DoDLive | Tag Archive | National Guard

Guard on the Ground: First Things First

Filed under DoD News by Ian Graham on February 4, 2010 at 4:49 pm {7 comments}

By Sgt. Jon E. Dougherty
Public Affairs NCO
203rd Engineer Battalion

FOB SHARANA, Afghanistan – The active duty Army and National Guard members of a new route clearance patrol formed here last month would experience many “firsts” in their maiden voyage.

For many of the members of the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery (the 5-3), 17th Fire Brigade, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., last week’s opening mission marked the first time they served as part of a route clearance unit – a job typically left to combat engineers. Becoming route clearance personnel means taking on a substantially different role than manning MLRS – multiple launch rocket system – batteries, the 5-3’s core mission.

For the members of the 203rd Engineer Battalion, Missouri Army National Guard, it was also their first time serving in a route clearance capacity in Afghanistan with an active Army element. When the 203rd was ordered to mobilize last August, these particular citizen-soldiers initially were slated to perform a personnel security role but that changed once they arrived here and the need for more route clearance patrols (RCPs) became evident.

For all of them – who are collectively nicknamed the “Black Jacks” – the mission marked the first time they worked together “outside the wire” as a team.

And the first time they went out, they had their hands full.

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DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable: Kentucky National Guard

Listen to the interview with U.S. Army Lt. Col. Hilbrecht, who is currently deployed to the Dominican Republic in support of Operation Unified Response, the humanitarian relief mission for Haiti.

The Kentucky Air National Guard currently has about 50 members deployed in support of Operation Unified Response, including the 123rd Contingency Response Group in the Dominican Republic and members of the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron in Haiti.

Since last Friday, the 123STS airmen have processed in excess of 200 tons of supplies, to include an emergency shipment of plasma that was delivered by air into Haiti. Special Tactics airmen have also assisted in emergency supply air deliveries into Haiti with U.S. Air Force C-17s.

Combat controllers are used to working in locations devoid of functioning air traffic control. Armed and trained to set up and help secure new airfield operations, these airmen have made aerial resupply missions to Port-au-Prince International Airport possible.

The 123CRG is teaming up with other nations to form a joint command post (airbase) in the Dominican Republic to help expedite additional aid for Haiti. CRG operations include air base assessment, initial airfield operations and force protection and Alaskan shelter construction.

To listen to the interview live, click here.

For more information on what the National Guard is doing to support “Operation Unified Response” go to:

http://www.ng.mil/features/haiti/default.aspx

And, watch an interview with Lt. Col. Hilbrecht by visiting their blog: http://kentuckyguard.wordpress.com/

To view a transcript of this interview, click here.

Changing Attitudes One Afghan Child At a Time

Filed under Guard on the Ground by glenn.selby on January 11, 2010 at 9:02 am {one comment}

By Sgt. Jon E. Dougherty
Public Affairs NCO
203rd Engineer Battalion

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – There is nothing quite so satisfying to the soul than to see a smile on the face of a child, with the possible exception of being the one responsible for making that child smile in the first place.

These days, U.S. soldiers are responsible for lots of smiles on the faces of many Afghan children.

While combat is a reality of life that many soldiers regularly face, increasingly – thanks to a recent shift in strategy by senior Pentagon leaders – U.S. troops are also getting more opportunities to positively affect the lives of this next generation of Afghans. And those efforts are translating into greater trust and, noticeably, more smiles.

Cases in point:

Earlier this month members of the 41st Engineer Company, based at Ft. Riley, Kan., and the 5-3 Field Artillery Company from Ft. Lewis, Wash., took a break from their route clearance mission to engage the local population in a series of charitable acts that, from a ground perspective, will go as far in winning the war against extremism as any offensive military actions.

Our convoy first stopped at a tented community called Chamtala to distribute several bundles of clothing donated by Americans back home and distributed to the military through various U.S.-based charities – something these soldiers have done a number of times in recent weeks.

Anticipating what was coming, scores of local children and adults surrounded the American soldiers within seconds after they dismounted their armored vehicles. The eager response of the children was the most eye-catching; their enthusiasm was infectious and their warmth for the Americans was as obvious as it was palpable.

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NASCAR, NHRA, Partner with National Guard for Bobsled Race

Filed under DoD News by glenn.selby on January 6, 2010 at 3:06 pm {no comments}

The National Guard #88 sled tears down the track at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex driven by race car driver Melanie Troxel, with New York Army National Guard Spec. Matthew Powers serving as brakeman. The two were the winners in the fifth annual Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge Presented by Whelen Engineering on Jan. 10, 2009. (Photo by Airman 1st Class Ben German, New York National Guard)

Twenty soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry division, 12 National Hot Rod Association drivers, and 12 NASCAR drivers are set to compete against one another in the 4th annual Luca Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge race.

In 2006, NASCAR racer Geoff Bodine approached the U.S. Bobsled national team coach Bill Tavares, who was also a National Guardsmen, about getting the National Guard involved in the already nationally televised event.

“As a son of a WWII veteran and a former Army National Guardsmen, I thought we needed some brave people to ride with these drivers and there’s no braver folks than our men and women in the U.S. military,” Bodine said during the 2009 race.

In the first year, Iraq veterans and their families were invited to the event. In other year’s National Guard recruits and combat veterans have served as brakemen, helping to launch and stop the sleds.

This year, the races will be held at the Olympic Regional Development Authority bobsled track in Lake Placid, New York on Jan. 9 and 10.

To view a story from this event, click here.

Farewell, Iraq

Filed under Guard on the Ground by Ian Graham on January 4, 2010 at 3:20 pm {one comment}

By Lt. Col. Tim Donovan
32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team

BAGHDAD – It’s been a long deployment for 3,200-plus soldiers of the Wisconsin National Guard’s 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, but it is finally coming to an end. Sometime in early January, the first of many chartered airliners will touch down at a Wisconsin airfield and Red Arrow soldiers will begin planting their boots back on the ground in their home state after completing their service in Iraq.

As the 32nd Brigade’s public affairs officer in Iraq, I’ve had an opportunity to send a few dozen releases from Baghdad over the past eight months to let Wisconsin know what our troops are doing here.

These have all been straightforward, fact-based descriptions of our units’ missions and our soldiers’ accomplishments. In this final dispatch, I will be a bit more personal, as some of the things I think Wisconsin should know are less tangible. So opinions and impressions I have formed from my observations here are sprinkled in.

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