NCNGA Weekly Guardsman for January 28, 2021
January 28, 2021
News | About | Legislative | Benefits | Contact
IN THIS EDITION:
Have Questions About Your Federal Education Benefits NCARNG
2021 EANGUS Scholarship Season NOW OPEN! EANGUS
Lawmakers Urge Biden to Rethink USSPACECOM’s Move to Alabama AF Mag
Help Your Association – Run for the NCNGA Executive Council NCNGA
Killer Combo: Cold Weather and Winter Strike DVIDS
NCNG supports communication during the 59th presidential inauguration US Army
January 28th — Today in Guard History National Guard
Have Questions About Your Federal Education Benefits NCARNG 
Join the NCNG Education Services Office in an upcoming Webinar.
2021 EANGUS Scholarship Season NOW OPEN! EANGUS
Great educational opportunities for EANGUS members and their dependents! The EANGUS scholarship program offers the award of many full-tuition scholarships provided by our partner institutions, as well as our $2,000 CSM Virgil Williams Scholarships and $1,000 Patriot Scholarships funded by corporate and individual donations.
Our scholarship program is one of the primary benefits we offer to our members. Each year, we award multiple scholarships with a total value of over $500,000. Please see link below for Scholarships offered and how to apply.
Questions regarding the EANGUS Scholarship Program can be directed to the Committee Chair CMSgt Rosemarie Marston (Ret) and Vice-Chair SMSgt James Neill (Ret) at scholarship@eangus.org
Scholarship Information & Application
Lawmakers Urge Biden to Rethink USSPACECOM’s Move to Alabama AF Mag
Colorado’s congressional delegation is pushing President Joe Biden to review the Trump administration’s recent decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville, Ala., in a Jan. 26 letter signed by all nine senators and representatives.
After searching for two years on behalf of the Defense Department, the Air Force said earlier this month that Huntsville is its top choice to host the HQ, based on factors like infrastructure, community, and costs. Huntsville, home to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal, has only to pass an environmental review to finalize the decision.
The Jan. 13 announcement that SPACECOM is likely leaving Colorado Springs, Colo., for “Rocket City” in the South sparked protest among local and federal officials who thought remaining in Colorado was a done deal. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported the same day that the announcement followed a White House visit by then-Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett to tell former President Donald J. Trump that DOD would go with Colorado.
“Sources at the White House and the Air Force have confirmed the Air Force’s site selection team recommended the permanent headquarters be located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs,” said Lisa Landes, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. “President Trump ignored their recommendation and selected Redstone Arsenal.”
Now, lawmakers want Biden to pause any work underway to relocate the projected 1,500-person SPACECOM headquarters until the review is done.
They argue the command, which oversees daily combat operations of satellites, radars, and other space assets, will be most successful in the longtime military space hub of Colorado Springs, Colo. The area already hosts satellite communications operations and parts of Space Force leadership at Peterson Air Force Base, the National Space Defense Center at Schriever Air Force Base, and missile-warning systems at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, among other assets.
“Our national security should be the most important consideration for this critical basing decision,” lawmakers wrote. “This decision will uproot the service members and civilians currently conducting the mission in Colorado and remove them from the nexus of military and intelligence space operations. It will undermine our national security mission and our superiority in space.”
Help Your Association – Run for the NCNGA Executive Council NCNGA
Help Your Association
Run for the NCNGA Executive Council!
The Nominating & Credentials Committee is actively seeking qualified candidates to run for Executive Council seats. Upcoming vacancies will be filled at the next convention to be held virtually in March of 2021.
Qualifications to run for office: you must be a member of the North Carolina National Guard Association and have served on an active committee within the past five years (except Junior Council Members) or on an active Sub-committee or workgroup.
If you are qualified (see above) and interested in being an important part of your Association, please complete the application below and email it or fax it to the NCNGA office, email info@ncnga.org, fax 919-859-4990. If you have any questions, please contact us by email or at 919-851-3390. Please return this form by the 26th of February.
Killer Combo: Cold Weather and Winter Strike DVIDS
CAMP GRAYLING MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Mich. – Combined arms cold weather training is the highlight of Northern Strike’s winter exercise hosted in northern Michigan Jan. 23-29, 2021.
A blustery wind blows through the observation post in Camp Grayling as exercise planners look out over an icy, snow-covered landscape. Within minutes, dual attack helicopters fire missiles onto a simulated enemy, loosening up their target and clearing the way for A-10s and artillery fire.
“One of the biggest advantages of the National All-Domain Warfighting Center at Camp Grayling is the ability to train through and overcome challenging environmental conditions,” said Army Col. Bart. J. Verbanic, Northern Strike’s Land Component Exercise Director.
“Participating units develop the capability to endure the extreme elements and maintain readiness.”
Verbanic was speaking to Wisconsin National Guard Adjutant General, Air Force Maj. Gen. Paul E. Knapp, whose 1-120th Field Artillery unit participated in the below-freezing weather. The official term for this morning’s event on Jan. 25, 2021 was a combined arms live fire exercise, or CALFEX.
With several units participating in “Winter Strike” 21, it truly was a combined effort.
Along with artillery from the Wisconsin National Guard, the CALFEX focused on synchronization of joint fires from Marine and Army rotary wing assets, B-52 bombers from the Air Force’s active duty 5th Bomb Wing, Minot, North Dakota and personnel from the West Virginia National Guard. Additionally, Air National Guard (ANG) JTACs from New Jersey’s 227th Air Support Operations Squadron (ASOS) and New York’s 274th ASOS, ANG A-10Cs from Selfridge, Michigan, as well as Marine Corps 2nd ANGLICO (Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company) from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina are all taking part in this training event.
NCNG supports communication during the 59th presidential inauguration US Army
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The North Carolina National Guard deployed nine Soldiers and one Airman from across the state to set up and maintain a Joint Incident Site Communications Capability (JISSC) team supporting the Presidential Inauguration, Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C.
The JISSC team, which is routinely requested for inaugurations, establishes a commercial network for the local tactical operation centers. The network improved Internet and communications and radio interoperability for multiple agencies and various radio types and frequencies.
Setting up the week before the inauguration, the team plans on being activated until the day after the ceremony. According to Capt. Chelsea Beale, a tactical communications officer assigned to the 105th Engineer Battalion, 130th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, this is the first time these Soldiers and Airmen have been activated together.
“When we have opportunities to come out and use this equipment, we try to pull different personnel from the state not only to allow them to see a different kind of mission and to get the opportunity to work on state active duty, but also to push that knowledge out so if something like this happens again we’re able to pull from different units,” Beale said.
January 28th — Today in Guard History National Guard
1952
Kumsong Chwapre Ri, Korea – The 40th Infantry Division (CA), newly arrived in Korea, completes rotating in to replace the 24th Infantry Division along a frontline sector of some 27 miles. The division, like the Guard’s 45th Infantry Division (OK), had spent more than a year training in the states and Japan before being committed to combat in Korea. But this was not the 40th’s first time in Korea. It had been stationed here during the Allied occupation at the close of World War II. It would remain on duty until 1954, a year after the armistice was signed ending the fighting.
The Weekly Guardsman
Recent Issues | Subscribe | Unsubscribe |
Contact
Larry Coleman, NCNGA 919-851-3390, ext.4 | Contribute news
Thomas Arndt, Webmaster
North Carolina National Guard Association
7410 Chapel Hill Road | Raleigh, North Carolina 27607 | 919-851-3390 | Contact Us