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Army Officials
Announce Significant Strength Gains In Georgia
Georgia Army Guard officials have announced significant gains in personnel
and troop strength. Army Guard strength figures between January 2006 and
January 2007 have increase 9.7 percent for a net gain of 892 Soldiers.
Full Story
221st MI; 124th MPAD Receive
Freedom Awards for Service in Iraq
Soldiers from the 221st Military Intelligence Battalion and 124th Mobile
Public Affairs Detachment received Freedom Awards in February for their
time spent in Iraq. The Freedom Award is presented to Soldiers who deploy to
Iraq. The award includes an encased American Flag, a Defender of Freedom coin
and lapel pins for both Soldier and spouse for first time deployments; and,
a certificate and commemorative ring for Soldiers who have deployed more
than once. The 124th MPAD deployed to Iraq in September 2005 and spent a year in
Baghdad running the Coalition Press Information Center. The 221st deployed
in July 2005 and returned in September 2006. The unit spent a year providing tactical
human intelligence and long range surveillance for the Multi-National Corps
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Iraq.
Air National Guard F-15
Eagle fighters fire a live AIM-7
117th Air Control Squadron
Provides Airspace Control Off
Georgia Coast
Air Controllers of Georgia's 117th
Air Control Squadron recently provided air space safety and
control for the first firing of AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air
missiles at target drones off the coast of Georgia. F-15
fighters from the Florida Air National Guard took aim on the
Improvised Tactical Air Drones (ITALDs) launched from Marine
F-18 Super Hornets. This was the first live fire missile
exercise held off the Georgia coast. The fighter pilots looked
to the Air Guard controllers for the "air picture" over the
target area. The 117th returned in 2006 from four months in Iraq
where it controlled more than 300,000 square miles of Iraqi
airspace. Read More
Stretcher teams practice moving
patients during CERFP exercise.
CERFP Medical Teams
Conduct Joint Training
A joint training exercise designed to teach Army and Air Guard
medical personnel how to transport stretcher-bound patients
during an emergency took place in early February at Marietta’s
248th Medical Company. More than 90 Army and Air medical
personnel joined forces to test one aspect of the join medical
arm of Georgia's CERFP organization. This was the first time
the two had trained together. Assisting with the day-long
exercise was a medical evacuation helicopter team from Georgia's
131st Air Ambulance Company and a Life Flight helicopter from
Emory University Hospital. Full Story
Lawmakers and children explore an
OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopter during Family Day at the Capitol.
Lawmakers' Families See Equipment,
Learn About Guard Capabilities
Members of the Georgia General Assembly had a unique look at the
Georgia Guard's equipment and capabilities in February during a
legislative family day at the State Capitol. Guard displays included
representatives and equipment from Recruiting and Retention,
Aviation and the Counter Drug Task Force.
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Georgia Guard Solider Reaps $62,000 As G-Rap Recruiter;
First In Nation
in Recruiting
Bringing new people into the
armed services is no longer the sole dominion of the military recruiter.
In 2005, the National Guard unveiled the Guard Recruiting Assistants
Program, or G-RAP, an aggressive new recruiting program bringing ordinary
Guardsmen into the recruiting effort. One Georgia Army Guardsman is
showing the nation how G-RAP can be both successful and profitable!
Full Story
165th Airlift Wing
Sees
Numerous Command Changes
Colonel Hank Smart took command of the 900-member 165th Airlift Wing in
Savannah in February, succeeding Col. Tom Moore. Because of changes at the commander level of the Wing, several other
senior commanders have assumed new positions.
- The 165th Operations Group will have a change of command as Colonel Jesse
Simmons gives up command to assume the role of wing vice commander and
the base’s weekday commander. He will be replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Keith Edenfield.
- Lieutenant Colonel Steve Melton is giving up command of the 158th Airlift
Squadron, the flying section of the 165th AW. He will be replaced as
commander by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Grandy. Lieutenant Colonel Melton will become the new
director of operations for the Georgia Air National Guard.
