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photos by Spc. Joshua House, 149th Vertical Engineer Company
Kentucky Guardsmen 1st Lt. Dustin Pack, 577th Sapper Company, and Sgt. Aleksander Vinogradov, 201st Forward Support Company, competes at this year's Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. (photo by Spc. Joshua House, Vertical Engineer Company)
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Kentucky National Guardsmen 1st Lt. Dustin Pack, 577th Sapper Company, and Sgt. Aleksander Vinogradov, 201st Forward Support Company, compete at this year’s Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. The Best Sapper Competition gives engineers throughout the Army the opportunity to compete in a grueling six phase and three day competition to determine who are the best engineers in the Army.
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Kentucky Guardsman Sgt. Aleksander Vinogradov, 201st Forward Support Company, does inverted pull ups for the physical fitness test at the Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. (photo by Spc. Joshua House, 149th Vertical Engineer Company)
Kentucky Guardsmen 1st Lt. Dustin Pack, 577th Sapper Company, and Sgt. Aleksander Vinogradov, 201st Forward Support Company, drags a simulated injured Soldier through an obstacle at this year's Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.(photo by Spc. Joshua House, 149th Vertical Engineer Company)
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Story and photo by Staff Sgt. Steve Baker, 202nd Army Band
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Gregory Stepp, commander of the Kentucky National Guard’s 202nd Army Band conducts bandsmen during the 2011 Armed Forces Day ceremony at the Galt House in Louisville, Ky. The 202nd Army Band provides musical support throughout the state of Kentucky year-round for ceremonies and celebrations.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 20, 2011) – The Kentucky National Guard’s 202nd Army Band, performed at the 92nd annual Armed Forces Day ceremony at the Galt House in Louisville, Ky.
“It is an honor to pay tribute to all Service members past, present and future,” said Staff Sgt. Kelly Diamond, 202nd Army Band tuba player.
Directed by Chief Warrant Officer 4 Gregory Stepp, commander of the 202nd Army Band, the Kentucky Guardsmen honored attendees by playing the Service song from each of the five Service branches. The band also provided ceremonial music including a rendition of Taps to remember the fallen Kentuckians.
“Being able to see positive response to the musical support and ceremonial enhancement that the band can provide is my personal reward,” said Diamond.
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Video by Staff Sgt. Aaron Hiler, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Office
Please watch the Derby museum opening video.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tHtwfiMJGc]
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Story and photo by Staff Sgt. Ashlee Lolkus, Combined Joint Task Force
U.S. Air Force Col. Neil Mullaney, a Louisville, Ky., native, and the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team III commander, places the 34th Infantry Division combat patch on the shoulder of U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Stanley, a Waddy, Ky., native and security forces non-commissioned officer for the Kentucky ADT III, during a patch ceremony May 14 on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. The patch ceremony is a tradition held by the U.S. Army signifying the recognition of soldier’s tour-of-duty in a combat zone. This ceremony was unique because airmen assigned to the ADT also donned the combat patch. While in Afghanistan, the Kentucky ADT III, an Iowa National Guard unit, is a part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red Bulls.
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Service members with the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team III conducted their combat patch ceremony, a tradition held by the U.S. Army signifying the recognition of a soldier’s tour-of-duty in a combat zone, on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, May 14.
The patch ceremony was unique in that the U.S. Air Force airmen assigned to the ADT also donned the combat patch, even though it is an Army tradition. To maintain uniformity, airmen of the of ADT wear the Multicam-patterned Army combat uniform with all the same patches as the Army except on the left-side of their chest they wear “U.S. Air Force” instead.
Because Kentucky ADT III is a part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red Bulls, an Iowa National Guard unit, while in Afghanistan, they are authorized to wear the 34th Infantry Division’s “Red Bull” combat patch, which now is fixed to their right shoulder.
