December 10, 2020

 

  News | About | Legislative | Benefits | Contact

Search Past Issues

View Web Version

---

 IN THIS EDITION:

Still time to register for the Tarheel Homecoming on Friday December 11th 2020 NCNGA 
Report: Systemic Aircrew, Maintenance Issues Root Cause of DOD Mishap Rates AF Mag 
Desert Storm’s Unheeded Lessons AF Mag 
2021 National Defense Authorization Update NCNGA 
Combat Tested, Former Academic Professor Takes Command of “Victory through Strength” Battalion DVIDS 
North Carolina, Washington bases among first military sites to get COVID vaccine Sacramento Bee 
December 10th — Today in Guard History National Guard 

---

Still time to register for the Tarheel Homecoming on Friday December 11th 2020 NCNGA 

Presentation slides are now available.

The North Carolina National Guard Association would like to extend an invitation for you to attend the Virtual Tarheel Homecoming. Speakers included the Adjutant General, Senior Enlisted Leaders, as well as others that will provide a NCNG operational update as well as other important information.

This will be a live event with the virtual details coming soon. Also you may submit questions before the event that will be answered during the event. All questions will need to be submitted by the 7th of December. Also if there is a specific item or topic covered please submit your request via email for consideration.

Everyone that submit a questions will be entered in a drawing for gift cards and the winners will be announced at the virtual event.

While there is no cost associated with this event you are asked to register by submitting name, rank, and current email to info@ncnga.org. Questions or suggestions for presentation material can be submitted to the same email.

Once the final virtual link/format is established a follow-up email and will be sent to everyone that is registered.

You still have time to register and submit questions for this event. Topics Include:

• 2020 NCNG Year in Review
• NCNG Top 5 Achievements for 2020
• NCNG Current Operations Update – COVID 19 Response and Current/Upcoming deployments
• Retiree update – Services available, Government Affairs Update, NCNGA Update
• NCNG Retiree Town Hall with the Adjutant General, Senior Enlisted – Army, Senior Enlisted – Air. This discussion will be driven by your submitted questions.

Email your questions and intent to attend to info@ncnga.org

Report: Systemic Aircrew, Maintenance Issues Root Cause of DOD Mishap Rates AF Mag 

A lack of flying hours and overworked maintainers are contributing to high rates of crashes and other aviation mishaps, according to a new Congressionally mandated report, which called on the services to quickly overhaul how they manage maintainers and pilot training.

The National Commission on Military Aviation Safety, in a report released Dec. 3, looked at more than 6,000 aviation mishaps, which included 198 deaths, 157 aircraft destroyed, and about $9.41 billion in losses, from 2013 to 2018. None of the losses were due to combat operations. The Defense Department has 120 days to formally respond to the report, so the Air Force is reviewing its findings and in the next few weeks the service Chiefs and safety center will meet with the commission on their findings as they form the response.

Although the Air Force saw a decrease in “Class A” mishaps, there was an increase in “Class C” mishaps, largely because of maintenance or other on-the-ground issues. Class A mishaps are any mishaps that results in the destruction of an aircraft, or permanent total disability of a person, or causes damage in excess of $2.5 million (from 2010-2019 it was $2 million.) A Class C mishap is one that results in an injury causing loss of more than a day of time off from work or damage between $60,000 to $600,000. (From 2019-2020, it was $50,000 to $500,000).

The commission visited 80 different bases and other sites, talking to about 200 different units who outlined myriad issues impacting the military’s aircraft fleets. The recurring themes were: not enough flying hours for pilots, maintainers distracted by excessive duties, inadequate prioritization of safety, insufficient data collection, a lack of consistent funding, and a “relentless” operations tempo, according to the report.

“These are great patriotic, young American people. Many of them have stayed with us and reenlisted and stayed on after 16 to 17 years of war. They know what right looks like. They know what the difference is between being a current pilot, and a proficient pilot for the mission tasks that they’re being asked,” said retired Army Gen. Richard A. Cody, the chairman of the commission. “But they’re frustrated with the ops tempo. They’re frustrated with the unpredictable funding. And they’re also frustrated a bit, being away from home as much as they are.”

