NCNGA Weekly Guardsman for April 1, 2021

Posted on: April 1, 2021 April 1, 2021
Author: ncngaweekly

April 1st, 2021

News | About | Legislative | Benefits | Contact

IN THIS EDITION:

NCNG Officers – Time to Renew Your NGAUS Membership NCNGA
Veteran and Service Member Resource Fair – Drive-Thru Event NCNGA
2021 NGAUS Awards Program – Call for Nominations! NGAUS
Apply for the $5,000 Scholarship NGAUS
Defending Forward Bases AF Mag
North Carolina National Guard fields newest Paladin howitzer Defence Blog
North Carolina National Guard celebrates 358 years of service WRAL
This Week in NCNG History NCNG Museum
April 1st — Today in Guard History National Guard

NCNG Officers – Time to Renew Your NGAUS Membership NCNGA

If you are an officer in the North Carolina National Guard it is time to renew your NGAUS membership. This is your opportunity to “pay it forward” by ensuring a strong voice in Washington that advocates for the men and women of the National Guard. Generations before you supported these initiatives. Now it is your turn to step up as a leader and actively engage in your own development and that of your subordinates through renewing your membership. You can renew with ease and security at ngaus.org/membership . You can also become a life member at the reduced rate of $800 through our office. If you would like to take advantage of the life membership with payment options complete the life membership form and return to Larry@ncnga.org.

Veteran and Service Member Resource Fair – Drive-Thru Event NCNGA

Greater Triangle VMFA ( Veteran-Military-Family-Alliance) will be hosting a veteran & service member resource fair on April 10 at Cree/Wolfspeed 4600 Silicon Drive, Durham, NC 27703

If you are a Veteran or Service Member register here

This will take place on Saturday, April 10, 2021 from 11 AM to 2 PM.

Currently, 15 resource organizations will be present to answer questions, make referrals, and you don’t even have to leave your vehicle.

There will also be food items available from a couple of distributors.

Please fill out the registration form from the link previously mentioned.

2021 NGAUS Awards Program – Call for Nominations! NGAUS

The NGAUS Awards Program recognizes outstanding National Guard men and women, as well as individuals and organizations outside of the Guard, who have made significant efforts to help advance NGAUS and its mission.

You play an important role in helping us identify and honor deserving people through our nomination process.

The NGAUS Awards Program information packet, which includes purpose and procedures, award criteria and nomination form, can be found by clicking here.

NGAUS Individual Awards

Harry S. Truman Award
Montgomery Medal
Charles Dick Medal of Merit
Patrick Henry Award
Distinguished Service Medal
Meritorious Service Award
Valley Forge Cross for Heroism
Garde Nationale Trophy
Theodore Roosevelt Leadership Award for Company Grade Officers
Eagle Rising Award for Warrant Officers

Learn More

The deadline for the receipt of nominations for NGAUS Individual Awards is May 15, 2021. Nominations should be addressed to:

NGAUS Awards Program
ATTN: Richard Arnold
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

The NGAUS point of contact for individual awards is Rich Arnold at 202-454-5301 or richard.arnold@ngaus.org.

Apply for the $5,000 Scholarship NCNGA

AFBA/NGAUS Scholarship

Now accepting applications

NGAUS Active Life Members and their dependents are eligible to apply for the AFBA (Armed Forces Benefit Association)/NGAUS scholarship, awarding two applicants, each with a $5,000 scholarship.

Now accepting applications through June 1, 2021.

Apply Now

Not a NGAUS Active Life Member? Become one today.

Please feel free to contact membership@ngaus.org with any questions you may have about the NGAUS and AFBA Scholarship or NGAUS Life Membership.

Defending Forward Bases AF Mag

The night sky lit up as ballistic missiles rained down on Erbil and Al-Asad Air Bases in Iraq. Sheltered in bunkers, Airmen found the extent of the Iranian attack hard to decipher. Staff Sgt. Brian Sermons, 22nd Expeditionary Weather Squadron aviation weather noncommissioned officer in charge at Al-Asad, heard “soul-shaking explosions.” Debris pummeled the bunker walls, kicking up dirt and dust and making it difficult to breathe. When a missile struck a munitions tent, small arms rounds started to cook off, and Airmen braced themselves for what they thought was a follow-on ground attack.

“The next four hours became a blurred mix of emotions and chaos,” a member of the 443rd Air Expeditionary Squadron Security Forces team at Al-Asad wrote afterward. “Bomb after bomb shook us for what felt like all night. … My muscles tightened and I could feel my teeth grinding. Then the radio chimed in. ‘You have six more missiles inbound to your area, followed shortly by two more.’”

No one died from the volley of Iranian ballistic missiles on Jan. 8, 2020, but more than 100 U.S. personnel suffered traumatic brain injuries.
It was a wake-up call: U.S. forward operating bases are vulnerable.

The North Carolina National Guard celebrated 358 years of service on Wednesday.

The ceremony included a look back at an incredibly busy year of deployments and COVID-19 response.

Over this last year, the NC National Guardsmen have helped to distribute more than 8 million meals.

They have helped administer nearly half a million COVID vaccines and have driven more than 240,000 miles delivering critical supplies to hospitals and rural health centers.

Other accomplishments include protecting the state’s IT systems and completing a major combat rotation overseas.

The North Carolina National Guard is one of the oldest institutions in our state.

Watch the Video…

This Week in NCNG History NCNG Museum

If you know of anything significant to the NCNG that occurred on any of these dates, and would like it added to our records, please email 1LT Dearie at kory.k.dearie.mil@mail.mil

April 1st — Today in Guard History National Guard

1745
At Sea – A fleet consisting of 19 transport ships escorted by 13 armed merchant vessels is carrying a total of 4,220 colonial militiamen toward Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The goal of this expedition is the capture of the largest fort in North America, the fortress of Louisbourg. It was built and garrisoned by the French to protect the entrance to the St. Lawrence River and French Canada. This massive stone fort protected a sheltered harbor which held French raiders who, since England and France entered into war in 1741, had preyed upon British and American fishing and merchant fleets. But when the English refused to aid the American colonies in ridding themselves of this threat the colonies decided to act on their own. An army was organized from the militia of four New England colonies, Massachusetts (which also included present day Maine), Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Colonel William Pepperrell of Maine was selected to command the entire force (army and navy) with the rank of lieutenant general. While several colonies had in the past joined forces to fight a common enemy, usually Native Americans rather than Europeans, never before had they launched such an ambitious expedition. Landing his troops in early May the siege lasted until the end of June before the French garrison surrendered. The Americans were justly proud of their achievement, and dismayed when Louisbourg was returned to the French as part of the peace treaty ending the war in 1748.

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