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The first 204 National Guard troops return Sunday. OKLAHOMA CITY — The first batch of some 2,600 Oklahoma Army National Guard troops who have been in Iraq for nine months will return home Sunday to a hero's welcome. Family and friends, along with state military and government leaders, will gather at the Sawyer Activities Center at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany for two welcome-home ceremonies for the arriving troops. Those ceremonies are set for 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. after the returning troops — 204 of them — fly into the Will Rogers Air National Guard base. The first of...

DOVER, Del., Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden bid a safe farewell on Friday to 112 "citizen soldiers" headed to Iraq, including his son, and told them "thank you for answering the call of your country." "God bless you and may He protect you," Biden said a day after his debate with his Republican rival Sarah Palin, who as Alaska's governor saluted her 20-year-old son off to war last month. In brief remarks at a departure ceremony outside the Delaware state capitol, Biden made no mention of his showdown in St. Louis with Palin.

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 2, 2008 – Many NASCAR fans are accustomed to seeing the National Guard name on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. The Army National Guard will sponsor driver Landon Cassill in the Mountain Dew 250 Fueled by Winn-Dixie NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The sponsorship of Cassill, who drives the No. 81 truck, at Talladega ties in with Guard recruiting and retention events to be held during the race. Photo by Nigel Kinrade  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Recently, however, the Guard added another driver and racing series to...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) will be speaking at his eldest son's deployment to Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard on Friday, according to MSNBC. Biden, who has no campaign events until his debate with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday, will speak at a deployment ceremony for the 261st Signal Brigade, which his son Beau is a part of, as part of his position as the longest-serving Delaware senator. "I have to admit to you, I wish he wasn't going," Biden told ET last week. "It does make it more personal... when you've...

RALEIGH - Jane Strand won't have to wonder how her son is doing as he deploys for the first time with the N.C. National Guard to Iraq in a few weeks. She'll be right there with him. Sgt. Strand and her son, Pvt. Timothy Strand, are part of the 449th Theater Aviation Brigade, based in Morrisville. The Guard held a farewell ceremony for the brigade Thursday afternoon, an event designed to honor the families of the service members as much as those in uniform. Several state lawmakers attended, along with representatives of the state's congressional delegation and a host of...

KUWAIT CITY — Seven U.S. soldiers were killed early Thursday morning when their transport helicopter crashed in southern Iraq, officials said. Enemy fire was not involved in the incident, the military said. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter went down just after midnight around 60 miles west of Basra. All aboard were killed. In its initial news release, the military said five bodies had been recovered and that two soldiers were missing; hours later, that was updated to say the bodies of all seven aboard had been recovered. "It is a tough day for the coalition and we are deeply saddened by...

GOVERNOR HOLDS PRESS AVAILABILITY WHILE VISITING TROOPS IN KUWAITJuly 24, 2007 Tuesday JUNEAU, Alaska The following information was released by the office of the governor of Alaska: Governor Sarah Palin continues her trip to Kuwait where she is meeting with Alaska soldiers. The Governor this morning shared details of her trip with Alaska-based reporters. For those reporters who were unable to participate, audio and photos may be accessed at the following links. Audio of Governor Palin's press conference on her visit to Kuwait: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/audio/Gov_Kuwait_2007.mp3 (8.6mb)Photos of Governor Palin's visit to Alaska soldiers in Kuwait (credit to Giancarlo Casem): http://www.gov.state.ak.us/photos/GovP_KuwaitVisit01.JPG (3.4mb)Alaska...

Sarah Palin's abrupt appearance on the national stage sparked an enormous array of questions, one of which is: Has she ever traveled abroad? I asked her new spokeswoman, Maria Comella, who noted that Palin visited Germany and Kuwait in 2007 to visit Alaska National Guard troops. Comella said she'd also visited one other country: Ireland.

