The National Guard is
our nation's primary military reserve, ready to deploy quickly anywhere
in the world in defense of our country. The highly-trained men and women
of the Guard are also available to serve under the command of the
nation's governors during state emergencies. Over 500,000 private
citizens across the country have traditionally dedicated one weekend
each month and two weeks each year during peacetime to train with their
units. In true 'minuteman' tradition, they are ready to answer the
time-honored call to duty, and, with the events of recent years and a
new focus on terrorism, members of the Guard have often served on active
duty at home and abroad for far longer than typically required. Sen.
Leahy is the co-chair of the U.S. Senate National Guard Caucus, an
informal yet influential group of almost 90 Senators dedicated to
promoting a strong, ready National Guard. Sen. Leahy has been honored to
receive awards for his efforts to support the National Guard, including
the George Washington Award from the Adjutants General of the United
States, the Eagle Award from the Enlisted Association of the National
Guard, and the Harry S. Truman Award from the National Guard Association
of the United States.
Sen. Patrick Leahy is the co-chair of the Senate
National Guard Caucus. He is seen here speaking on the Senate
floor about equipment shortfalls for the National Guard.
A Proud Vermont
Legacy and September 11
Since Vermonters
first sent Sen. Leahy to the Senate over 30 years ago, he has made
working on National Guard issues a top priority. Vermont has a long
citizen-soldier tradition that goes back to the nation's founding,
when Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys fought valiantly to
take Ticonderoga and helped guarantee our independence. Today, the
Vermont National Guard numbers around 4000 proud men and women,
divided between the Army and Air National Guards. Vermont, with its
600,000 people, represents one of the highest Guard per capita
participation rates of any state in the country.
Even before the
September 11, 2001 attacks, the Vermont National Guard was a proven
asset to the state and the entire country. Vermonters have played
key roles in both World Wars, Korea, and Desert Storm. Since the end
of the Cold War, the nation's defense
strategy has come to
rely more and more on National Guard forces because of their cost
effectiveness and flexibility. The Vermont Air National Guard has more
recently served in Saudi Arabia, providing air cover over Iraq, while
various units of the Vermont Army Guard have sent personnel to the
battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and other areas across the
globe.
The Air Guard Over New York
There is no better
example of the strength, quality, and dedication of today's Green
Mountain Boys than the Vermont National Guard's magnificent response to
the September 11, 2001 attacks. Soon after the news of the attacks, the
158th Fighter Wing scrambled many of their F-16 fighter jets based at
the Burlington International Airport. Over the next 122 days, at least
two of the units’ 15 advanced warplanes provided continuous air patrol
over Washington, D.C., and New York City. No Air Force unit did more
than this 1000-person force to reestablish control over our skies after
that awful day. It was an impressive record-setting achievement.
Sen. Leahy receives the Minuteman Statue Award from Lieutenant General
Blum with the National Guard Bureau on Sept. 23, 2008.
The Air Force has
recognized the tremendous experience of the 158th Fighter Wing of the
Vermont Air National Guard, tapping the unit to cover a 24-hour alert
site at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. Launching from this base,
the Vermont Air National Guard can intercept suspicious aircraft across
the Mid-Atlantic region. This mission is very similar to the alert duty
that the Vermont Air Guard carried out in Charleston, South Carolina for
many years during the latter parts of the Cold War.
Based on the advice
and experience of the Vermont Air National Guard in its patrols of New
York's airspace, Sen. Leahy secured funds for major technology upgrades
to the F-16. He included $55 million to develop a combat datalink and a
so-called Advanced Identification Friend-or-Foe system that allows
pilots to read the transponders of other aircraft.
Advanced IFF sorts out
the wheat from the chaff, leaving only significant information for the
pilots to analyze. Whether called to patrol at home or abroad, the
Vermont Air Guard and the entire F-16 inventory of the Air National
Guard will be even more capable the next time they take to the skies.
Vermont National
Guard and Domestic Defense
In the days after
September 11, 2001, members of the National Guard were critical to the
efforts to heighten security at key sites across Vermont, and these kind
of security activities have not slowed. Citizen-soldiers from the
Vermont Guard have provided increased security at the Burlington Airport
and along the Northern Border. The National Guard has tremendous
experience working closely with local law enforcement and first
responders in Vermont to prevent drug running and to deal with
emergencies. These strong relationships brought results during
these security deployments
The Vermont National
Guard’s domestic defense experience also helped in New Orleans where
dozens from Vermont deployed during the response to Hurricane Katrina in
2005. The Vermont National Guard is also helping to increase security
along the nation’s Southern Border as part of an ongoing operation
called Jump Start. Through all this, the Vermont National Guard remains
ready to respond to emergencies in Vermont, such as man-made and natural
disasters. The Vermont National Guard now possesses a unique weapons of
mass-destruction and civil support team, which will help respond to
non-conventional emergencies.
Vermont
in Iraq and Afghanistan
The Vermont
National Guard has made substantial contribution to the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq. The Green Mountain Boys have sacrificed their
civilian careers, precious family time, and—in too many cases—their
lives.
From late 2002,
dozens of members of the Vermont National Guard Mountain Warfare
School and Mountain Battalion—two
of the U.S. Army’s most unique units which provide a cadre of
soldier who can fight effectively at extremely high
elevations—deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan to help train the new
Afghan Army. A professional Afghan force, subordinate to civilian
leadership, is essential to avoid allowing the nation to slip into
its anarchic past and to allow it to grow healthily. Vermonters are
instilling basic soldier skills and, more importantly, a broader
understanding of how a military should interact with a larger
civilian society. These efforts are truly making the U.S. safer, and
Sen. Leahy is very proud to display in his front office in
Washington, DC an American flag that these proud Vermonters flew
over their base in Kabul on September 11, 2003.
Members of the
Vermont Army National Guard have also gone to Iraq to help provide
security for the struggling Iraqi government. At the high-water
mark, upwards of 1500 soldiers from the Vermont Army were deployed
in or near Iraq. Over 400 soldiers from various units in the
Vermont Guard served in Ramadi as part of a larger Guard force
called Task Force Saber. At the time, Ramadi was one of the most
dangerous cities in Iraq, and the Vermont soldiers worked diligently
and with great sacrifice to bring stability there. Members of the
Vermont National Guard have carried out numerous missions across
Iraq, from evacuating wounded comrades to engaging insurgent forces.
Iraq
remains an extremely dangerous place, and, very sadly and
tragically, many members of the Vermont Army National have been
killed carrying out their mission. Many other Vermonters have been
wounded there as well. Vermont has some of the highest casualties
per capita than any other state in the country. The Vermont National
Guard is truly one of the gems of the United States military, always
ready to sacrifice—sometimes to the greatest extreme—to contribute
to nation’s military efforts.
Sen. Leahy is
proud to fight for the Vermont National Guard, because the Guard
embodies the spirit of service that has always been a hallmark of
Vermonters.