Read More…

Desert Storm’s Unheeded Lessons AF Mag 

January 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, the six-week war to reverse Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The swift and overwhelming victory over the world’s fourth-largest military stunned allies and adversaries alike, and imbued the U.S. military—particularly the Air Force—with an aura of invincibility.

Thirty years later, the Air Force that executed the bulk of the five-week air campaign—setting the conditions for the quick ground war that followed—has been cut in half. The wonder weapons it used to so thoroughly dominate Iraq—stealth, precision-guided munitions, satellite intelligence—are no longer unique, having been copied and developed by peer adversaries. Precise theater ballistic missiles are now more accurate and commonplace among potential opponents. Sanctuary and months to build up forces in a region is no longer a given.

If the U.S. had to fight another major theater war today, could it notch a similarly rapid and decisive win?

Read more…

2021 National Defense Authorization Update NCNGA 

Our friends at the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS) put together a quick read on key items.

Click here to take a look.

Combat Tested, Former Academic Professor Takes Command of “Victory through Strength” Battalion DVIDS 

Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolina National Guard leaders and Soldiers of the North Carolina Army National Guard Recruiting & Retention Battalion welcomed a new leader during an outdoor COVID-19 restricted change-of-command ceremony, in which Lt. Col. Matthew J. Handley, Sr., relinquished control of the unit to Lt. Col. Christopher D. Rogers, at the Claude T. Bowers Military Center, here, Dec. 4, 2020.

The RRB’s mission is to enlist and retain the approximately 10,000 Soldiers within the NCARNG.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be joining your team. I look forward to us working together in our task of finding the one percent of North Carolinians who will be defenders of our state and nation’s freedom and security,” said Rogers.

Lt. Col. Rogers was commissioned through the Officer Candidate School, at the North Carolina Military Academy, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as a second lieutenant in Field Artillery in 1996, and later branched Armor in 2002. He has served in various command and staff positions throughout the NCARNG, as well as three combat deployments, all with the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team. Rogers has also served as an Assistant Professor of Military Science at Duke University and Bilateral Affairs Officer in Moldova.

The change of command ceremony and welcoming of Lt. Col. Rogers wasn’t only the celebration of a new commander, but the departure and successful command of the outgoing commander, Handley.

North Carolina, Washington bases among first military sites to get COVID vaccine Sacramento Bee 

The Defense Department announced Wednesday it has selected sites at Fort Bragg, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Keesler Air Force Base for its initial distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine among military personnel.

Those sites and more than a dozen others will distribute the Pentagon’s initial allotment of about 44,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to military personnel once the Food and Drug Administration approves an emergency use authorization, which is expected in the next several days, Defense Health Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place told reporters at the Pentagon.

Health care workers and public safety personnel at each of the initial locations will get first priority to take a vaccine, Place said.

December 10th — Today in Guard History National Guard 

1941
Fort McNair, Washington, DC – Virginia’s 176th Infantry, an element of the 29th Division then stationed at Fort Meade, MD, is reassigned as part of the garrison of the nation’s capital in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack. Its men soon start roving foot and jeep patrols and were stationed at the U.S. Capitol and other Washington landmarks. One of the men serving with the 176th is Sergeant Thomas “Tommy” Hill. While not a Guardsman himself, having been assigned to the regiment after his enlistment in 1940, he would never-the-less have the longest career as a civilian employee of the National Guard Bureau on record. Soon after his discharge in 1946 he began work for the Army in the Pentagon. Officers with the National Guard Bureau were so impressed with his performance they offered him a position with the Army National Guard. His official start date was October 1, 1948, the same day the NGB staff split into Army and Air National Guard sections. For the next 54 years, until his retirement in 2002, Mr. Hill served in several key positions and guided countless Guardsmen and civilian employees in making the Army Guard a more professional, highly trained and capable reserve for the Regular Army than it had ever been in the past. He was especially proud of the role he played in helping each state to develop its own Officer Candidate School (OCS). He also played a key role in overseeing the development of Guard overseas training under programs such as REFORGER and TEAM SPIRIT. Even in retirement Mr. Hill continued to offer advice and guidance to young officers and civilian employees alike at NGB.

Read More…