Governor, Legislators
honor Guard, SDF
More than 200 Soldiers and Airmen representing the Georgia Army and Air National Guard and the Georgia State Defense Force filled the north wing of the state capitol, Tuesday, March 11, 2008, to hear Gov. Sonny Perdue praise the professionalism, integrity and sacrifice of the National Guard Full Story

Foundation receives $114,000 donation
Governor Sonny Perdue presented a check in March on behalf of Georgia taxpayers who have again stepped up to help their fellow Georgians in uniform and their families. More than $114,000 were donated to the Georgia National Guard Family Support Foundation by Georgia taxpayers through the check-off box on their State income tax form. Full Story

High-tech system will give
Guardsmen control of pay,
personnel data
Georgia Army National Guardsmen will soon be able to check their records and  their pay using a one-stop high tech system that the Army calls DIMHRS or Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System. Full Story 
Download DIMHRS Poster
Download DIMHRS FAQ
Download DIMHRS Press Release
(Adobe Acrobat Reader required get it here)

NASCAR, Earnhardt honor 48th,
Guard as 'patriots'
Eighteen Soldiers representing the men and women of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team gathered at the infield of the Atlanta Motor Speedway at the March race to be celebrated as patriots and Citizen-Soldiers. The up-close and personal opportunity to get a taste of the true NASCAR racing experience was yet another stop of the “Thank-a-Hero” tour sponsored by Hendricks Motorsports, the National Guard and, oh yes, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Full Story

6th Annual Top Gun Ride
To benefit Family Support Foundation
For the second year in a row, the Georgia National Guard Family Support Foundation has been selected as the military support organization to receive funds from the 6th Annual Top Gun Ride for Children sponsored by The Center for Children and Young Adults in Marietta. Scheduled for April 19, the Top Gun Ride for Children will be held in Kennesaw. Last years ride included more than 300 bikes and resulted in an $11,000.00 contribution to the Foundation. For details and registration information, go to: www.topgunrideatlanta.com

48th Brigade helps celebrate opening of new Macon Veteran’s Center
Georgia's 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team helped open the new Macon Veteran’s Center in March. The storefront office at 750 Riverside Drive is a vision of hope realized. Dignitaries, citizens and a community of veterans celebrated the grand opening, although the Middle-Georgia facility has been assisting area veterans and their families since July 2007. “This center is part of the system to care for those who have served and seen what no one should have been called to see.” said Col. Lee Durham, 48th Brigade commander, who was keynote speaker for the event.  Full Story

Hurrex '08 tests Guard,
SDF disaster skills
A three-day exercise of the Georgia National Guard’s hurricane plan to test its logistics, communications and planning was termed a success Sunday, March 9, 2008, by Georgia’s Adjutant General.
 Full Story

More on the HURREX
   118th FA teams with Savannah Ports police during HURREX
   Video: Hurricane Exercise at JRSOI Site, Robins AFB

Aviation battalion lands
in best soldier, NCO competition
Two members of the Georgia Army National Guard aviation community are going to Fort Gordon in late April to participate in the Southeast's Region 8 Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of the Year competition. Competition for the Georgia Soldier and NCO of the Year for 2008 was held March 28 and 29 on the grounds of the Guard’s Regional Training Institute. Ten Guardsmen from each of Georgia’s four major commands participated. Full Story

Georgia Soldiers join Japanese counterparts in bilateral exercise
Seven members of Augusta’s 560th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade spent from Feb. 27 to March 18 in the remote, mountainous area of the home island’s northern section training along side soldiers of the 5th Regiment, 9th Division, Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) in Exercise North Wind 2008. Full Story

Guard Counter Drug Soldiers
help civilian officers ‘do it better’
For the tenth consecutive year, Army Guardsmen along with the Georgia Counter Drug Task Force (GaCDTF) are helping their civilian counterparts improve their ability to sneak up on the bad guys. Exercise Woodland Training 2008 took place, just as it does every year, on the grounds of the Georgia Sheriff’s Association’s 2,700-acre Camp Pioneer near LaGrange, Ga.  Full Story
Related: Counter Drug honors camp director

48th unit honors fallen
Texas Guardsman
 At the request of one of its own, Headquarters Company of Georgia’s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team paid tribute to a Texas Army Guardsman and the Warner Robins-based family he left behind. The ceremony at brigade headquarters was presided over by Captain Andrew Lane, brigade safety officer, and honored Robert Nichols who died Jan. 22 in San Antonio while trying to recover from injuries he received while serving with the Texas Guard’s 36th Infantry Division in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Full Story

116th Recruiter Captures
ANG Recruiting Award
Technical Sgt. Dianna Bowen, Air Guard Recruiter for the 116th Air Control Wing who captured the distinguished ANG Director’s Challenge earlier this year for the third time in four years. Bowen won the ANG recruiting honor by exceeding by 35 percent of her established recruiting goal of twelve new recruits into the Georgia Air Guard.
Full Story

Enola Gay navigator recounts
dropping A-bomb on Hiroshima
Sixty-three years after the Enola Gay dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, navigator Dutch Van Kirk remembers the “bright flash” and “shockwave” of the explosion. Speaking to a group of military aviators and others, who were in attendance at the Army Air Aviator Association meeting hosted by the Guard’s 171st Aviation Battalion, Van Kirk declared “after we dropped the bomb, we made the turn and got away from there.” Full Story