NCNGA Weekly Guardsman for May 26, 2022

Posted on: May 25, 2022 May 25, 2022
Author: ncngaweekly

May 19th, 2022

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IN THIS EDITION:

$5,000 Scholarship Opportunity Available NGAUS
WMD civil support teams train on land, sea, in air Air National Guard
U.S. National Guardsmen trained Ukrainian soldiers and it seems to have paid off NPR
Audacious Warrior EOD exercise boosts joint service ties NationalGuard.mil
Read the latest edition of the Tarheel Guardsman NCNGA
EANGUS Roll Call: Drill Weekend Talking Points EANGUS
Highlighting EANGUS and NGAUS’s upcoming conferences NCNGA
Tickets-At-Work: Members get Discounts on Tickets NCNGA
This Week in NCNG History NCNG Museum
May 26th — Today in Guard History National Guard

$5,000 Scholarship Opportunity Available NGAUS

AFBA/NGAUS Scholarship

Now accepting applications

NGAUS Active/Digital Life Members and their dependents are eligible to apply for the AFBA (Armed Forces Benefit Association)/NGAUS scholarship. Two applicants will be selected to receive a $5,000 scholarship each.

Now accepting applications through June 1, 2022.

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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.

WMD civil support teams train on land, sea, in air Air National Guard

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. – National Guard civil support teams from six states are training with local, state and federal agencies this week in Operation Night Hammer.

The three-day exercise is conducted in the air and on land and the sea May 22-24 with National Guard CSTs from Florida, New York, Illinois, South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina.

“This is a massive exercise with multiple WMD-CSTs training with the capabilities that we have,” said South Carolina Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. DeVon McFarland, 43rd WMD-CST emergency manager. “I am truly humbled and honored to be here because this is actually history. The 48th CST set up this entire exercise, and it’s the first time an exercise to this magnitude has been coordinated by a CST. It has been wonderful working with the Florida National Guard.”

WMD-CSTs include medical, survey and decontamination sections, an analytical laboratory system, and operational support. Florida’s 48th and other WMD-CST teams are using these capabilities in the exercise to solve scenarios tailored to potential real-world situations.

Florida Army National Guard Lt. Col. Mark Bianchi, 48th WMD-CST commander, said the exercise his team put together enables members “to train with our partners across federal, state and local law enforcement” and other Guard teams.

CSTs all over the country support civil authorities during potential domestic chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRNE) incidents.

”We’re operational 24/7-365 days a year,” said Bianchi. “Our guys have real-world missions where they’re providing crisis management capabilities by monitoring and detecting for CBRNE threats at special events like the Super Bowl and NASCAR events. We work regionally and nationwide. The team came together really well to put together an exercise of such a large magnitude, and I think that it will set the standard for years to come.

“We’ve got people coming from as far as New England to watch this exercise so they can put one on in the future,” he said. “That’s a credit to the team that I have. The reason they’re so good is because they’re operational.”

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Behind some of the success of Ukraine’s military in its fight against Russia is a little-known U.S. initiative, an initiative built around a state National Guard. Jay Price of North Carolina Public Radio brings us this story.

JAY PRICE, BYLINE: The skill of the Ukraine military surprised a lot of people, but not David Baldwin. When the California National Guard adjutant general got a text from a Ukrainian colonel saying the invasion had begun, his first reaction was concern for his friends.

DAVID BALDWIN: Then also a little bit of a calmer feeling because I knew that these guys were ready for this fight and that they were going to do well.

PRICE: He knew that because for nearly 30 years, California’s citizen soldiers have been helping Ukraine shape its military. And after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, the guards of several other states began pitching in. They’ve taught sniper skills, ambush tactics, aerial combat and how to launch the Javelin missiles celebrated for destroying so many Russian tanks. They also helped Ukraine build an asset Russia doesn’t have – a cadre of noncommissioned officers who know how to lead from the front lines. Troops from Ukraine and California have flown back and forth dozens of times for exercises and training. Baldwin lost count of his own visits to Ukraine after 40.

BALDWIN: Yes, we do increase actual combat capability of our partners, but what we really deliver is this notion of the United States is there to help your country. We really are coming in to help.

PRICE: The Ukrainians say that’s true. Major General Borys Kremenetsky is the Ukrainian defense attache in the Washington embassy.

BORYS KREMENETSKY: This partnership help us to increase our combat capabilities and to increase the spirit of our – not only soldiers, but population at all.

Click to Listen…

Audacious Warrior EOD exercise boosts joint service ties NationalGuard.mil

FORT MCCOY, Wis. – Airmen, Marines and Soldiers from a range of units and career fields participated in an exercise focusing on explosive ordnance disposal at Fort McCoy and Volk Field May 15-25.

The 115th Fighter Wing hosted Audacious Warrior, an EOD training exercise involving partners in supporting roles, including the 115th Fighter Wing Emergency Management and Security Forces, the 432nd Civil Affairs Army Reserve unit out of Green Bay, and the Combat Logistics Battalion 22 out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

More than a dozen EOD units from across the country also participated.

“EOD has nine mission sets, and we try to exercise as many as possible here to get our three, five and seven levels more experience working in teams, especially teams they’re not used to working with,” said Master Sgt. Matthew Vandermolen, 115th Fighter Wing logistics section chief and facilitator of Audacious Warrior. “We’re able to leverage all the equipment and training facilities that are available to us here.”