According to an itinerary obtained from the Alaska National Guard, the Republican governor visited troops and airmen at a series of bases in Kuwait, including Camp Buehring, Camp Virginia, and Ali Al Salem Air Base. Her visit to Iraq itself was during a short stop at Khabari Alawazem Crossing on the second day of her two-day trip to the region. Palin arrived at Camp Buehring in Kuwait, where she held a town meeting with soldiers and reviewed various training programs designed to prepare troops to deploy into Iraq, said Lieutenant Colonel Dave Osborn, commander of the 3d Battalion, 207th Infantry...

August 30, 2008 Categories: John McCain Palin's travels Sarah Palin's abrupt appearance on the national stage sparked an enormous array of questions, one of which is: Has she ever traveled abroad? I asked her new spokeswoman, Maria Comella, who noted that Palin visited Germany and Kuwait in 2007 to visit Alaska National Guard troops. Comella said she'd also visited one other country: Ireland.

Obama camp suggests lies over Palin visit to Iraq By GLEN JOHNSON – 4 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) — The question of whether Sarah Palin has ever been to Iraq pushed Obama aides Saturday to accuse the McCain campaign of outright lies, distortions and distractions to the American people. Since Republican presidential nominee John McCain tapped the Alaska governor to be his running mate on Aug. 29, questions about her experience have been fueled by her relatively brief tenure in office, as well as a dearth of foreign travel. Palin made a well-documented trip to Kuwait and Germany last year...

(CNN) -- Sarah Palin did not visit troops in Iraq, a spokesperson for the Republican vice presidential nominee confirmed Saturday, as new details emerged about the extent of the Alaska governor's foreign travel. Gov. Sarah Palin's aide confirmed to CNN details of her foreign travel Saturday. Gov. Sarah Palin's aide confirmed to CNN details of her foreign travel Saturday. In July of last year, Palin left North America for the first time to visit Alaskan troops stationed in Kuwait. Palin officials originally said her itinerary included U.S. military installations or outposts in Germany and Kuwait, and that she had visited...

ARLINGTON, Va. (09/10/2008) - For the first time in five years, the Air National Guard has met its end strength goal of 106,700 for this fiscal year, Guard officials announced today. The ANG recruited 1,194 in August, which was 107 percent of its goal of 1,116. To date for fiscal year 2008, it retained 16,518 personnel, which was 107.3 percent of its goal of 15,390. Lt. Col. Randy Johnson, chief of Air Guard recruiting and retention, attributed the milestone to several factors, including the hard work of recruiters and retainers and the growth of advertising campaigns and recruiting initiatives. “A...

Soldiers from the New York National Guard serving in Afghanistan are conducting "business as usual" on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that sent them into battle. "It's always on our minds," said Sgt. 1st Class Fernando Gonzalez, an NYPD officer from the Bronx serving in Afghanistan with the New York National Guard. As a cop, Gonzalez responded to the World Trade Center collapse, and the images from the rubble still haunt him. "I found a briefcase and opened it up. There was a calendar with appointments for that day," he recalled. "I wonder about it all the time. Is...

FORT GREELY, Alaska (American Forces Press Service, Aug. 30, 2007) - While most Americans were celebrating Independence Day in 2006, Maj. Joe Miley was at his post in the remote interior of Alaska, staring at blips on a computer screen reminiscent of a 1980s video game. But this was no game. Maj. Miley was in the "tank turret" of U.S. missile defense, scrutinizing 21st-century space-surveillance technology and monitoring a North Korean long-range ballistic missile test. "It was quite a sense of awe. We had spent thousands of hours on the system, doing simulations, training for such an event and then...

Greta Van Susteren interviews Major General Craig E. Campbell, a longtime commander of the Alaska National Guard. Major General Campbell provides a description of what is required of a governor as head of a statewide national guard unit, and talks about Sarah Palin’s intense interest and commitment to the unit that she commanded, which made her an excellent Commander in Chief.

