19 response.

National Guard, partners to conduct ORCA 21 CBRNE exercise
May 14, 2021 — JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Hundreds of National Guard Civil Support Team units from 11 states will participate in Exercise ORCA 2021 in Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna Valley and Seward... MORE

Members of the Michigan National Guard’s 51st Civil Support Team run through decontamination procedures during Northern Exposure 21, March 16, 2021, at Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Northern Exposure 21 was integrated with another exercise known as Rising Waters 2021. This year's scenario was catastrophic flooding leading to chemical contamination, which was followed by a possible WMD situation.

Army Guard cyber event entices future Soldiers
May 13, 2021 — BEEBE, Ark. - Fatigued but determined, a squad of new Soldiers was within a football field of the final objective — a radio tower they needed to take out.The newbies had already cleared buildings of... MORE

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gregory Backus, an information protection technician with the Army National Guard’s Professional Education Center, initiates a cyberattack on the computer networks of students participating in Interactive War Games, a cyber awareness event at Arkansas State University-Beebe, April 28, 2021. Backus was showing students what a cyberattack looked like as they were participating in simulated battlefield drills from laptop computers.

Michigan Air National Guardsman pursues kickboxing gold
May 13, 2021 — BATTLE CREEK, Michigan – U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Destiny “Diesel” Taylor has qualified to compete for a spot in the World Games 2022 as a result of her recent gold win at the World Association of... MORE

Michigan Air National Gjuard Master Sgt. Destiny Taylor, 110th Wing finance specialist, spars with a teen boy during a youth training class in Kalamazoo, Michigan, April 22, 2021.

Oklahoma Army Guard trains response to aviation accident
May 13, 2021 — TULSA, Okla. – Fire trucks and ambulances swarmed the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s Aviation Support Facility 2 in a training exercise May 12. The first responders from multiple Tulsa area agencies... MORE

Firefighters and other first responders extract a simulated casualty played by an Oklahoma Army National Guard Citizen-Soldier from a mock helicopter crash during training at the Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility 2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, May 12, 2021. The training prepares Army aviation units to respond to accidents ranging from slip and falls to mass casualty events.

Air Guard unit provides essential satellite communications
May 12, 2021 — VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – A small Air National Guard squadron perched on a scrub oak-covered hilltop on the central coast of California makes a big contribution to the Combined Force Space... MORE

Tech. Sgt. Jaime Gomez, undergoing mission qualification training to operate the Advanced Extreme High Frequency Satellite Mission Control Subsystem, wears his unit patch on his right sleeve at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., April 16, 2021. His unit, the 148th Space Operations Squadron, operates the U.S. Space Force's protected Military Satellite Communications system, providing warfighters global, secure, survivable, strategic and tactical communication.

Tennessee National Guard aircrew rescues stranded hiker
May 12, 2021 — KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A Tennessee Army National Guard medical flight crew rescued a hiker who was having difficulty breathing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park May 9.Shortly before 7 a.m., the... MORE

Tennessee National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Banta begins hoist operations, descending from a Black Hawk helicopter to a stroke victim who was hiking on the Appalachian Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park April 15, 2021. The patient was flown to a hospital in Knoxville.

Michigan National Guard Soldier on the offense against COVID-19
May 12, 2021 — MARQUETTE, Mich. – Throughout 2020, Michigan Army National Guard Sgt. John Toomey helped defend his community in his role as a civilian nurse practitioner in the intensive care unit treating COVID-19... MORE

U.S. Army Sgt. John Toomey, assigned to the COVID-19 Vaccination Testing Team Task Force North, Michigan National Guard, conducts administrative procedures during a vaccination event in Marquette April 29, 2021.

41st Civil Support Team conducts annual WMD training
May 11, 2021 — BARDSTOWN, Ky. – The Kentucky National Guard's 41st Civil Support Team (CST) tested its readiness to respond to threats from weapons of mass destruction March 15-18.This certification is conducted... MORE

Kentucky National Guard Soldiers with the 41st Civil Support Team scan each other for radioactive readings or potential biohazards exposure before returning to the command team March 15, 2021, during an evaluation exercise.