U.S. Army Sgt. Kathleen Gallagher, a medic from Lexington, Ky., stands with the guidon during a patch ceremony May 14 on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. The patch ceremony is a tradition held by the U.S. Army signifying the recognition of a soldier’s tour-of-duty in a combat zone. This ceremony was unique in that the U.S. airmen assigned to the ADT also donned the combat patch. While in Afghanistan, the Kentucky ADT III, an Iowa National Guard unit, is a part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red Bulls.
“It’s interesting to hear the lineage of the patch and the unit that it comes from,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Stanley, a Waddy, Ky., native, and Kentucky ADT III security forces noncommissioned officer. He said he was proud to be a part of the unit and its history.
Stanley is on his second deployment; his first was in 2002 to Turkey with the 20th Fighter Wing out of Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. This was his first combat patch ceremony and the first time he deployed with Army soldiers.
“It’s definitely different learning the Army way,” said Stanley. “The way that they do things is a little bit different, but our teams have come together. We’ve meshed well. We’re almost like brothers and sisters now, so it makes things a lot easier as far as learning new things.”
“Patching ceremonies are always a great experience,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Kathleen Gallagher, a medic from Lexington, Ky., with the ADT. “It’s especially wonderful to watch people experience it for the first time.”
Gallagher said this is her second deployment; her first was to Iraq in 2008-2009.
Service members of the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team III stand in formation before for their patch ceremony May 14 on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. The patch ceremony is a tradition held by the Army signifying the recognition of a soldier’s tour-of-duty in a combat zone. This ceremony was unique in that the airmen assigned to the ADT also donned the combat patch. While in Afghanistan, the Kentucky ADT III, an Iowa National Guard unit, is a part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red Bulls.
“I am very excited to be here in Afghanistan and expect good things from the year ahead,” she said.
Much of the unit seems to share the same expectations of the deployment. Gallagher said most of the service members volunteered for the mission so the enthusiasm is usually very high.
“There are 12 Airmen, seven females and the rest are [male] soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard all across the state from different units, different battalions, commands, brigades,” said U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Gordon Blair the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the Kentucky ADT III, from Redfox, Ky. “We have probably one of the finest organizations I have ever worked for in my 31 years.”
Blair, who joined the active duty Army in 1980, and has since transferred to the Kentucky National Guard works full time for the Guard as a shop supervisor at a field maintenance shop in Jackson, Ky. In Afghanistan he is the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the ADT and takes care of the soldiers and airmen while they conduct operations throughout Parwan, Panjshir and Kapisa provinces.
Their mission is to help facilitate the agricultural community in those provinces, Stanley explained. The ADT helps the Afghans by sharing information, providing resources and helping establish connections between the people and their government.
The unit prepared together, as a team, since August 2010 and completed their pre-mobilization in both Kentucky and Indiana, which Stanley said helped build the team.
“They’ve come together over the last 10 months,” said Blair. “As a team and a family, they are going to do great things.”
“It’s an honor just to be on this team and be the NCOIC of this operation,” he said. “It is a good moment for me to wear this patch and to do great things for the great people of Afghanistan. I just look forward to the next [few] months here and build on what ADT II did … and help these people out.”
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(Video by Sgt. Scott Raper, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
NOTE: Each Wednesday kentuckyguard.com publishes stories by Kentucky National Guard unit public affairs historian representatives, also known as UPAHRs. This is an additional duty taken on by a Soldier or Airmen with the intent of telling their unit’s story. This is one such story ….
