NCNGA Weekly Guardsman for January 19, 2023

January 19th, 2023

 

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 IN THIS EDITION:

Open Internship Position with NCNGA NCNGA 
Save the Date: Tarheel Minuteman Foundation Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament! NCNGA 
Helping a Hero, building a free home for a NCNG Disabled Veteran NCNGA 
NC Guard Leader Retires after 30 Years of Service to State and Nation DVIDS 
NC Air Guard Retiree’s Breakfast NCNGA 
The Final Chapter for the 171st Engineer Company DVIDS 
Registration Now Available for NCNGA Convention and NCNG Military Ball NCNGA 
690th NCARNG Reunion NCNGA 
Tickets-At-Work: Members get Discounts on Tickets NCNGA 
This Week in NCNG History NCNG Museum 
January 19th — Today in Guard History National Guard 


Open Internship Position with NCNGA NCNGA 

The Headquarters office of the NCNGA has an open intern position available this semester.

This is a paid internship with flexible hours and is designed to be in-person. We are looking for someone to: support publication of bi-monthly magazine, work to increase social media presence and web traffic, complete special projects as assigned, assist in preparation of membership reports, manage and update database of members, and assist in mailing operations.

To apply please submit resume and a short response (250 words or less) to the following question:

What do you hope to gain from this experience and what skills would you bring to this position?

email info@ncnga.org with the subject line “Internship Opportunity.”

Save the Date: Tarheel Minuteman Foundation Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament! NCNGA 

The Tarheel Minuteman Foundation is holding the annual Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament on April 24, 2023! This event will take place at the beautiful Lakes Course at Carolina Trace Country Club. All proceeds will assist in providing scholarships to members of the North Carolina National Guard and their families.

Online registration for players and sponsorships is open now!

Click here to register: ncnga.org/upcoming-events/

 

 

 

 

 

Helping a Hero, building a free home for a NCNG Disabled Veteran NCNGA 

Do you know a veteran that would benefit from a free specially adapted home? Helping Hero is going to two homes to a deserving North Carolina National Guard Veteran. However, they can’t do it alone they need you to nominate someone. Learn more at https://helpingahero.org/

Use the attached nomination form and mail to info@ncnga.org with Helping a Hero Nomination in the Subject Line. Nominations are due March 1, 2023. If you have questions please contact Larry at 984-664-0308. DO NOT use the online nomination form.

NC Guard Leader Retires after 30 Years of Service to State and Nation DVIDS 

Command Sgt. Maj. Randy Ly completed his last official duty for the North Carolina Army National Guard at his retirement ceremony at the North Carolina National Guard Armory in Newton, North Carolina, Jan. 13, 2023.

Ly was honored for his 30 years of service to state and nation.

“I have loved my time in uniform, and it has truly been an honor,” said Ly.

The ceremony reflected the Soldier with several retired and currently serving senior NCNG commissioned and noncommissioned officers there to congratulate Ly. Army Col. Miriam Hayden, a leader with NCNG Joint Force Headquarters, presented Ly with multiple awards for decades of leadership and responsibility.

“I am extremely grateful for each and every one of you and we all have memories and stories that go with each one of us,” Ly said to a crowd of NCNG members, community representatives, and family.

Ly’s professional education started as a mechanic three decades ago at Newton’s 731st Maintenance Company and ended in the same facility after completing 21 separate military schools, spending more than 100 weeks away from home, training on items from maintenance to leadership at the tactical and strategic level.

“I joined to further my education, provide for my little family, and serve the citizens of our nation and state,” said Ly.

When Ly began his career, Guard Soldiers were a legacy Cold War Era strategic reserve. Drilling at home station, improving skills at military schools but rarely deployed longer than their 15-day annual training

“After the attack on September 11, 2001, I knew there was going to be a need for our forces, I anticipated getting called up,” said Ly. “I remember being in the break room with a few coworkers and watching the planes hit the towers, at that moment I told them that I would be headed somewhere very soon.”