Below is a video from Greta Van Susteren on Fox News on the leadership experience of Sarah Palin. Greta spoke with several people from Alaska, starting with the current mayor of Wasilla, Dianne Keller. Palin was mayor of Wasilla before she became governor. Keller said that Palin works well with different factions and interests, and would do well in uniting the people of the United States. She said Palin is driven and will accomplish whatever goals she sets for herself. Keller said she met Palin when Palin knocked on her door to ask her opinion about some land use issues...

News clip from just played FNC broadcast that features Gov. Palin's command of the National Guard in Alaska. Should definitely be sent to the crack news team at CNN. http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html

Folks,Someone in the "Freep" community probably can help with this question. As Gov. of Alaska, did Sarah Palin need a Security Clearance and how does that "Overlap" with the Vetting Process if at all?The reason I ask is this, If she has a Clearance in regards to her role with the National Guard, doesn't that stop the improper vetting argument if the two processes overlap?Doesn't that also nix the so many of the inexperience arguments?

Meanwhile, Alaska National Guard troops were helping the state Department of Forestry fight about 14 wildfires spreading across the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and crews are using Bambi buckets -- collapsible buckets with a valve on the bottom that releases water -- to help douse the flames, National Guard Bureau officials reported. Each helicopter has a six-person crew, and about 30 Guardsmen are involved in the effort. The crews are working out of Palmer Airport, and have been asked to remain on station for seven days, officials said. Thunderstorms, erratic winds, hot temperatures and low humidity are...

As 1,500 National Guard members arrived in New Orleans yesterday to support the city’s police department and assist in executing civil support missions, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced the activation of all available remaining Louisiana National Guard forces to assist with emergency operations in preparation for Hurricane Gustav. With the newly activated troops coming on board today, the total of Louisiana Guard members activated reaches 7,000.

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan, Aug. 28, 2008 – The chief of the National Guard Bureau came to see his troops serving here during a two-day visit that began Aug. 26. Army Chief Warrant Officer Russell Hoyer from Voorheesville, N.Y., assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix Logistics Task Force, poses for a photo with Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau. U.S. Army photo by Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum was accompanied by Army Command Sgt. Maj. David Ray...

TAJI, Iraq– Soon a group of Iowa National Guardsmen will be leaving Iraq and leaving behind a legacy of training and friendship with their Iraqi Air Force partners.“This day I would like to say goodbye to our dear friends who gave serious assistance and backup for our air force,” said Lt. Gen. Kamal, IqAF commander. “They did a major job to build our new Air Force.”“We would like to thank their families, said Kamal. “Because they were so patient waiting for them to do their duties here. Our salute to their families to wish them all the best happiness and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2008 – When they found out one of their own was going to deploy overseas with the Tennessee National Guard, the leadership and employees of Lochinvar Corp. didn’t waste any time. They immediately found out what they could do to help, and they worked together to help him and his unit before, during and after the deployment. The deploying employee, Army Sgt. 1st Class Bill Jacobs, who was an Apache helicopter platoon sergeant with the National Guard and a manufacturing engineer manager with Lochinvar, was so impressed with the level of support he received that he...

For the second year in a row, state lawmakers have rebuffed the Guard's effort to win state money to help cover the cost of college for its members... California is the only state that gives no educational benefit to National Guard members

An injured National Guard soldier from Woodbury gets a great gift Friday -- a new home. Sgt. Marcus Kuboy was seriously injured by an explosion in Iraq last year and is mostly confined to a wheelchair because of leg and back injuries. Right now he can only use his legs for short periods of time. The project's been under construction for several months now and hundreds of people have helped. On Friday, volunteers were getting started on the landscaping by planting flowers and shrubs. The inside is almost complete as well. Kuboy will have his own elevator and a kitchen...

