http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/nationalguard/ en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:20:00 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412713/posts After nearly a year away from their families, 1,200 members of the Minnesota National Guard will soon be coming home from Iraq. The 34th Infantry Division, known as the Red Bulls, won't be home for the holidays, but they will arrive not long after the new year. The first wave of men and women will start coming home next month. By the end of February, they should all be home. Theresa Nace is counting the days. Her husband Specialist Timothy Nace, is one of the guardsmen returning home. She said, "It's very helpful knowing that once 2010 comes then we're... KSTP.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412713/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:20:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2411398/posts Interstate 64 is shut down until further notice. CHARLESTON W.Va.-- Officials say that both Northbound and Southbound lanes of Interstate 64 between Charleston and Beckley are shut down until further notice. Road crews and the National Guard are working to clear the roadways and help stranded motorists along the Interstate and across the state. Keep clicking wowktv.com for further updates. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2411398/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:58:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410857/posts Fort Mill, SC (WBTV) – In this season of giving, retail giant Lowe's Home Improvement donated $25,000 to help bring 200 soldiers home for the holidays. The company's generosity is making it possible for Pierson Young's husband to be there for their baby girl, Addison's first Christmas. "We're very excited," said Young. "When he left last time, she wasn't holding her head up on her own and now she can almost sit by herself," she said. "And all these new things we get to share with Daddy. Milestones that I was afraid he was going to miss--but is now going... WBTV http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410857/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:06:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407530/posts BOSTON – A state senator's victory in the Republican primary for the special election to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat gives the Massachusetts GOP something it's sorely missed: a place in the political spotlight. Since Mitt Romney left the Statehouse to pursue his 2008 presidential campaign, and his one-time running mate Kerry Healey failed to hold the governor's office after 16 years of GOP control, the Massachusetts Republican Party has further atrophied. Now its most immediate hope for revival in one of the nation's bluest Democratic states is state Sen. Scott Brown, one of just five Republicans... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407530/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:36:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408377/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Dec. 14, 2009) — The post commander of Fort Leonard Wood helped wish the National Guard a happy 373rd birthday Friday during a cake-cutting ceremony at the Engineer Hall of Flags in the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence. Maj. Gen. Gregg Martin called the Guard a national treasure. “It’s the foundation of our nation’s defense,” Martin said. “The thing that really strikes me about the Guard is that it’s all about great people who are excellent citizens of our country. There’s the tradition of citizen-soldier embedded all the way from the top of the government down... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408377/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:58:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408162/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Dec. 10, 2009) — More than 300 pillows were donated by the residents and businesses in the Eagle 93.9 FM listening area and delivered by the Missouri National Guard on Wednesday to the Warrior Transition Unit on post. The Columbia radio station received the donations after their program, “The Drive,” hosted by Gary Nolan, spoke live with a Missouri National Guardsmen from Afghanistan on Veterans’ Day. On Nov. 11, Veterans’ Day, Nolan had Staff Sgt. Norman Robert Proctor of the 1140th Military Police Company as a call-in guest from Afghanistan on his program, which runs from... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408162/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:27:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406802/posts Soldiers with the 101st Engineer Battalion cut the cake in celebration of the U.S. National Guard's 373rd birthday, in Al Faw Palace, Camp Victory, Baghdad, Dec. 13. The 101st is a direct descendant of one of the three original National Guard units formed in 1636, the East Regiment. Photo by Master Sgt. Michael Daigle, 114th Public Affairs Detachment. BAGHDAD — A ceremony here today in Camp Victory's Al Faw palace celebrated the birthday of the U.S. military's oldest component, the National Guard. Members of the Army National Guard’s 101st Engineer Battalion joined more than 1000 other service members in the... Multinational Force Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406802/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:06:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2406799/posts BANGOR, Maine — Author Stephen King and his wife are donating money so 150 soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard can come home for the holidays. King and his wife, Tabitha, who live in Bangor, are paying $13,000 toward the cost of two bus trips so that members of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit can travel from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to Maine for Christmas. The soldiers left Maine last week for training at Camp Atterbury. They are scheduled to depart for Afghanistan in January -snip- Fox http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2406799/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:46:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395194/posts WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 9, 2009) — In October 2007, the Missouri National Guard personnel, with agricultural and business development expertise, as well as other essential skills, formed the Afghanistan Agribusiness Development Team to develop agribusiness in Afghanistan. Agriculture accounts for 45 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product and employs over 70 percent of the Afghan population. However, decades of war and neglect have devastated the country’s agricultural sector. As a result, one of the great needs in the country is to develop its agriculture potential, and I am so proud of the efforts of the Missouri National Guard, who assumed... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395194/posts#comment Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:03:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395152/posts WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 24, 2009) — House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) sent a letter to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to request information on the National Guard’s current state of readiness to respond to natural disasters in the United States. Skelton also strongly urged the Department of Defense to consider U.S. domestic needs when planning for the redeployment of U.S. forces and equipment from Iraq. “When floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes strike, Americans depend on their neighbors in the National Guard to keep them safe and help with disaster response. In virtually any type of national... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395152/posts#comment Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:00:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2394057/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2009) — The 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team completed two days of internal training that focused on mission essential tasks this week at Fort Leonard Wood. The Missouri National Guard team responded to an “incident” at Abrams Theater and another at the training tunnels at the 1st Lt. Joseph Terry Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Responder Training Facility. The first exercise was coordinated by 1st Lt. Richard Sambolin, the unit’s reconnaissance section officer in charge. In this scenario, the theater was set in Anywhere, USA. A chief of a fire department requested... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2394057/posts#comment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:41:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2394039/posts JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2009) — Michelle Hartmann, of Jefferson City, has been named the Missouri National Guard's first-ever director of psychological health. Hartmann oversees the Missouri Guard's psychological health program. The program, which is funded through the National Guard Bureau, is designed to promote readiness through psychological fitness. Hartmann said the program's guidelines are intentionally vague, which allows each state's director to tailor it to the specific needs of each state. Hartmann said one of her goals is to make mental health a more normal part of conversation. To some extent, Hartmann said, the stigma associated with psychological... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2394039/posts#comment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:57:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391118/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2009) — A Missouri National Guardsman in training to become a military truck driver faces charges of making a terrorist threat in a school near Whiteman Air Force Base. According to court records, the trainee, Pfc. Michael John Frederick, 19, went into a Sedalia high school during a Saturday evening event and told the superintendent that the Army had told him to warn area schools that escaped prisoners might be trying to kidnap students. Frederick was wearing his military uniform when he made his warning about escaped inmates. However, there were no escaped inmates... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391118/posts#comment Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:26:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389711/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 12, 2009) — Tammy Duckworth is now a major in the Army National Guard, a former Democratic Party congressional candidate, and an assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs. But on Nov. 12, 2004, Duckworth’s life was likely saved by the quick action of other National Guardsmen when she was piloting a helicopter that insurgents shot down in Iraq. Those Missouri National Guardsmen assigned to helicopter duty at Fort Leonard Wood attended Duckworth’s fifth “Alive Day” Thursday in Washington, D.C. Staff Sgt. Christopher Fierce, a Dixon resident who was also wounded that day, has... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389711/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:12:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389709/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 9, 2009) — Even for a combat medic like Spc. Erin Raymond, knowing how to clear a room is a fundamental soldier task. “I have to be a soldier before I’m a medic,” said Raymond, who lives in Saint Robert. “It’s important because, even though I am a medic, if I’m put in a situation where one of our members is wounded and I have to help clear a building, I need to know my basic soldiering skills before being a medic. Also, if by chance I ever need to go into a building to... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389709/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:07:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389468/posts California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger talks with Spc. Ferrell Mapp, a resident of Richmond, Calif., and a member of the California National Guard, 49th Military Police Brigade, during a breakfast event held on Camp Victory, Baghdad, Nov. 17. At right is Brig. Gen. Donald Currier, commander of the 49th, and close aide to the governor in his civilian job. Photo by Sgt. Kenneth Bince, 49the Military Police Brigade. BAGHDAD — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shared breakfast and conversation with his State’s Soldiers during a visit here to Camp Victory, Nov. 17. Schwarzenegger said he visited the Fairfield, Calif.-based 49th Military Police... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389468/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:28:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384867/posts The day before he shot and killed a Las Vegas, N.M., man in an apparent road rage incident, an active duty soldier on leave from Iraq posted on his MySpace page that he was going to break in a new gun and was planning to "finish off" a stash of ammunition. Richard Baca, a National Guard specialist from Los Lunas sounded giddy in his online posts in the days leading up to the Monday shooting death of Benito Lemos in a Las Vegas intersection. "What to do today?" Baca wrote Sunday on his profile page on the social networking site... The Albuquerque Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384867/posts#comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:35:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2382917/posts It is 1945 in the Philippines. A short while earlier, American forces were made the Bataan Death March. Now the area between the shore and Zig Zag Pass were once again under U.S. Control. The 'Cyclones' looked at the area. The pass was a few pieces of ground combined to the same degree to roughness and dense jungle. The main road, Route 7 twists violently through the pass, following a line of least terrain resistance that wild pigs must originally have established. The jungle flora in the region is so thick that one can step five yards off the highway... Huntington Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2382917/posts#comment Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:51:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380616/posts FORT WORTH, Texas — Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves to talk about his sponsorship ties to the military. He had a hard time finding the words Friday to discuss the massacre that left 13 people dead at Fort Hood. Texas Motor Speedway is just 170 miles north of the site of a shooting spree that also injured 30, including the suspected gunman. A U.S. Army logo with the message "God Bless Our Fort Hood Troops" was painted on the infield grass Friday. Moments of silence were planned before each event, including Sunday's Sprint Cup race. The first question of Ryan Newman's... The Associated Press (hosted on Google) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380616/posts#comment Sat, 7 Nov 2009 04:00:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2376869/posts The National Security Agency, whose job it is to protect national security systems, will soon break ground on a data center in Utah that's budgeted to cost $1.5 billion. The NSA is building the facility to provide intelligence and warnings related to cybersecurity threats, cybersecurity support to defense and civilian agency networks, and technical assistance to the Department of Homeland Security, according to a transcript of remarks by Glenn Gaffney, deputy director of national intelligence for collection, who is responsible for oversight of cyber intelligence activities in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "Our country must continue to... Information Week http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2376869/posts#comment Mon, 2 Nov 2009 21:56:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373262/posts Eight of the flat-screen TVs removed from a Minnesota sex offender treatment facility on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's orders will go to Minnesota National Guard facilities. The state Department of Administration said Wednesday that Camp Ripley, near Brainerd, will get six of the 50-inch plasma televisions that prompted Pawlenty's ire last week. The Guard's Minneapolis and Duluth airbases will also each get one. Pawlenty called for discipline for whoever authorized buying 26 TVs costing $1,500 each, plus $700 mounting brackets, for the Moose Lake sex offender facility. The Department of Human Services is investigating. The governor previously announced that 14 TVs... WCCO.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373262/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:18:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372209/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 27, 2009) — Teamed with several military organizations, the 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team from Fort Leonard Wood participated in confined space training on Oct. 20 and 21 as part of Operation Joint Eagle in Camp Gruber, Okla. The exercise was conducted by Response International Group, an organization composed of several of the firefighters who responded to the Oklahoma City bombing. The unit worked with the Illinois National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package. “Working side by side with the CERFP helped each team understand its roles... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372209/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:15:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372162/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 16, 2009) — The Missouri National Guard’s 35th Engineer Brigade welcomed its new top non-commissioned officer, Command Sgt. Maj. Will Pierce, of Camdenton, in a recent change of responsibility ceremony. Pierce took over from Command Sgt. Maj. Ray Harding, of Saint Robert, who is retiring this month after 37 years in the Guard. “Command Sgt. Maj. Pierce has several qualities that will make him an excellent command sergeant major,” said Brig. Gen. David Irwin, brigade commander. “He has deployed multiple times with both an engineer battalion and the engineer brigade. He knows what it feels... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372162/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:19:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372072/posts FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Oct. 16, 2009) — While training with civilian agencies in Columbia to clean up a mock terrorist lab producing chlorine gas, the Missouri National Guard’s 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team had to handle serious injuries sustained by one of its members. The injuries were only simulated but weren’t expected by those participating in the training of the Fort Leonard Wood unit with Columbia-area civilian firefighters, police, members of HAZMAT and SWAT teams, and FBI and bomb squad members. “There were a couple of hiccups, but that’s to be expected when you get that... Pulaski County Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372072/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:42:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370097/posts Members of a Tucson Army National Guard unit are shipping out late next week for a year-long tour in Afghanistan. More than 80 members of the 158th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will help provide food, water, ammunition, fuel and other necessities to U.S. and allied troops in the war zone. The citizen soldiers will spend several weeks training at Fort Hood in Texas before heading overseas. They are due to return to Tucson in October 2010, said Maj. Paul Aguirre, a spokesman at Arizona Army National Guard headquarters in Phoenix. About half of the unit's 84 soldiers are from Southern... Arizona Daily Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370097/posts#comment Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:38:53 GMT