In The News
Sep 12, 2012
| National Guard News
Ham: National Guard essential to Africa Command
The National Guard is essential to Africa Command, the combatant commander said here Monday. “We in Africa Command rely on members of the Army and Air National Guard every day to accomplish our mission,” Army Gen. Carter Ham told attendees at the 134th National Guard Association of the United States General Conference. “The National Guard – its Soldiers and Airmen – are essential components of all our engagements.
Sep 12, 2012
| National Guard News
Odierno: National Guard contributions since 9/11 ‘critical’
On the eve of today’s 11th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the chief of staff of the Army paid tribute to the role of the National Guard in the immediate aftermath and in the years since.
Aug 16, 2012
| Navy Times
Officials: Budget cuts will harm National Guard
Massive budget cuts that are due to take effect in January if Congress can’t reach a deficit-reduction deal could affect not only the active-duty military but also the National Guard, experts said Tuesday. At a discussion at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Paul McHale, former assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, and retired Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, former deputy chief of U.S. Northern Command, said the across-the-board budget cuts would jeopardize the Guard’s domestic readiness and are an “irresponsible approach” to U.S. national security.
Aug 7, 2012
| U.S. Air Force
Senate confirms General Welsh as next Air Force chief of staff
Issues: Air Force Reserve
Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, a 36-year veteran, will be the twentieth Air Force chief of staff, according to a Senate confirmation vote Aug. 2. Welsh provided testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee July 19, before the full Senate voted on his confirmation. Now the president must appoint the general before he can assume his new position.
Jul 16, 2012
| Baltimore Sun
Guard, Reserves Need Employer Support
Issues: National Guard, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Navy Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve
When the Department of Defense began to anticipate the end of the Vietnam War and with it the draft, it established an agency to oversee a relationship that would be critical to our nation’s ability to maintain an all-volunteer military. For the past40years, that agency— Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) — has labored to develop and promote a culture in which all American employers support and value the military service of their employees in the National Guard and Reserve. The last decade of continuous combat and historic natural disasters has tested our reliance on Guard and...
Jun 28, 2012
| The Weekly Standard
Colorado's 'Epic Firestorm' Reveals Danger of Air Force Cuts
As the wildfire in Colorado shows, readiness and flexibility are sometimes needed at home as much as abroad. Cutting more C-130s puts a greater strain on the entire Air Force fleet. It means fewer planes will be available for possible conversion to the MAFFS configuration.
Jun 25, 2012
| National Catholic Reporter
National Guard unit brings agribusiness aid to Afghanistan
A National Guard unit from Wisconsin has been sent to Afghanistan not to fight, but to help the local farmers grow food more effectively and thus have a better life -- one that does not depend on the opium trade. Many of the 58-member 82nd Agribusiness Development Team have expertise for the mission, backed up by their day jobs in fields such as pest management, forestry, veterinary science, agricultural marketing, hydrology, agronomy, soil science and food processing.
May 24, 2012
| Air Force Times
Air Guard chief: Budget battle harms retention
The administration’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal and its planned elimination of jobs and planes in the Air National Guard have been worse for retention than two decades of deployments to hostile territories, the Air Guard’s top general told lawmakers Wednesday
Apr 25, 2012
Air National Guard Lobbies Successfully Against Budget Cuts
In combat zones, National Guard units generally take their orders from active duty commanders. Not so in Washington. For two months, the Air National Guard, with the help of governors from every state, has been battling the active duty Air Force over proposed budget cuts that would have trimmed the Guard’s force by more than 5,000 people and more than 200 aircraft.
Mar 21, 2012
| Air Force Reserve Command
Maj. Gen. James F. Jackson nominated for chief of Air Force Reserve Command
Maj. Gen. James F. Jackson has been nominated for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment as chief of Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
