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Col. Henry A. Smart,
Jr. |
Smart To Assume Command of
Savannah Airlift Wing
Savannah's 165th Airlift
Wing is set to undergo a change of command in February as its Vice
Commander takes the
reins.
Colonel Henry A. Smart, who joined the 158th Airlift
Squadron in May 1986, will take command of the 900-member Wing during a
change of command ceremony scheduled for Feb. 10. Full Story
Governor, TAG 'Troop The
Line'
During '07 Inauguration
ATLANTA, Jan. 8, 2006 – Soldiers and Airmen of
the Georgia Army and Air National Guard were reviewed by
the state’s commander-in-chief, Gov. Sonny Perdue. Perdue, who was in the
second day of his second term as
Georgia’s governor,
“trooped the line” accompanied by Lt. Gen. David B.
Poythress. The formation assembled in front of the state capitol
along
Washington Street.
Official music for the review was played by 530th Air Force Band. Earlier
in the day, the 116th Army Guard Band played for the governor’s
swearing-in ceremony at Philip’s Arena.
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| Col. Davis (left)
greets MSgt. (retired) Gregory Gray during the retirement ceremony. |
Davis
Retires Following
40 Years of Service To Guard
Colonel Jimmy Davis, former director of
human resources for the Georgia Department of
Defense and, since 2003, director of human resources for the
National Guard Bureau, retired from the Georgia
Air National Guard following more than 40 years of military
service at a ceremony held at Dobbins in January. Four General
Officers, including Lt. Gen. David Poythress, Maj. Gen.
Ronald Young, NGB J1, Maj Gen. Terry Nesbitt and Maj Gen Scott
Hammond, individually recognized Col. Davis for his many career
accomplishments.
Full Story
Smith Accepts Command of 4th CST
DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE,
Jan. 17, 2007 -- As a new chapter begins for the Georgia
National Guard, a new page is being written for the 4th Civil
Support Team as Maj. Darrin Smith takes command of the unit from
Lt. Col. Jeffery Allen. Smith joined the CST in 2001 as its
Survey Team Leader, then progressed to become the deputy
commander before taking command.
Full Story
221st Welcomes New Commander
FORT
GILLEM,
Jan. 6, 2007 – Georgia Army National Guard Maj. Matthew J.
Saxton took command of 221st Military Intelligence Battalion
from Lt. Col. John P. Rudio, during a ceremony at
Neil
Fitness
Center.
Full Story
Warren Promoted At
Oglethorpe Ceremony
ELLENWOOD, GA, January
6, 2007-- Georgia Army National Guard Lt. Col. Charlotte J. Warren, deputy
commander, Joint Forces Headquarters Medical Command, was promoted to the
rank of colonel during a promotion ceremony at Oglethorpe Armory. Maj. Gen. William T. Nesbitt, Army Guard
commander, and Brig. Gen. Larry H. Ross, commander 78th Troop Command in
Decatur, pins on her rank. Warren
is the president of Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Ill.
She has served in the Guard for 16 years. (Georgia National Guard photo by Spc. Sarah Mellen)
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Sunny K. Park |
Park Earns Lifetime Achievement Honor For Youth Challenge Work
Atlanta businessman and Youth Challenge advocate Sunny K. Park was
presented the National Guard Youth Challenge Lifetime Achievement Award
during the National Guard Youth Challenge Program Annual Workshop 2007
held in Carefree, Ariz., in January. Park will again be recognized for this
achievement on February 27, at the National Guard Youth Challenge
Foundation "Champions" Dinner in Washington.
Full Story
Instructors at first MP course at RTI
demonstrate a self defense hold
leaving assailant powerless.
Georgia Soldiers Participate
In 1st RTI MP Training Class
Twenty-nine Georgia Guardsmen are among a
group of Soldiers to have attended the first military police training
course ever conducted at Macon’s Headquarters 122nd Regional Training
Institute. The Georgians were part of the 34 Soldiers from as far away
as North Dakota and Minnesota to participate in the first phase of the
course. Phase two takes place at Ft. Stewart.
Full Story
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(L-to-R)
Sgt. Latoya Tucker and Harriett Morgan, NG Family Support
Foundation exec director share a close bond of friendship. |
Family Support Deals Double Blessing
To Army Guardsman
ELLENWOOD,
Jan. 30, 2006 – Georgia Army Guard Sgt. Latoya Tucker and her family
are the latest among an estimated 300 Soldiers, Airmen and families in
the past two years to receive assistance from the Georgia National
Guard Family Support Foundation. The Tuckers were especially blessed
because not only did the foundation assist them with funds, it also got
them in touch with an Atlanta businessman and his wife who search their
community for people who need a helping hand.