NYNG, Forest Rangers train for helicopter firefighting
May 11, 2021 — COLONIE, N.Y. – New York and Connecticut Army National Guard UH-60 aircrews and forest rangers with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation honed their helicopter wildfire-fighting... MORE

New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Jake Pratt, a UH-60 Black Hawk crew chief assigned to the 2rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation, and a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest ranger prepare to deploy water during helicopter firefighting training over the Mohawk River in Colonie, New York, May 6, 2021. Aircrews based at the Albany International Airport in Latham, New York, trained with aviators from the Connecticut Army National Guard and forest rangers in preparation for the summer wildfire season.

Soldiers shave their heads to support battle buddy's sister
May 11, 2021 — CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – An overseas deployment to an austere location where the heat, workload and OPTEMPO are high can be challenging. Knowing that a loved one back home has cancer can make a... MORE

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), shaved their heads and posed for a picture at North Fort Hood, Texas, before deploying to the Middle East with Task Force Phoenix. They shaved their heads in support of Staff Sgt. Brandon Stafford's sister, who was going through chemotherapy and radiation treatment after having a brain tumor removed.

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.

Alaska Army National Guard rescues four stranded boaters
May 11, 2021 — JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - A UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter aircrew with the Alaska Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, rescued four people and a dog May 10... MORE

Sgt. Rosalind Stromberg, a crew chief from 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard, looks over the Kuskokwim River from the door of a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter during a rescue mission May 10, 2021. The helicopter aircrew rescued four people and their dog from their boat on the river after they became stuck between Bethel and Kwethluk because of ice.

Alaska Army National Guard rescues two near Knik Glacier
May 11, 2021 — JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Aircrew from the Alaska Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, rescued a father and his daughter near Knik Glacier after their off-road... MORE

Task Force Phoenix UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from G Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), land at North Fort Hood, Texas, April 17, 2021, during a medevac training mission that was part of a culminating training exercise.

108th MCAS medics provide support at Lithuanian base
May 10, 2021 — MARIJAMPOLE, Lithuania – Two medics deployed with the 108th Medical Company Area Support, 213th Regional, are apart from their unit serving other Soldiers and Lithuanian counterparts at a base in... MORE

Sgt. Bradley Taylor, center, a medic with the Pennsylvania National Guard's 108th Medical Company Area Support, with two Lithuanian Army Soldiers on a Lithuanian Army base in Marijampole, Lithuania, where Taylor is providing medical support to U.S and Lithuanian troops. The 108th MCAS deployed to Europe in late February to provide medical support to U.S. and allied rotational forces in the region.

Partnerships forged during aerial firefighting training
May 7, 2021 — SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – In the dry heat of the high desert, the California and Nevada Air National Guard, U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE, and multiple other firefighting agencies across the United... MORE

C130-E Hercules aircraft from the 152nd Airlift Wing during MAFFS (Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System) training at the San Bernardino Air Tanker Base, California. May 5, 2021.

Airmen and Soldiers learn to communicate in joint training
May 7, 2021 — BARNES AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mass. – Bringing Airmen and Soldiers together through joint training is essential to increasing the interoperability of the Air and Army National Guard.Strong... MORE

Senior Airman Ivan Villavicencio, of the 104th Security Forces Squadron, signals to responders as a medical helicopter approaches during a joint training exercise between the Massachusetts Air and Army National Guard on March 12, 2021, at Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass.

Louisiana Guard, Active Component Airmen Complete Air-to-Air Integration Training

Air National Guard Leaders Host 2025 Wing Leader Fly-In

Colorado Army National Guard Conducts Aviation Training for Wildfire Season

Lt. Gen. Jon Stubbs Highlights Virginia National Guard Excellence at Military Ball

Oregon Air Guard Participates in Sentry Aloha Exercise