October 17th, 2019

 

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 IN THIS EDITION:

Free financial seminar in Charlotte with food and drinks provided NCNGA
Walgreens HERO Program NCNGA
State Fair, Pumpkin Spice and Boo Bash at JFHQs NCNGA
Have Your Children Aged Out NCNGA
Tarheel Retiree Homecoming 2019 NCNGA
Articles Needed! NCNGA 
Your Benefit, are you using it? NCNGA 
New NGAUS Rates! NCNGA 
Take a look at our new website! NCNGA 
Do you have an event at your unit or with your Family Support Group and need some help raising funds? NCNGA 
Guard 2 Beach 2019 NCNGA 
‘He’s the definition of a hero’ — Army captain receives Soldier’s Medal for saving man from burning car Task&Purpose 
New Fayetteville VA director reflects on first 100 days, upcoming projects, goals Fayetteville Observer 
October 17th — Today in Guard History National Guard 

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Free financial seminar in Charlotte with food and drinks provided NCNGA 

Do you want to learn how to create a solid budget or save money for your future? Do you need to learn how to establish credit? Do you dream of owning your own home? Register for a free course hosted by your Association in partnership with BB&T. Registration is for head count only and will only be received by the North Carolina National Guard Association. None of you contact information will be shared. See flyer for additional details.

 

 

Walgreens HERO Program NCNGA 

This is an exciting opportunity for our veterans to bring their expertise and leadership skills into a transitional career such as retail management. Then direct to attached flyer

 

 

State Fair, Pumpkin Spice and Boo Bash at JFHQs NCNGA  

It’s October, and we know what the means, The State Fair, Pumpkin Spice, and Boo Bash at the JFHQs see attached flyer.

 

 

Have Your Children Aged Out? NCNGA 

Have your children turned 21 recently? If so they may have aged out of your Association Insurance Coverage. Please contact our Insurance Administrator at 919-851-3390 XT 1 or email at Rhonda@ncnga.org

Tarheel Retiree Homecoming 2019 NCNGA 

FOR: Army and Air National Guard Retirees

DATE: Friday, December 13, 2019

EVENT REGISTRATION: 0900-1000 HRS

LOCATION: Joint Force Headquarters, 1636 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh, NC 27607

$15 Registration includes Mission updates, benefits seminar, various information stations, luncheon, social time, and a celebration of the National Guard’s 383rd Birthday. For registration information click here.

Articles Needed! NCNGA 

Do you have a proposed article for the next Tarheel Guardsman Magazine that you have written or do you have a topic you would like us to include? Let us know at info.ncnga.org.

Your Benefit, are you using it? NCNGA 

One of the many roles your Association performs on your behalf is the administration of the congressionally sanctioned State Sponsored Life Insurance (SSLI) benefit program. This locally managed program is available to all currently serving North Carolina National Guard Soldiers and Airmen. This is a benefit you can keep even after you take off the uniform after 6 years or 30 years of service. The price will remain the same until age 60. In addition to Servicemember coverage you can obtain coverage for your spouse and dependents. The low-cost premiums are directly deducted from your LES through DFAS.

This is a separate benefit from the nationally managed Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program which converts to a more expensive Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI) program upon separation.

If you believe you are enrolled you can utilize our new benefit portal at www.ncnga.org, just click on sign-in link on the upper right of the page. You can also send us an email at info@ncnga.org to learn more about enrollment.

New NGAUS Rates! NCNGA 

At the NGAUS Conference in Denver, there was a majority vote that our dues structure would be reduced from 15 different price points to three. This rate change will be going into effect on October 1, 2019 for the 2020 membership year.

• Company Grade – $40
• Field Grade – $80
• Flag Grade – $130

You can renew or join for the year 2020 here.

Take a look at our new website! NCNGA 

We are excited about our new interactive website. You can now create a user profile that will give you access to view your State Sponsored Life Insurance (SSLI) benefits, NGAUS and EANGUS membership, current and past copies of the Tarheel Guardsman, benefit codes and more information to come.

Do you have an event at your unit or with your Family Support Group and need some help raising funds? NCNGA 

Do you have an event at your unit or with your Family Support Group and need some help raising funds? Let your Associations’ Tarheel Minuteman Foundation, a 501 (C)(3), assist with you efforts. Contact the Association at info@ncnga.org for more information.

Guard 2 Beach 2019 NCNGA 

It is that time of year again for the Guard 2 Beach ride. Take a look at the flyer for this year’s event and sign up to help make this the biggest and best ride yet. We have been putting in a lot of effort to organize another great ride and would like to see all past riders come out and ride with us again. Please note that the registration fee will increase on October 1st, so sign up now. We only have a limited number of slots so don’t delay. If you can’t make it, please spread the word so we can make this weekend an awesome time of riding and funding a great cause.

Register Today!

