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108th Recon teaches and learns
At Fort Polk
Soldiers from 48th Brigade Combat Team’s 108th Reconnaissance,
Surveillance, Target Acquisition Squadron, (formerly 1st Battalion, 108th
Armor) were at Fort Polk in June helping other Soldiers from around the
country get the training they need to support Operation
Iraqi Freedom. Captain Chris Powell, who command’s the Rome-based Troop A of
the 108th, described the mission as a role-playing exercise. Acting as
Iraqi internal defense force soldiers, they provided real-world experience
to those who are about to experience in the Global War on Terror, many of
them for the first time.
Full Story
Turner
assumes fulltime SJA duties
As Waldrep retires
This summer marks a change in the Georgia DOD Staff Judge
Advocate office as Col. Ken Waldrep retires. The Forsyth
resident is leaving following 34 years in the Georgia Guard.
He has been the fulltime SJA for nearly 20 years. He is being
replaced by Maj. Jon Turner who was formerly the Judge Advocate
General for the 48th Brigade during its deployment to Iraq. Maj
Turner came to Georgia after serving in the Chief Counsel's
office at National Guard Bureau. His past assignments have
included serving with the 29th Division in Bosnia. Maj Turner
earned his undergraduate and law degree from the University of
Alabama.
Nine Georgia Guardsmen graduate
From Sergeants Major Academy
Nine Georgia Army National Guardsmen graduated in June from the U.S.
Army's Sergeants Major Academy. They were among 742 Soldiers, the
largest class ever to graduate from the academy at Fort Bliss, TX. The graduates are pictured above following the
graduation ceremonies with Command Sgt. Maj. Neil Russell, State
Sergeant Major. Left to right are Sgt. Maj. Ronald George, Recruiting
and Retention Battalion; 1st Sgt. Bryan Hise, 1st Battalion, 121st
Infantry; Command Sgt. Maj. Meinrad Kuettel, 78th Aviation Troop
Command; Command Sgt. Maj. John Smiley, 148th Support Battalion;
Command Sgt. Russell; Master Sgt. Iris Thompson, Joint Force
Headquarters; Sgt. Maj. Dale Shanklin, Recruiting and Retention
Battalion; Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Hurndon, 221st Military
Intelligence Battalion; Command Sgt. Maj Ed Hepler, 78th Aviation Troop
Command; and Sgt. Maj. Robert Butler, Joint Force Headquarters.
Full Story
23 Green Belts graduate
From Lean Six Sigma training
Twenty-three Soldiers, Airmen and employees of the Georgia Department of
Defense have graduated from the inaugural course of an exciting, hands-on
continuous process improvement program called Lean Six Sigma, or LSS. The
graduates all earned their “green belts” after completing four weeks of
combined classroom and hands-on training. Lean Six Sigma is a
structured process-improvement methodology being implemented Army-wide,
explained Maj. Larry Deaton, deployment director with the Georgia Dept. of
Defense. “The objective is to observe and analyze processes and figure out
how to do them better,” he said.
Full Story
Georgia Army Guard IT Chief
Day pins on eagles
Lieutenant Colonel Bill Day, Chief of Information for the Georgia Army
National Guard Information Technology Division and the J6-director of
communications services for the Joint Force Headquarters - Georgia, was
promoted to the rank of Colonel in a formal military promotion ceremony
in June at Headquarters, Georgia Air National Guard, Dobbins Air
Reserve Base.
Full Story
Air Guardsman
joins Georgia's
State Partnership program
Air National Guard Major David Johnson of Woodstock has assumed
the duties of Coordinator for the National Guard State
Partnership Program between the Georgia National Guard and the
eastern European nation of Georgia. Georgia is
among more than 50 state National Guard organizations that
maintain active partnership programs with countries throughout
the world.
Full Story
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117th controllers meet face-to-face
With pilots during recent AFT
Members of Savannah’s 117th Air Control Squadron and Florida’s 125th
Fighter Wing put their collective faces and voices together recently to
enhance air-to ground communications during both units' annual training.
Besides their usual ground controller-pilot relationship, during the
first weeks of June, Guardsmen who had only spoken over radios to each
other had a chance to put a face with a voice. “This field training
gave us the opportunity to have face-to-face briefings between our
controllers and the Wing’s pilots and to conduct live data links with
the Wing’s F-15s,” explained Lt. Col. Joe Ferrero, 117th commander.
Full Story
1-121 training in its dual role
At Wisconsin post
More than 200 members of Georgia’s 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry, have
begun their two-week annual training as part of Patriot '07 at Fort
McCoy, Wis. The 121st has two responsibilities: its traditional combat
mission, and its homeland defense mission as Georgia’s National Guard
Reaction Force. “We have to be able to carry out both with not a
whole lot more resources or time,” said Lt. Col. Andy Hall, the
battalion's commander. “With that in mind, we turned to National Guard
Bureau for stateside and overseas training opportunities that we could
‘sculpt’ to fit our needs.”
Full Story
Georgia Guard air ambulances
Participate in 'Golden Medic'
Two UH-1 Huey helicopters and twenty-two Soldiers from the Winder-based
832nd Medical Company Air Ambulance took part in the joint–service
exercise “Golden Medic” at Fort Gordon in June. "Our ultimate purpose
was to do our part to save lives," says Captain Jim Crill, detachment
commander. "Golden Medic allows us a unique opportunity to practice
and fine-tune our mission requirements to be ready if we are ever called to execute
it.” Golden Medic is designed to be as authentic as possible. By
simulating numerous medical casualty scenarios, National Guardsmen and
Army and Air Reserve medical personnel worked together to practice a
highly coordinated and synchronized set of procedures.
