Army Maj. Gen. David A. Sprynczynatyk, the adjutant general of the North Dakota National Guard, talks with National Guard troops assigned to Kosovo Forces 12 (KFOR 12), Multi-National Battle Group - East (MNBG-E), at Camp Bondsteel, near Urosevac in eastern Kosovo, on May 23, 2010, during a visit by National Guard and Defense Department leaders. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

PRISTINA, Kosovo – More than a decade into a National Guard mission to support Kosovo’s security and stability, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said he saw significant progress in the young nation during a late May visit here.

 “The mission has evolved over the years from a hot, kinetic fight to supporting … NATO forces … to a point where Kosovo can continue to be an independent country and can stand on its own two feet with good governance,” Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley said during his second visit here.

 “The reason I wanted to come back to Kosovo was to thank these forces – predominantly from North Dakota, but with 13 additional states – for this mission, because I think at times it does drop off the average American citizen’s radar screen,” McKinley said.

 Through the 1990s, this Delaware-sized new nation was wracked by Serbian repression of the Albanian majority and by an insurgency bent on independence. NATO intervention in 1999 ended the violence.

 U.S. troops, including the National Guard, have been part of a NATO and United Nations police force on the ground ever since. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008.

 “The National Guard is a tremendous instrument for smart power,” Missouri Sen. Christopher Bond said in March. Smart power is the application of a range of diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural tools to foreign-policy demands.

 Here in Kosovo, the National Guard assists in keeping the peace and helping a fledgling nation find its feet. This is one of numerous domestic and overseas missions simultaneously executed by Guardmembers who have seen a greatly increased operational tempo since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the Guard’s transformation from a strategic reserve to an operational force.

Resiliency is one key to preventing suicide, said Army Capt. Tanya Phillips, suicide prevention program manager for the Arkansas National Guard, seen here after leading training at Camp Joseph T. Robinson in Little Rock, Ark., on April 17, 2010. "The resilience is not learned as it might have been in past generations," Phillips said. (U.S. Army photo by SSG Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. – Two uniformed Arkansas National Guard Soldiers visit homeless shelters and food pantries in a Little Rock neighborhood, joined by a dozen police officers.

Someone has called to report concern about a servicemember’s welfare. Neither the Guard nor police nor other civilian agencies have been able to track down the troop, and it has come down to house-by-house inquiries in an area where a cell phone provider has reported the servicemember last used his phone.

“The Arkansas National Guard cares about every Soldier and every Airman and – our adjutant general has said – every servicemember that is in our state boundaries … and they served their country, we care enough to drop everything and help them,” said Army Capt. Tanya Phillips, suicide prevention program manager.

Arkansas is one of many National Guard states – others include California, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin  – that have gone above and beyond in responding to a spike in military suicides. Arkansas had one such death in 2008, seven in 2009.

What Arkansas has done in the last 14 months makes for a case study in response.

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.