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State Defense Force unit receives prestigious President’s
Volunteer Service Award
The Georgia State Defense Force 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade has
been awarded the 2007 President’s Volunteer Service Award. Congressman Tom Price presented the prestigious honor to Capt.
Amie Toole, the unit’s commander, following the Memorial Day
service at the Marietta National Cemetery during which the
battalion handled security and traffic control.
Full Story
HERO Scholarships now includes
Air Guard; alters eligibility
More Air and Army Guardsmen now qualify for HERO Scholarships.
Governor Sonny Perdue has given his OK to a new law that expands the
benefits for many Georgia National Guard members and their families. Full Story
National Guard officer defeats
a menacing enemy…the Cockroach
They were certainly here when dinosaurs walked the earth,
and they will be here long after human-kind departs the planet.
What are they? Cockroaches, a name that elicits universal
reaction of loathing, fear and disgust, and a “plain old
hatred.” Yet for Capt. Karen Corsetti, a Georgia Army National
Guard environmental officer and trained entomologist, the
annoying bugs are fascinating, and she has made the humane and
effective eradication of the pest into an award winning control
treatment program that has saved the National Guard millions of
dollars.
Full Story
Saying goodbye to a Soldier
Army Master Sgt. Davy N. Weaver, 39, of Barnesville, Ga.; a member of
Headquarters Company,. 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Georgia Army
National Guard, died May 18 in Qalat, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained
when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. Weaver had
volunteered for the tour in Afghanistan. The Georgia Guard veteran had
deployed to Iraq with the 48th IBCT in 2005 and also served with the
unit in Bosnia. Full Story
Related:
Honoring
Georgia's fallen, governor hosts Memorial Day ceremony
116th ACW J-STARS and
British work together
Squadron Leader (equivalent to the rank of major) David ‘Barney’
Barnes is a Joint STARS foreign exchange officer from the United
Kingdom, and has been assigned to the 116th Air Control Wing for
the past two years. The exchange program began eight years ago
because of the Royal Air Force’s Airborne Stand-Off Radar
(ASTOR) aircraft program.
Full Story
Cobb County community leaders extend warm welcome
to Georgia Guard
A group of Cobb County business and civic leaders gathered
recently to welcome the Georgia Guard to the area and to honor
Brig. Gen. Maria Britt, commander, Georgia Army
National Guard. The luncheon was hosted by United Community Bank
in Marietta and the bank’s senior vice president Joe Daniell
to express the community’s overall excitement about the Georgia
Department of Defense and National Guard moving its headquarters
into Cobb County.
Full Story
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Air Guard 'stands up'
first unit in 30 years
Georgia ’s newest Air National Guard unit, the 139th Intelligence
Squadron was officially activated May 29 at Fort Gordon
becoming the ninth Air Guard unit in the state and the first new unit in more than 30 years.
Full Story
Mechanics ready heavy haulers for upcoming missions
When truck drivers of the 1148th Transportation Company don
their helmets and hit the road in mid-July, they’ll be hauling a
sizeable number of light and heavy wheeled vehicles to Fort
McCoy, Wisc., for Macon’s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to
use during exercise Patriot 2008.
Full Story
Airmen of the 165th CES deploy
To Israel for base construction
In the middle of Israel, a desolate region plays
host to Nevatim Air Force Base, an Israeli Defense
Force fighter base. As daylight breaks, a small contingent of Georgia’s 165th Civil
Engineering Squadron prepares for another day of work. Their mission: to
upgrade the American facilities at this Israeli Air Base.
Full Story
48th IBCT Hall of Fame:
Homage to the past celebrates
the future of the Macon Volunteers
Many march to the tune of a different drummer but it's the cadence of
those that marched before that shaped the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat
Team Soldier of today. The introduction of the 48th IBCT Hall of Fame pays
homage to the standards of bravery and honor set by the fearless Volunteer
Soldiers of Georgia and the pure grit of the Brigade's Warfighter legacy.
Full Story
LRS team recertifies
with airborne operation
The paratroopers of Company H, 121st Infantry Battalion,
Long Range Surveillance Team, have once again distinguished
themselves by successfully bringing the unit back on active jump
status. The company last performed an airborne operation in May,
2006, prior to its deployment to Iraq in support of Operation
Iraqi Freedom.