Military providing free healthcare to everyone 09:45 PM CDT on Thursday, August 7, 2008 By Allison Triarsi / 11 News BROWNSVILLE, Texas—The Air National Guard at Ellington Field stands ready to protect our borders both on land and at sea. Part of that duty includes providing free medical care to everyone. That is evident at a school in Brownsville where soldiers along with our state’s health and human services department help those in need. “We’re protecting our people and that’s our job,” said Master Sgt. Marcus Falleaf who is with the Air National Guard. But does that job include protecting...

A large contingent of Georgia Army National Guard soldiers flew to the Republic of Georgia on Sunday for joint military exercises at a time when tension is brewing in the region. The soldiers, mostly from the metro area, will be part of "Immediate Response 2008," which will amount to the largest U.S. footprint on the crossroads of Asia and Europe since the Cold War began. Recent headlines: The three-week operation also provides practical training for the 48th Infantry Brigade's 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment just months before a pending deployment to Afghanistan. "We're going to a sensitive part of the...

GREEN, Ohio, Aug. 6, 2008 – When military recruits speak of their reasons for enlisting, many cite family pride and tradition as their strongest motivation. The desire to follow in a parent's footsteps has prompted many soldiers to enlist into the National Guard. Army Pvt. Larry Gravius (right) was inspired to join the Ohio Army National Guard as a result of the February enlistment of his 18-year-old daughter, Army Pfc. Gwendolyn Gravius (left). U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Bemus, Ohio National Guard  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. For recent enlistee Pvt. Larry Gravius, a 39-year-old...

US soldiers join Polish pilgrimage The Associated Press Published: August 5, 2008 WARSAW, Poland: Hundreds of soldiers in camouflage set off Tuesday on a 10-day march to Poland's holiest Roman Catholic shrine — among them five Americans hoping to deepen ties with an ally. Five members of the Illinois National Guard traveled to Poland to make the 180-mile (290-kilometer) trek on foot — alongside Poles, Germans and other Europeans — from Warsaw to Czestochowa, site of the revered Black Madonna icon. Though the 300-year-old pilgrimage has deep religious and patriotic resonance in mainly Catholic Poland, the main purpose of the...

George Juelch was in Baghdad, about to embark on a hazardous eight-hour road trip to Mosul, when he got a disturbing phone call from his wife in Pismo Beach. She told him she had just opened a letter from the California Military Department. The department runs the National Guard and had hired Juelch as a cook at Camp San Luis Obispo before he was mobilized for Iraq duty. The Guard was writing Juelch to tell him it was shutting down the dining facility at the camp, and would no longer need his services. In other words, he was being laid...

Dozens of California National Guard recruiters and support staffers were punished or remain under investigation for a variety of offenses that include forging criminal and other enlistment records, The Sacramento Bee has learned.

These aren't the 300 Spartans you heard about from Greek myth or the movies. They are the nearly 300 Spartan combat support truckers of the National Guard who are on their way back to Iraq. The 1498th Transportation Co., nicknamed "The Spartans," departs today from March Air Reserve Base for its ultimate destination, a staging area in Kuwait designed for supporting missions into Iraq. ... On Tuesday the largest California Guard unit to deploy during the initial phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom got ready to redeploy to the Middle East, with 18 or so of its original members making the...

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa., July 18, 2008 – Officials at the National Guard’s Eastern Aviation Training Site here yesterday unveiled the new UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopter, for which they will become the military’s sole trainers. The new UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopter sits on the tarmac at the National Guard’s Eastern Aviation Training Site at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. The facility will provide all aviator and aircrew training on the new aircraft. Photo by Army Pfc. Coltin Heller  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. This central Pennsylvania post will be the only Army training site for the military’s...

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN? | Gov offers to send state troopers and National Guard copters to fight gang violence Calling violence in Chicago "out of control," Gov. Blagojevich on Wednesday offered to lend state troopers and National Guard helicopters to the city to augment the Chicago Police. The governor is considering forming an "elite tactical team" to help the Chicago Police fight gang problems, a source said, adding that the unit could later be sent across the state to deal with gang problems at any city's request. It's fair to say that violent crime in Chicago is out of control....