‘He’s the definition of a hero’ — Army captain receives Soldier’s Medal for saving man from burning car Task&Purpose 

It was almost midnight when Army Capt. Travis Johnson was driving home from Fort Bragg last February, and came upon an overturned sedan smoldering on an embankment.

Johnson, a physician assistant assigned to the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, at the time, immediately stopped his car and rushed towards the vehicle, yelling out in case anyone was still inside the ticking time bomb.

There was: an injured man was trapped in the driver’s seat, and none of the vehicle’s doors would open.

Luckily, Johnson had supplies in his car, including a glass breaking tool and trauma shears. Currently assigned to the 60th Medical Detachment of the North Carolina National Guard, Johnson said in an Army press release that items he keeps the items with him at all times “for any contingency … the Army trained me that way.”

That training paid off. On Wednesday, Johnson was awarded the Soldier’s Medal — the Army’s highest award for heroism outside of combat — during a ceremony at Fort Bragg’s Hall of Heroes for his actions that February night.

Read More…

New Fayetteville VA director reflects on first 100 days, upcoming projects, goals Fayetteville Observer 

It’s been a little more than 100 days since Daniel Dücker arrived as the new director of the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Dücker has spent the past few months meeting staff to set goals.

No stranger to North Carolina, Dücker began his 33 years in the Army as a young lieutenant for the Army National Guard in Goldsboro, which routinely trained at Fort Bragg.

“So it’s kind of coming back for me,” Dücker said.

While stationed overseas in Europe as a Department of Defense civilian a little more than 10 years ago, Dücker met a former Veterans Affairs employee who told Dücker about a position he previously held with the Tampa VA and suggested he apply for the open spot.

After retiring from the Reserves in 2017, Düker took a job as assistant director for the VA in Togus, Maine, where he was before arriving in Fayetteville.

Once seeing Fayetteville had an open director position, Dücker said it was his top choice to apply for the job.

“I feel like being at Fayetteville is a really good match for me, and I say this, it’s kind of the size of Togus in Maine, but it’s the pace of Tampa,” Dücker said. “It’s really a busy place. There’s a lot going on for veterans.”

Dücker said he chose to be in Fayetteville and has brought his wife and teenage daughters to settle in the area.

“We’re just glad to be in North Carolina and serving veterans,” he said.

Dücker is overseeing delivery of health care to the Fayetteville NC VA Coastal Healthcare System that serves 19 counties in southeastern North Carolina to provide services to nearly 75,000 veterans with an operating budget of $332.8 million.

In an interview with The Fayetteville Observer this month, he discussed projects, partnerships and goals within the system.

Read More…

October 17th — Today in Guard History National Guard 

1989
At 5:04 pm Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), a 7.1 magnitude earthquake centered south of the San Francisco Bay near Loma Prieta Mountain, California, produces widespread damage to Bay Area property and infrastructure. By 6:00 pm, every National Guard unit in California is placed on alert for possible state active duty. The California National Guard activates just over 1,000 California Guardsmen to state active duty, all of whom responded to disaster relief operations by the following day. This was one of the largest domestic response incidents in the United States up until that time.

Within an hour of the earthquake, the California Air National Guard’s 129th Aerospace and Recovery Group (129 ARG), based at the Moffett Field Naval Air Station near San Jose, had its first HC-130 Hercules transport conducting a damage assessment over the San Francisco Bay area. Three other units of the California Air Guard lent assistance later, including the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing, Point Mugu, which transported medical specialists and equipment; the 162nd Combat Communications Group based in Sacramento sent communications assistance; and, the 163rd Tactical Fighter Wing of Fresno sent personnel and heavy equipment to help with clean up. The 106th Aerospace and Recovery Group, Westhampton Beach, N.Y., provided pilots and a loadmaster to help their California-based counterparts with flying missions.

In addition, the California Army National Guard operated a helicopter detachment from the Alameda Naval Air Station. Their missions included medical evacuation, aerial observation and damage surveys, air transportation, and engineer support with C-130 cargo aircraft and 12 rotor-wing aircraft. Units providing medical response capabilities were the 175th Medical Brigade; 40th Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade; the 115th Aviation Support Group, as well as California state headquarters and the Army Troop Command.

The California National Guard also formed two task forces in expectation of receiving missions from the California Office of Emergency Services. The Guard assisted greatly in the areas of aviation support to law enforcement and damage assessment operations.

The event was seen live by millions of viewers across the United States, as the temblor started just prior to the start of Game 3 of the World Series baseball championship between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. Property and infrastructure suffered tremendously. Another image widely broadcast to the nation was the collapse of multi-decked Interstate 880 in Oakland, which killed 42 people.

In all, 62 people were killed as a result of the quake, over 2,500 injured, and thousands more were left without homes. The California National Guard’s domestic response capabilities worked quickly and effectively to mitigate the widespread suffering of the region, and to bring about a sense of normality to Californians.

Read More…