- Lieutenant Colonel Rainer "Speedy" Gomez is stepping down as the 165th Operations
Support Fight commander to become chief of staff of the 165th Airlift
Wing while Lieutenant Colonel Don Pallone becomes the new 165th OSF commander.
Georgia Air Guard Officer is First
To Attend Air Force
School
A Georgia Air National Guardsman has
become the first National Guardsman selected to attend the School of
Advanced Air and Space Studies (SSAS) at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
Major. Patrick Cotter, assigned as a planning and policy analyst for
strategic Issues and communication for the office, Director Air
National Guard, said the selection was an honor. "I was very fortunate
to be in the right place at the right time," said Cotter. "It is a
real privilege and I'm looking forward to it." Full Story
First Army’s Honore To Address
Annual Family Conference
Lieutenant General Russell Honore, commander U.S. First Army at Fort
Gillem, will be among this year’s guest speakers at the Georgia Guard’s
annual Family Readiness Conference set for April 13-15. This year’s
event takes place at the Marriott Augusta Hotel and Suites in Augusta. Honore is scheduled to speak to assembled guests during the
conference’s second day. Training sessions for members of unit family
readiness groups from around the state will be held throughout the
conference. Each session will provide participants with knowledge for
improving the assistance they offer to the families of Georgia’s Army
and Air Guardsmen. Full
Story
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Deployment Update |
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Staff Sgt. Matthew Miller watches
a Bedouin show off his soccer skills
(Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Edward Stepp)
214th Security Force Soldiers
Assist Civil Military Operations
Georgia Guardsmen with Elberton’s
Security Force Company, 1st Battalion, 214th Field Artillery recently
assisted a Civil Military Operations mission to further better relations
between Coalition forces manning Camp Cedar, Iraq, and the Iraqi nationals
who live outside the camp. Full Story
Georgia
Army Guard Spc. James McLendon of Hinesville’s Company B, 148th Forward
Support Battalion (background), briefs Brig. Gen. Paul E. Casinelli.
General Visits
Georgians on Border
Georgia Guardsmen
serving on the border were visited in February by Brig. Gen. Paul E.
Casinelli, deputy to the assistant U.S. Surgeon General. He and his party
inspected the Radar West facility in Deming, where they received a
briefing on how the monitoring mission is carried out. Casinelli and his
group also visited the forward operating base or FOB there to review the
Georgians living environment |
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PA Unit Seeks Officers
to Boost its Ranks
Georgia’s 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment has positions available
for qualified officers seeking a second branch.
Home stationed in Atlanta at the Georgia Department of Defense Complex
on Confederate Avenue, the 124th is looking for two first lieutenants –
promotable to the rank of captain – or two captains to become
officers-in-charge of the unit’s Broadcast and Print sections
respectively. Full Story
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A look at what happened in
March
in Georgia National Guard history:…
1952: Major Gen. Ernest Vandiver,
Georgia’s Adjutant General, issued orders placing Brig. Gen. Joseph B.
Fraser of Hinesville in command of the Georgia-Florida 48th Infantry
Division. Fraser first joined the Georgia National Guard in 1920 as a
member of Troop B, Georgia Cavalry. Major Gen. Joseph C. Hutchinson,
the 48th’s previous commander, retired from the Florida National
Guard, and as a result, the command rotated back to Georgia.
1977:
The Georgia Air National Guard's 116th Tactical Fighter Wing received
an "excellent" rating on its annual Management Effectiveness
Inspection. It was the highest rating ever bestowed by a Tactical Air
Force Inspection team on any active Tactical Air Command Air Force or Air National Guard
flying unit. The inspection evaluated
the Wing's command and control,
training, administration, logistics and flying safety.
1977:
The Georgia Army National Guard’s 122nd Support Center, then stationed in Decatur, provided rear area security and area damage
control planning and coordination for the 7th United States Corps rear
areas during Wintex 77, an annual exercise held in Germany. The 122nd
was deployed somewhere between Stuttgart and the East German border
for the tactical combat exercise which also involved NATO units. Complied by Gail Parnelle,
GaARNG Historical Section |
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