Full Story
Family Support Foundation
Reaches $1 Million Goal
ATLANTA, January 9th -- A crowd of more than 2,500 business
and civic leaders and scores of local and state elected
officials packed the Georgia World Congress Center to kickoff the 2007 session of the Georgia General
Assembly. They were greeted with the announcement that
the campaign spearheaded by Gov. Sonny Perdue to help families
of deployed Georgia Guardsmen had reached its $1 million goal. Full Story
Gober Earns 'Eagle'
ELLENWOOD, GA , January 6, 2007 -- Georgia Army National Guard Lt. Col. Guy D. Gober,
battalion surgeon for Elberton’s1st Battalion, 214th Field Artillery, was
promoted to the rank of colonel during a promotion ceremony at Joint
Forces Headquarters in Ellenwood.
116th's Thetford Conquers
All of Georgia's Airfields
Robins AFB, January 22,
2007
-- In many cases, using an airplane to
conquer a mountain could be considered cheating.
But if your "mountain" is landing at all 106
air fields in
Georgia,
an airplane is the only way to fly. Lt. Col. Jeff Thetford conquered his "mountain" Nov. 5, 2006 when he landed at
Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
Full Story
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Deployment Update |
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Robert "Brock" Gaston (r)
with Vern Atkinson, also a Georgia Guardsman. |
Gaston Teaches Specialized
Self-Defense Technique In Iraq
LSA ANACONDA, Iraq
– “The fierce
Israeli guerilla hand-to-hand tactics, F.I.G.H.T. program encompasses the
hand-to-hand and empty-hand weapons defense components of the HaganaH
system,” said Robert “Brock” Gaston, Georgia National Guardsmen and for
the past months, deployed to this Iraqi outpost as executive officer for
Theater Aviation Single Manager. Gaston is an Israeli martial arts
instructor in the discipline of HaganaH. The
techniques incorporated into the system have been proven in violent
hand-to-hand combat situations and have been carefully adapted to
street-oriented self-defense, according to Kanarek, founder of the
International HaganaH Federation.
Full Story |
Family Readiness Looking For
Award Nominees
Georgia’s Family Readiness Office is once
again looking for those individuals and units that deserve recognition
for what they do in support of Guard members and their families.
Nominations must be turned into Altamese Finch at the Family Readiness
Office by March 12, along with the appropriate commander’s approval.
Awards will be presented at the Family Readiness Conference scheduled
this year for April 14. Finch can be reached by telephone at
678-569-6420 or by e-mail to
Altamese Finch.
Full Story.
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A look at what happened
in Georgia National Guard history:…
Cameron (in circle) pictured in the 1939 Georgia
Guard Yearbook
James W. Cameron's dedicated service with the
Georgia National Guard extended from the early 1900's. Cameron, born
near the end of the 19th century in then Liberty County, enlisted at a
very young age in Troop B, 1st Squadron Cavalry, Liberty Independent
Troop.
When President Woodrow Wilson mobilized the
Guard in 1916, Cameron went to the Mexican Border for several months
and in 1917 was again in federal service for World War I. He served
overseas with the Liberty Independent Troop, redesignated "B" Signal
Co., 106th Field Signal Bn., 31st Division from early October 1918
until late April 1919.
After his discharge he again enlisted in
Georgia's National Guard Cavalry (converted to Coast Artillery in
1940). Cameron was a of member Battery B, 101st Separate Coast
Artillery Battalion when President Franklin D. Roosevelt mobilized the
Guard for training and during WWII served with his unit in New Guinea.
From New Guinea, one of his fellow Guardsmen
wrote of him, "Sergeant Cameron, a Georgia Cracker, has been a first
sergeant for twenty-five years and although only fifty-one years young
he is as spry and agile as any eighteen-year old 'buck.'"
Though it is uncertain as to whether
Cameron remained
with his unit in the Pacific until the end of the war, he most likely did.
Complied by Gail Parnelle,
GaARNG Historical Section |
Legislative Dinner Brings Legislators and Guardsmen Together
(L-to-R) Elizabeth Poythress, Brig Gen Steve Westgate, Lt Gen David
Poythress and State Representative Ron Stephens of Savannah enjoy
conversation at the Annual Air National Guard Legislative dinner held in
Atlanta on January 31st. This is the ninth annual Legislative Dinner where
Georgia Air and Army Guardsmen have an opportunity share company with many
of the state’s most senior legislators. More than 30 prominent members of
Georgia’s General Assembly along with more than 50 members of the Army and
Air National Guard were on hand at Maggianos Restaurant for this event. |