GREENVILLE, Ky. - Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs Office hosts the 2011 Unit Public Affairs Historian Representative conference at Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville, Ky. (Video by Sgt. Scott Raper, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
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Story and photo by: Sgt. Bryan Ploughe, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery
Col. Rondal Turner presents Sgt. 1st Class Donald Jones with the 2010 Food Drive winning plaque. Two Kentucky Army National Guard units donated more than 1,000 pounds of non-perishable food items to their local non-profit organizations for distribution during the holiday season. Pictured from left to right are Staff Sgt. Brian Garrett, Staff Sgt. Will Sewell, Sgt. 1st Class Donald Jones, Col. Rondal Turner, Sgt. 1st Class Chad Jones, Lt. Col. Jeffery Hughes and Family Assistance Specialist Kari Hutchison. (Photo by Sgt. Bryan Ploughe, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery UPAHR)
NOTE: Each Wednesday kentuckyguard.com publishes stories by Kentucky National Guard unit public affairs historian representatives, also known as UPAHRs. This is an additional duty taken on by a Soldier or Airmen with the intent of telling their unit’s story. This is one such story ….
GLASCOW, Ky. (May 18, 2011) – Giving to local communities is a long standing tradition for the Kentucky Army National Guard. Two units from 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery were recognized for their support in a ceremony held recently at the Glasgow Amory.
Each year the Kentucky National Guard, in coordination with Kentucky National Guard Family Programs staff, conducts food drives around the holiday season. A challenge is put out to all units to try to generate as much non-perishable food as they can to donate to local non-profit organizations of their choosing.
Battery A, located in Tompkinsville, captured first place for the most food donated for the Thanksgiving holiday. Headquarters Battery, located in Glasgow, captured first place for the most food donated for the Christmas holiday. The two units together generated more than 1,000 pounds of food for their local charities.
Sgt. 1st Class Donald Jones received the award for Headquarters Battery.
“We are not the winners here,” said Jones. “Although we hold the plaque, the families in the community that will be getting this food are the ones that we need to keep in our minds. We have not won until these families don’t require our assistance.”
“These Soldiers are always willing to step up to a challenge,” said Col. Rondal Turner, 138th Brigade Commander. “Whenever these Soldiers are presented with an opportunity to shine, not only do the approach the opportunity with a winning attitude, they go all out and accomplish the mission with a level of success that would make any commander proud.”
“Our battalion has always been very fortunate in the relationship that we have with our hometowns,” said Lt. Col. Jeffery Hughes, commander for the 1/623rd. “This is just another way that we can continue to give to the citizens that give so much to us. The holidays are truly a time of year that we should focus on those in need. Our Soldiers have done a fine job of demonstrating their commitment to their fellow citizens.”
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Story and photos by Capt. Stephen Martin, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs
Sgt 1st Class Bert O`Daniel discusses logistical operations with Army Guard Lt. Col. Chris Meyer and Air Guard Lt. Col. Dawn Muller during the National Level Exercise in Bowling Green, Ky. May 17. (Photo by Capt. Stephen Martin, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs)
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (May 24, 2011) - The nation’s largest-ever multi-agency exercise involving an actual natural threat was held last week across seven states to respond to a simulated catastrophic earthquake along the New Madrid Fault.
To support the National Level Exercise, the Kentucky National Guard established a Joint Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration team based out of Bowling Green, Ky.
According to Sgt. 1st Class Bert O`Daniel, JRSOI logistics coordinator, the team’s function is to receive personnel from outside the Commonwealth, equip them and move them forward to provide support.
“Realistically, there’s not enough assets to support everyone,” said O`Daniel. “We will have to balance our need to distribute supplies with those who are already supporting the effort.”
The JRSOI team set up camp at the Bowling Green Police Department as a place to coordinate their efforts. Their mission is to identify locations in Bowling Green that would be suitable to receive potentially thousands of troops and aid workers each day, in-process them and send them forward.
Kentucky Air Guardsman Lt. Col. Dawn Muller works alongside South Carolina Army Guardsman Maj. Shannon Goad in Bowling Green, Ky during the National Level Exercise May 17. (Photo by Capt. Stephen Martin, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs)
“A big challenge is identifying a site in the middle of nowhere to take in these people who are here to provide support,” said Lt. Col. Chris
Meyer, Army Guard JRSOI Director. “We need to provide fuel, housing and medical support just to name a few. It’s a daunting task.”