EDINBURG - The Texas National Guard is set to end a two-year border security mission this week. And while the guardsmen's arrival in South Texas was met with concern from civil liberties groups, the soldiers have departed with relatively little fanfare. Most of the more than 500 guardsmen once stationed in the Rio Grande Valley have already been released from border duty even though their mission isn't set to expire until Tuesday, said Dan Doty, a local spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol. "I still see one or two of them around occasionally," he said. "But most of them have...

SAN DIEGO - The observation posts are vacant, the National Guard helicopters that flew along the U.S.-Mexican border silent, the hammers and welders that beefed up the international boundary fence still. After two years of a historic mission to strengthen the country's southern frontier and boost U.S. homeland security, members of the California National Guard are going home. The border deployment, dubbed "Operation Jump Start," officially ends Tuesday, although a handful of Guard troops will remain in San Diego until the end of August writing final "after-action" reports.

McALLEN, Texas -- The thousands of National Guardsmen sent to reinforce the U.S.-Mexican border two years ago have almost completely withdrawn, despite pleas from border-state governors once skeptical of using soldiers to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. When the Guard was posted along the southern frontier in 2006 to help the strapped Border Patrol, critics warned that sending soldiers would be an insult to Mexico and that innocents could get shot by troops trained for combat, not law enforcement. But none of that happened, and now those worries have given way to fears that a bloody drug-cartel war on...

6/19/2008 - GREEN BAY BOTTOM, Iowa (AFPN) -- The men and women of the 185th Air Refueling Squadron from Sioux City, Iowa, are teaming with local farmers to maintain the 20 miles of levees, keeping the flooded Mississippi from inundating the 14 thousand acres of homes and farmland here. The river is flowing 23 feet over flood levels and 20 feet over the corn fields that line it near the farming community of Burlington in Green Bay Bottom, Iowa. "It would have been devastating without the (Air National) Guard here," said local resident Robert Mozingo, a retired mechanical engineer who...

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2008 – The Army National Guard has been so successful recruiting and retaining citizen-soldiers that officials purposely slowed May enlistments, National Guard Bureau officials reported. The Army and Air National Guard continued a brisk recruiting pace in May that has filled out the ranks of the Guard across the board. A decade-long decline in recruiting doctors, dentists and physician assistants was reversed in 2007, with a 20 percent increase. Recruiters anticipate a 60 percent increase in 2008 as they execute a four-year recovery program for the field. The Army National Guard was at 102 percent of its...

(CNSNews.com) - Members of Congress are split on whether the National Guard should end its deployment along the U.S.-Mexico border in July, as planned. On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff predicted the border would not be secured until 2011. (See earlier story)The Guard built 38.1 miles of new fencing, 18.5 miles of new roads, 94.5 miles of vehicle barriers and repaired 717 miles of road. The final withdrawal for the National Guard working in Operation Jump Start is planned for July 15. The National Guard's Noller said that Operation Jump Start is winding down because of a presidential directive....

TERRE HAUTE, Ind., June 9, 2008 – As members of the Air National Guard's 181st Intelligence Wing and the Army National Guard's 519th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion made their way toward Hulman Field here, they had an idea what their mission was going to be during June's drill weekend. Members of the Indiana National Guard’s 181st Intelligence Wing, from Terre Haute, Ind., fill sand bags June 8, 2008, to stem the flow of flood waters that hit the state June 6-7. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Chris Jennings  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. More than six...

Brazil, Ind, native Spc. Ean Blakley of the Indiana National Guard’s 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team registers an Iraqi worker at the host national workforce program center. Blakley has been has been working to identify workers with developed trade skills in order to provide Iraqis with more employment opportunities and Logistical Support Area Anaconda with a more developed host nation workforce. Photo by Staff Sgt. Lesley Newport. BALAD — Hundreds of local Iraqis arrive each work morning at the pedestrian gate of Logistical Support Area Anaconda, bustle through security inspections then are bussed to the directorate of public works’ local...