Generally, EOD, Security Forces and Emergency Management don’t work together until a real emergency. This exercise emphasized the importance of training together to prepare for such emergencies.

“We want to set each other up for success,” said Vandermolen. “For example, Security Forces will most likely respond or find suspicious items first and then request us. And in turn, if a situation then included some type of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear) hazard, we would then potentially request EM support. So if we train appropriately, we know what each entity brings to the table and what they might be looking for when they show up on scene.”

The latest edition of the Tarheel Guardsman is now available online at https://ncnga.org/tarheel-guardsman/

EANGUS Roll Call: Drill Weekend Talking Points EANGUS

According to a new Pentagon policy published in February, National Guard and Reserve Servicemembers will receive a Defense Department (DD) Form 214 following their completion of service. DoD Instruction memo dated Feb. 17, 2022, gives the Services three years to implement the change.

The Pentagon action follows language in the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the DoD to develop a form that documents a Reserve Component member’s entire time of service. This legislation was supported by EANGUS for over four years and has been closely monitored by the EANGUS legislative team.

Currently, National Guard and Reserve Servicemembers only receive a DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) if they serve more than 90 days on active-duty orders. The form NGB-22 documents cumulative National Guard service. The NGB-22 and the Reserve Component’s training documents have proven to be complicated for VA and other state agencies to evaluate when determining eligibility for National Guard and Reserve Servicemembers.

“EANGUS is excited that DoD has finally taken a positive step forward and created this policy to ensure that National Guard and Reserve Component Servicemembers receive a DD 214 upon completion of their service,” said retired Sergeant Major Matthew Krenz, the EANGUS Executive Director. “However, we believe that there should be additional times other than after service when National Guard and Reserve Component Servicemembers should receive a DD 214. The current legislation introduced in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate provides additional criteria for when the DD 214 should be issued, and EANGUS will continue to monitor this legislation moving forward.”

Retired Brig. Gen. J. Roy Robinson, the NGAUS president, testified to Congress last month that he often hears of benefits being denied “from the Department of Veterans Affairs or state agencies because they require a DD-214,” which many National Guard Servicemembers lack.

When implemented, the DoD instruction will ensure National Guard Servicemembers and Reservists will receive a DD-214-1 (Certificate of Uniformed Service, Reserve Component Addendum) upon separation or retirement; the DD-214-1 is a new form created by the instruction.

National Guard and Reserve Servicemembers will still receive a standard DD-214-1 if they serve for 90 days or more on federal active duty for training, full-time training duty, active duty for operational support, or more than 30 days of action on a contingency operation. This instruction does not apply to Guardsmen and Reservists who separate or retire before fully implementing the program. It is also policy and not law. Legislation in both the House and Senate would codify the requirement in law.

Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., and Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio are the original sponsors of the Record of Military Service for Members of the Armed Forces Act (H.R. 7041), which was introduced last month. The EANGUS Legislative Director, Kevin Hollinger, has worked with these Congressional Members’ staff to help push this legislation.

EANGUS Legislative Action Center

Join Today!

WHY JOIN.pdf

The application period closes on 31 May 2022, at 11:59 pm (MST)

Please note: SDI is unable to offer this scholarship to Guard Members who reside in Connecticut, New York, Washington, D.C., Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

Scholarship requirements and application

The annual conference brings 1,000+ attendees consisting of EANGUS members, National Guard Leadership, State Association Senior Enlisted Leaders, representation from Joint Services, and product end-users.

We are excited to have the National Guard Command Senior Enlisted Leaders (CSEL) present at the EANGUS Conference who jointly hold their annual conference at the same location. In addition, many of the Army National Guard Command Sergeants Major, as well as the Air National Guard Command Chief Master Sergeants from the State and Wing Levels, will be in attendance. Furthermore, each year, EANGUS has a hundred or more National Guard Servicemembers attend our annual conference for Professional Development purposes and our Senior Enlisted leaders provide invaluable insight and mentorship to those that attend. The Senior Enlisted Leaders of the National Guard support EANGUS and their participation greatly increases the value that our attendees receive.

Highlighting EANGUS and NGAUS’s upcoming conferences NCNGA

While our conference in Wilmington last week was a success, we want to highlight EANGUS and NGAUS’s upcoming conferences for their members! Be sure to sign up soon to reserve your spot.
For information on EANGUS: https://eangusconference.org/
For information on NGAUS: https://www.ngaus.org/…/144th-general-conference…

Tickets-At-Work: Members get Discounts on Tickets NCNGA

Tickets at Work: The benefits are endless when it comes to being a NCNGA member! Check out our Tickets-At-Work program, where members can get discounts on tickets from Busch Gardens all the way to Disney. For more information, visit https://www.ncnga.org/benefits.php#Discount

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

May 26th — Today in Guard History National Guard

1945
Okinawa – Soldiers of California’s 184th Infantry, assigned to the Regular Army’s 7th Infantry Division, succeed in reducing several Japanese strong points as American forces drive deeper into the island’s defenses. The 184th was one of 18 Guard infantry regiments separated from it peacetime parent division, in this case the 40th Infantry Division, by the restructuring of all infantry divisions into smaller organizations in 1942.

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