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.

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.

Citizen-Soldiers with the Kentucky National Guard's 223rd Military Police Company conduct a briefing at Camp Liberty, Iraq, before an escort mission on Oct. 17, 2008. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. (Oct. 26, 2009) — National Guard equipment will be returned from Iraq to the United States and Guard units can fill shortages with equipment currently in use in Iraq, Defense officials told Congress members Oct. 21.

“Reserve-component equipment will not be used as a source for Iraqi security forces requirements,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy told a House Armed Services Committee hearing on redeployment. “In fact, reserve units serving in Iraq are being offered the opportunity to take theater-provided equipment back to their home station to fill any authorized shortages.”

Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, right, chief of the National Guard Bureau, confers with Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, director of the Air National Guard, during the National Guard Association of the United States’ General Conference in Albuquerque, N.M. Blum told the group that the Guard’s domestic resources need to be significantly improved. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The National Guard’s domestic equipment levels must be significantly improved, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said here Sept. 16.

“We are superbly equipped overseas,” Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum told the 128th National Guard Association of the United States General Conference. “The soldiers want for nothing as far as equipment in the combat zone, and that’s the way it should be.”

But the domestic picture is less rosy. “We are now in a dangerously low resourcing level for missions back here at home, and that must be seriously addressed,” Blum said.

Talking to about 2,500 National Guard officers and others attending the conference, the general used the analogy of a small-town fire department that needs people, training and equipment to fight fires. Americans would not tolerate inadequately equipped fire departments, he said.

“Nobody would accept that from their fire department in any hometown in America, and we should not allow that to be accepted in any (National Guard) armory or readiness center,” he said. “The American people are not going to be happy with a response from the National Guard that has not been fully equipped for the mission it has been assigned.”

The comments were the one note of warning during Blum’s hour-long “State of the Guard” address that highlighted five years of extraordinary change.

An entry identification team consisting of U.S. Army Soldiers from the National Guard man a post on Johnson Mountain in New Mexico June 17, 2006. The team gathers intelligence about illegal immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. from Mexico and relays it to Border Patrol agents. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

COLUMBUS, N.M., June 29, 2006 – Ninety years ago, this New Mexico border town was the flashpoint for the last significant raid on the continental United States before the terrorists attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. Now it is hosting some of the first National Guard members who are helping to make the border between the United States and Mexico more secure.

After 500 guerillas led by Gen. Francisco “Pancho” Villa killed 10 Columbus residents and 14 Soldiers on March 9, 1916, thousands of U.S. Army troops descended on the dusty settlement three miles north of Mexico.

Led by Gen. John Pershing, they hunted Villa. The U.S. Cavalry first used motorized vehicles and airplanes in combat during what proved to be its last campaign.

Now, New Mexico Guard Soldiers in the 2nd Battalion, 200th Infantry Regiment are using trucks and helicopters while conducting a peaceful mission: Helping Border Patrol agents tighten the country’s southern border against illegal immigrants as part of Operation Jump Start.