Tears, hugs and American flags welcomed members of a North Dakota National Guard unit back to their home state after nearly a year in Iraq.Most of the 104 members of the 817th Engineer Company arrived at Jamestown airport on two chartered flights Saturday, shortly after 7 a.m., about 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Eleven soldiers had returned earlier and two went directly to homes in Wisconsin and Colorado.Guard officials did their best to notify families of the early arrival, and hundreds turned out to welcome home the troops."The year is done," said Daine Flieth, who was reunited with her husband,...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, June 6, 2008 – Deployed Idaho National Guardsmen working as a police mentoring team travel throughout Afghanistan’s Parwan province to train and advise the Afghan National Police. An Afghan National Police officer checks a vehicle’s undercarriage during a vehicle-search class at the Parwan province’s police headquarters in the Charikar district, June 3, 2008. The class is given as part of ongoing training the ANP receive from a team of Idaho National Guardsmen. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jessica R. Dahlberg, 382nd Public Affairs Detachment  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. As part of the training,...

One windy afternoon last week at the border fence, a construction platform carrying a crew of National Guard personnel moved slowly along the barrier, sparks flying from blowtorches as the guardsmen straightened and retrofitted the steel posts. For most of them, it would be their last task on the border. “I'll go wherever they want me to go,” said Staff Sgt. Dan McBride, 44, the crew's supervisor, a mail carrier from Fresno who plans to go back to his full-time job for a while before his likely deployment to Iraq in February. “But this has been sweet, San Diego.” After...

In its April, 2008 aerial survey of the border from Fabens, Texas, to San Diego, California, American Border Patrol could find no National Guard providing security for the border, and only one National Guard construction crew working on the border fence. Last year ABP spotted 13 Guard outposts at Yuma alone Photos of each location last year (none exist today): http://www.americanpatrol.com/07-FEATURES/070322-FENCE-NEEDED/BEEFGuardYumaCanal.html Video news clip of current violence (CNN): http://americanpatrol.com/WMV/080528-DOBBS/DW.wmv Lou Dobbs verifies this information from CNN: Excerpt: Dobbs: ...Mexico remains the principle source of all of this country's heroin, marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines and that has not changed one iota...

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2008 – About 175 Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen are serving on state active duty in support of tornado-relief and -recovery missions for northeastern Iowa. The servicemembers were activated the evening of May 26 and the next morning following tornadoes and severe storms in the Butler County area May 25. It is estimated the soldiers and airmen will remain on duty for the next several days. With numerous power lines down, leakage from damaged vehicles, severed natural gas lines, debris, rubble and unstable structures, about 160 soldiers from 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, are providing security and...

It's easy to understand how Minnesota National Guard soldiers deployed overseas would miss lots of things about home. Things like sitting down to a simple Sunday dinner with family. A number of years ago, that notion struck St. Paul City Councilman Pat Harris as he sipped a beverage at Mancini's Char House on West 7th, and he decided that an overseas dinner was do-able. Harris didn't have to go far for help. Mancini's, Cossetta, O'Garas, Skinners Pub, are among the familiar names on St. Paul's restaurant landscape that power and help fund an effort called 'Serving our Troops.' It's a...

DETROIT, May 5, 2008 – Patriotism was in full gear at the Chrysler headquarters today, as hundreds gathered inside the star-spangled atrium of the automaker’s main hub to honor America’s men and women in uniform. Robert Nardelli, chairman and chief executive officer of Chrysler, signs a 5-Star Military Support Agreement on May 5, 2008, in Auburn Hills, Mich., pledging the automaker's commitment to continue supporting employees who are called into active military service. Defense Department photo by John J. Kruzel  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. On the tiered floors of the glass-enclosed plaza here, employees hung over railings...