Full Story
121st warriors prepare for
Afghanistan in realistic setting
Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry, spent three days at
Fort Benning to prepare for their year long tour in Afghanistan.
For many of the Soldiers it was like being in Iraq all over
again. Full Story
283rd participates in joint
exercise America's Shield
Forty-five Georgia Air National Guardsmen of the 283rd Combat
Communications Squadron deployed in May to Gulfport, Miss., for Exercise
America's Shield. This two week exercise was designed to train Army and
Air Force personnel to operate the integrated Air Defense System which
monitors and protects the airspace around the nation's capital.
Full
Story
Middle schools students
learn to 'Stay on Track'
The Counter Drug Task Force recently welcomed its first group of
graduates from the Stay on Track program at Colonial Hills
Christian School. Twelve middle school students graduated the
pilot program. Full Story
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Deployment
Update |
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185th Aviation Company earns honor following NATO mission
Six months after their return, flight crews
and ground personnel assigned to Detachment 1, 185th Aviation Company were
honored for their service in support of the NATO stabilization and
peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
Full Story
Waynesboro artillerymen honored
for Iraq service
Members
of Waynesboro’s Battery C, 1st Battalion, 214th Field Artillery received
honors for their year long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom
during a Freedom Awards ceremony in the Fort Stewart main chapel outside
Hinesville. During its year in southern Iraq, the battery’s 150 Soldiers
worked as military police at the Camp Bucca Detention Facility, dealing
with detainees who are rehabilitated and then returned to society.
Full Story |
117th ACS marks 60 years of service
Sixty years ago in the afterglow of winning World War II storm clouds gathered over the Shosin
Reservoir in Korea. During the spring of 1948, when America was ending
one war yet preparing for another conflict on the Korean peninsula, 23
airmen and four officers came together at Travis Field to form the 117th aircraft
warning squadron, the precursor of the 117th Air Control Squadron of
the Georgia Air National Guard.
Full Story
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Change of Command |
2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry’s change
of command, May 30, 2008.
Incoming: Maj. Louis (Kenny) Payne
Outgoing: Lt. Col. Mark London
Upcoming:
170th Military Police Battalion change of command. June 14, 2008.
Incoming: Lt. Col. Lutalo Olutosin
Outgoing: Lt. Col. Joe Hoffman
48th Brigade Special Troops Battalion
change of command, June 13, 2008
Incoming: Lt. Col. Thomas Bright
Outgoing: Lt. Col. Raymond Bossert, Jr.
Don’t see your units change of command?
E-mail Spc. Amanda Kenny at amanda.luksic@ga.ngb.army.mil or Staff
Sgt. Roy Henry at roy.henry@ga.ngb.army.mil |
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A look at what happened in June in Georgia National Guard history...
June 1950 – Saint Simons Island
near Brunswick was chosen as the location for a new Air National Guard
radar warning squadron. The 129th Aircraft Control and Warning
Squadron, was fully organized, according to ANG officials, would be
comprised of 19 officers and 155 airmen. The unit’s mission is to
provide a part of a radar screen being established for the protection
of the United States. Instrumental in securing the unit for Georgia
were Maj. Gen. George F. Finch, chief of the National Guard Bureau for
Air, and Col. James C. Grizzard, president of the National Guard
Association of Georgia.
June 1952—Atlanta’s WSB radio launched a new program called
“Guard Reports.” Sponsored by the Military Division of the Department
of Defense, the program was a public service broadcast featuring the
outstanding contribution of Guardsmen. Staff Sgt. Carlton Morrison was
the sole announcer, producer and director of the broadcast. According
to published reports, Morrison traveled with a tape recorder tucked
under his arm “almost constantly.” Some of his recordings, the report
added, “have been made on the firing line at Camp Stewart, or near the
blast of jet aircraft.” The program aired every Sunday at 1 p.m.
June 1954 – The 48th Infantry Division spent two grueling weeks
in the hills of Eastern Alabama during its annual summer encampment.
The division trained jointly with Florida National Guardsmen. A
highlight of the encampment was the division review on Governor’s Day
when Gov. Herman Talmadge made his sixth consecutive visit with his
Georgia troops. The governor was presented with a silver service in
recognition of his loyalty to the Georgia National Guard.
Complied by
Beryl I Diamond, PhD,
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