Full Story
Human Resources
Team on-course
To enhance Guard’s well being
The Georgia Department of Defense Human Relations Team (HRT) has
set its course on becoming the “go-to” organization for
virtually all personnel issues affecting the care and well-being
of Georgia Guardsman. Twenty-two members of the team met
recently to put into motion this ambitious plan and to map out
strategies. Once adopted by Human Resources Office officials,
the plan will become an integral part of the overall strategic
plan for the Georgia DOD. Full Story
Georgia Guardsmen compete
In All-Guard marathon
Two Georgia National Guard Soldiers
competed in this year’s 26.2 mile “All Guard” Marathon. Lt. Col.
Jeff Olive of Headquarters Detachment, Joint Force Headquarters,
finished 14th among Guardsmen and 26th overall among the more
than 770 competitors in the men's division. In the female
division, Sergeant 1st Class Devika Hull with Ellenwood’s 221st
Military Intelligence Battalion, finished 23rd among Guard
competitors and 145th overall in a field of more than 300 women
runners. For Hull, this is the second time she’s competed, while
Olive returned to the marathon for the third time.
Full Story
Former USPFO, 116th Commander
Passes away
Georgia Air National Guard Major General Charles Thompson, Jr., passed
away in early June. General Thompson served as the USPFO (United States
Property and Fiscal Officer) for Georgia as well as commander of the
116th Airlift Wing. He was 92.
Full story
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Deployment Update |
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1/214th begins first leg of deployment
On June 13, more than 170 Soldiers of Waynesboro’s Battery C, 1st
Battalion, 214th Field Artillery, boarded buses outside that city’s Burke
County Recreation Center and then headed to the Augusta airport for the trip to
Fort Dix, N.J., and the first leg of their year long deployment to Kuwait.
The tearful goodbyes were many, as were the words of praise for the unit,
as family, friends and fellow Soldiers gave the Guardsmen a send-off
they’ll remember for years to come.
Full Story
Georgians aid Afghan forces
Nine Georgia Army Guard officers and seven senior NCOs arrived in
Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in June They will spend a year there
working along side the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) and Afghan
Uniformed Police (AUP). The mission of the Transition Training Team-Georgia’s mission is to provide advisory support and direct access to
coalition assistance to enhance the ability of the ANSF and AUP to
operate independently of coalition forces. Pictured above, Members of
Transition Training Team Georgia are briefed on their Afghan deployment
before leaving Fort Riley in early June.
Full Story
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4th CST Soldier is lauded
For helping save accident victim's life
Staff Sgt Phillip Michael Reynolds, a member of the Georgia Guard’s 4th
Civil Support Team, is being lauded for his efforts that helped save the
life of a truck driver involved in a spectacular interstate crash in June.
Reynolds said he relied on instinct and training when he saw a truck
engulfed in flames on
the shoulder of the interstate. He had just passed the
congested merge between I-575 and 1-75 in Cobb County when he came upon
the truck and the five-year Georgia National Guard veteran said he could
see the arched body of its driver still inside the burning cab.
Full Story
State,
federal agencies commit to
Proactive treatment of Georgia troops
The Georgia Department of Defense and other state and federal agencies
have taken a big step toward being more proactive in serving the state’s
veterans. A Memorandum of Understanding – signed in June in the office
of Georgia’s Adjutant General – will augment the ongoing, comprehensive
effort to ensure military service members and their families are
honored for their selfless service to our country. “The purpose of this
document to help us make sure our Soldiers and Airmen are returned,
reunited and reintegrated with their families, employers and
communities following their tour of duty in a combat theater,”
explained Lieutenant General David Poythress, Georgia’s Adjutant
General.
Full Story
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A look at what happened in
July
in Georgia National Guard history:…
1836: The
Creek Indians’ festering anger with white settlement escalated into
attacks by warriors in the spring and early summer. Several hundred
Creeks decided to cross from Alabama through southwest Georgia to join
the Seminoles in Florida. Georgia militia with some Florida
militia positioned themselves to engage the Creeks as they crossed the
Chattahoochee River near Columbus. A handful of battles ensued before
the decisive Battle of Chickasawachee Swamp (Baker Co., GA) in July.
The militia attacked the Creeks, entrenched on an island in the swamp
and broke their march to Florida.
1911: Americus Daily Times-Recorder: "AMERICUS FORCE ON THE
ISLAND FOR WEEK. Light Infantry in Encampment at St. Simon's.” The
Americus Light Infantry, according to telegrams received yesterday,
arrived safely upon St. Simon's shimmering sands Sunday and are now
"at home" to visitors in a field of white tents near the hotel and
"where ocean breezes blow". Five companies of troops are there this
week, and the soldier boys will make merry, no doubt.
The Americus Light Infantry, the Columbus Guards (two companies), the
Albany Guards and the Clarke Rifles from Athens are thus in camp on
the island for the week.
The Americus company carried by far the largest number of men to the
state camp and is, in this respect as in others, the banner command of
the Second Battalion...." *Americus Light Infantry at this time was
Co. L, 4th Regiment Infantry. Complied by Gail Parnelle,
GaARNG Historical Section |
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