By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. – Two Missouri Air National Guard C-130 Hercules transport aircraft with 47 crewmembers are en route to aid earthquake-ravaged Chile today.

The 139th Airlift Wing sent the two aircraft, crews and maintenance support personnel from Puerto Rico – where they had been supporting Southern Command – to Santiago, Chile, on Thursday, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced in a press release.

The wing, which is scheduled to send additional aircraft and crews to Santiago in the coming weeks, has also supported earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, flying personnel and supplies to Port au Prince, Missouri Guard officials said.

“The men and women of the Missouri Air Guard are uniquely qualified to provide emergency response, relief and recovery services, both at home and abroad,” Nixon said. “I am especially proud of the skill and professionalism of our Air Guard units, and I know they will provide invaluable service to the people of Chile during this time of need.”

C-130 aircraft can fly human and airlift cargo long distances in all weather conditions day and night from low to high altitudes and land in inaccessible areas.

“The 139th Airlift Wing is again at the tip of the spear in supporting humanitarian relief efforts,” said Air Force Col. Michael McEnulty, the wing commander. “We are always leaning forward to come to the aid of those who have been affected by disasters, whether at home or abroad.”

Missouri is one state that is acutely aware of the need for earthquake preparedness. It sits on the New Madrid fault, named for the Missouri town hit in 1811 and 1812 by some of the strongest earthquakes in North American history.

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau; Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon and NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the fifth annual ChalleNGe Champions Gala at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23, 2010, to honor advocates of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, a 17-month voluntary intervention program that has graduated more than 92,850 former high dropouts since 1993. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON – With increasing government and private support, a National Guard program that helps high school dropouts transform their lives is closing in on its 100,000th graduate.

“The National Guard is proud of the success of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program,” said Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau. “It is essential that we reduce the number of high school dropouts, and Youth ChalleNGe is part of the solution.”

McKinley was hosted by retired Air Force Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway, chairman of the National Guard Youth Foundation, along with several other corporate and military leaders, politicians and celebrities at the 2010 Challenge Champions Gala held Tuesday evening.

“Gen. McKinley and the National Guard are not only fighting our nation’s wars overseas and helping here inside the United States … but they have another mission – helping to save America’s youth, so they can be productive citizens,” Conaway said.

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, thanks Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, for their support of the National Guard during a reception for the National Guard adjutants general of the states and territories of the United States at the Vice President's Residence in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 22, 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON (2/23/10) – The National Guard has made a “gigantic contribution” in a seamless Total Force since 2001, the vice president told Guard leaders Monday.

“This ain’t your father’s National Guard,” Joe Biden said during a reception for the adjutants general of the 50 states and four territories at his official residence here. “This is a very, very different deal.

“General Patton used the phrase that pressure makes diamonds. A lot of your troops have been under an awful lot of pressure. They have met the ultimate definition of what it means to be a Citizen-Soldier.”

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. (2/5/10) – A former medical researcher is set to become the Ohio National Guard’s first Silver Star recipient since the Korean War in a Saturday statehouse ceremony.

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., (2/4/10) — About 1,000 Puerto Rico National Guardmembers will assist the U.S. territory’s police for up to a year while new police recruits are trained, the governor said Monday.

Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie, the adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard, receives an update on the African nation of Senegal at 17th Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on June 17, 2009. Vermont is paired with Senegal in the National Guard's State Partnership Program. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

GERMANY — In June 2009, the adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard sat in a wood-paneled brie!ng room at Ramstein Air Force Base for an update on the African nation of Senegal.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie was making office calls with staff at U.S. Air Forces in Europe and 17th Air Force.

For 14 years, the Vermont National Guard has been in the National Guard’s State Partnership Program with the Balkan nation of Macedonia, part of the former Yugoslavia, and now Vermont also is partnered with Senegal.

USAFE’s area of responsibility includes Macedonia, and 17th Air Force supports U.S. Africa Command, which includes Senegal.

Adjutant generals are increasingly looking to Africa as the National Guard’s 16-year-old, 62-nation State Partnership Program expands.

Seven nations in Africa Command’s purview have partnerships and two more are on the horizon. The seven include: California and Nigeria, New York and South Africa, North Carolina and Botswana, North Dakota and Ghana, Utah and Morocco, Vermont and Senegal and  Wyoming and Tunisia.

Partnerships with Liberia and Kenya are expected to be announced in the coming months, Guard officials said.

Adjutant generals view office calls like the one Dubie made as mandatory stops as they pursue SPP activities with their partner nations. The National Guard is one part of a larger team bent on improving partnership capacity.

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., (2/1/10) – A National Guard that has been vital to national defense for the past eight years will remain an operational force, according to the Department of Defense’s 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review released today.

“Preventing and deterring conflict will likely necessitate the continued use of some elements of the Reserve Component … in an operational capacity well into the future,” the QDR states.

The QDR is a legislatively mandated review of DoD strategy and priorities that occurs every four years.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates delivered the 2010 QDR report to Congress today. It is the fourth QDR since the 1997 act that made it mandatory and the second conducted in wartime.

“Over the past eight years, the National Guard and Reserves have consistently demonstrated their readiness and ability to make sustained contributions to ongoing operations,” the QDR states.

“We don’t want to put our National Guard back on the shelf like we’ve done after every major war our nation’s been in,” said Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau. “We’re going to have a demand on our National Guard for the foreseeable future.”

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997, which established the QDR, also required that it be conducted in consultation with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We could not have accomplished what we have these past eight years were it not for our Reserve and National Guard forces,” Navy Adm. Michael Mullen wrote in his formal assessment of the QDR.

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., (1/26/10) – Joined by members of the Georgia, Kansas, South Dakota and Washington National Guard, Missouri’s “Houn Dawgs” are still sniffing out improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan and rendering them harmless.

Sustained by support from back home, members of the Missouri National Guard’s 203rd Engineer Battalion are prevailing in this dangerous mission.

“We’re all very proud to be here representing our state and our nation,” Army Lt. Col. Tony Adrian, the battalion commander, said today during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable.

Considered one of the most dangerous and important missions assigned to the U.S. military, route clearance ensures safety for those traveling Afghanistan’s roads – a mission felt across the region.

The 203rd’s area of responsibility is about the size of West Virginia, Adrian said.

“It’s a constant cat and mouse game with the enemy,” he said. “They change their tactics. We change ours. And the cycle goes on.”

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

 ARLINGTON, Va., (1/25/10) – The National Guard responded to severe weather in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Arizona on Monday.

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, left, said Jan. 22, 2010, at the national States and Territories Hurricane Response Workshop in Tampa, Fla., that more agencies are communicating and collaborating better to prepare for domestic hurricane response. Also pictured are Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart, Jr., commander, Northern Command; Juliette Kayyem, assistant secretary, the Department of Homeland Security, and Rear Adm. Mary Landry, commander, 8th Coast Guard District. The National Guard Bureau and Northern Command co-sponsored the weeklong workshop hosted by the Florida National Guard. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt.Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

TAMPA, Fla. (1-22-10) – More agencies are communicating and collaborating better as a team preparing for the next hurricane response, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said here today.

Flanked by the commander of Northern Command and senior Department of Homeland Security, Coast Guard and other leaders, Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley said hurricane preparation is steadily improving.

“The more players we get at this table, the better we all are going to be,” McKinley said.

McKinley and Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander, Northern Command are scheduled to brief President Obama on the workshop, and the week’s work here is expected to be reflected in hurricane plans.