Read More…

NC Air Guard Retiree’s Breakfast NCNGA 

The NC Air National Guard, 145th Airlift Wing has scheduled our annual Retiree’s Breakfast this year for Friday, February 3rd, 2023! We’re going to be reaching out to the Retiree Emails we have on file, so please network with your fellow retiree’s to make sure they get the word and to ensure widest possible dissemination. We want to get the word out to as many of our retired members as possible. If anyone wants to sign up on our email list, just have them send me and email at the address below. The Chief’s Council, sponsors of the event, look forward to seeing you in February. It’s not necessary to respond to this email, or to RSVP, we’ll keep you updated and I’ll send out additional emails between now and the event. We look forward to seeing everyone, again Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !!

Terry Henderson
Airmen & Family Readiness Program Manager
N.C. Air National Guard, 145th Airlift Wing
4930 Minuteman Way, Charlotte, NC 28208
Off (704) 398-4949 Cell (980) 721-4019
Email: terry.henderson.3@us.af.mil

The Final Chapter for the 171st Engineer Company DVIDS 

The National Guard fell about 9,000 troops short of its goal in 2022. Some states are improving their outreach and incentive plans to try to counter that trend.
Walking into the armory in St. Pauls, North Carolina, felt like walking into a reunion.

The armory, which belongs to the North Carolina National Guard (NCNG), is the former home of the 171st Engineer Company.

I walked past former and current NCNG Soldiers hugging, laughing, and telling stories as I entered the building on January 7, 2023.

I was in awe at the number of people in civilian clothes; there were more people who no longer served than uniformed Soldiers in attendance.

Waiting for the ceremony to start, I saw a young lieutenant holding a ceremonial bugle, a horn instrument fitted with a speaker to play taps when a musician is unavailable. He was the final executive officer for the 171st. He would be pushing the button to play the music during the ceremony to honor the unit’s memory and those who had died in service.

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Justin Duncan was part of the unit for less than a year before being transferred as part of the Engineer Company’s closure.

“It’s a mixture of feelings,” Duncan said. “The initial feeling is ‘why is this happening’, and trying to understand the organizational reason for the unit closing down.”

Later during the ceremony, Capt. Micheal Haugh, the 171st’s final commanding officer, said that the unit closing down symbolized that the NCNG was responding to current threats and moving towards a new force structure.

The 171st Soldiers were not strangers to the idea of restructuring to meet the needs of the military; the unit traces its lineage back to 1949 when it began as an anti-aircraft artillery battalion.

From there, the unit transitioned to an armor unit before reorganizing as Charlie Company, 105th Engineer Battalion in 1996, which deployed to Iraq in 2004. In 2006, it became the 171st Engineer Company.

After the ceremony, former and current Guardsmen gathered for photos, starting with those who had been part of C. Co. The group had a mix of both former and current Soldiers.

“You can look out at all the beards in this crowd and see how the guard has had a very diverse and unique group of Soldiers who served their community,” Duncan said. He was referencing the former Soldiers in attendance, many of whom had grown beards after leaving the military.

Read more…

 

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://ncnga.org/discounts/

 

 

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

January 19th — Today in Guard History National Guard 

1945
Border area of Luxemburg, Belgium and Germany – As the last pockets of Nazi forces are wiped out or captured by advancing American forces, the “Battle of the Bulge” comes to a close. The Germans had launched their surprise offensive five weeks earlier, on December 16, in an effort to break the American and British armies apart while also capturing the vital port of Antwerp. In the opening hours of the offensive units ofPennsylvania’s 28th Infantry Division bought valuable time in fighting to delay the enemy advance. During the course of the battle other Guard organizations, including the 26th (MA) and 30th (NC, SC, TN) Infantry Divisions plus numerous non-divisional units played important roles in stopping and then turning back the German assault. And in the air, five former Air Guard observation squadrons flew sorties in support of ground operations. These were the 107th (MI), 109th (MN) and 111th (TX) Tactical Reconnaissance squadrons along with Oklahoma’s 125thand Mississippi’s 153rd Liaison squadrons.

Read More…

The Weekly Guardsman


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