This group also runs into simulated problems that they might encounter in an actual emergency and are forced to think outside-the-box when dealing with them.
Members of the Joint Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration, or JRSOI, stage out of the Bowling Green, Ky Police Department during the National Level Exercise May 17. The JRSOI is responsible for receiving personnel from outside the Commonwealth, equipping them and quickly moving them forward to provide support. (Photo by Capt. Stephen Martin, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs)
O`Daniel brings 35 years of logistical experience to the JRSOI team. He currently works full-time for the Surface Maintenance Office as a Management Analyst in Frankfort, Ky.
“We’ve improved a lot over the last few years. It’s a continuous process – constantly evaluating the job at hand.”
http://kentuckyguard.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/preparing-the-force-for-a-catastrophic-incident/
http://www.dvidshub.net/news/70549/national-level-exercise-showcases-guards-interagency-operability
http://isurfhopkins.com/local/11163-kentucky-tests-communications-and-response-capabilities-in-the-national-earthquake-exercise.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyngpao/
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Maj. General Edward W. Tonini, the adjutant general, and Maj. Bill Draper, 201st Engineer Chaplain, participate in the observance of National Prayer Day held May 5 at the Boone National Guard Center in Frankfort, Ky. (U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Fredrick P. Varney, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Kentucky Army National Guard.)
Kentucky National Guardsmen observe National Prayer Day during a ceremony held May 5 at the Boone National Guard Center Pavillion in Frankfort, Ky. (U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Fredrick P. Varney, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Kentucky Army National Guard.)
FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 5, 2011) - Kentucky National Guard and Department of Military Affairs employees gathered together for a moment of fellowship on the National Day of Pray.
“The National Day of Prayer is important because it emphases the historic precedence prayer has played in our nation’s history,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Bill Draper. “Beginning with President George Washington, each American President has called our nation to prayer during perilous times. Therefore, it is very fitting that in a time of war our military leaders also recognize the importance of this event and the spiritual resiliency it offers for those who choose to participate.”
Kentucky National Guardsmen observe National Prayer Day during a ceremony held May 5 at the Boone National Guard Center Pavillion in Frankfort, Ky. (U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Fredrick P. Varney, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Kentucky Army National Guard.)
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by Master Sgt. Philip Speck, 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
EMTs from CoxHealth of Springfield, Mo., carry a mannequin into the back of a Kentucky Air Guard C-130 at Springfield-Branson National Airport in Springfield, Mo., on May 18, 2011, as part of National Level Exercise 2011. The exercise is based on a scenario involving a massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault line, requiring extensive aeromedical evacuation of injured patients. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Maxwell Rechel)
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (May 19, 2011) — More than 40 members of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s Contingency Response Element are operating a key patient-movement hub here as part of National Level Exercise 2011, a weeklong scenario designed to test the local, state and national response to a simulated 7.7-magnitude earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
The event, which began May 16, is billed as part of the largest joint exercise in U.S. history, with participation from emergency responders in eight central states, the National Guard and multiple federal entities like the Department of Defense, U.S. Transportation Command and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Lt. Col. Dave Mounkes, commander of the Kentucky Air Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Element.
Under the scenario, the 123rd CRE was tasked to deploy from its Louisville, Ky., base of operations to Springfield-Branson National Airport here and establish an air hub at the notionally inoperative airfield. The unit’s Airmen brought everything necessary to establish the hub and support inbound or outbound aircraft, providing command and control, satellite-based communications and cargo handling equipment, among other capabilities.
Once operational, which started following the arrival of the first aircraft, the unit began supporting a Defense Aeromedical Staging Facility to coordinate the aeromedical evacuation of injured patients to multiple reception centers around the country, Mounkes said. Those evacuation flights are being carried out by three C-130 aircraft from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing at the direction of U.S. Transportation Command.
“This is exactly what we can expect to see in the event of a real-world earthquake,” Mounkes said. “There will be a lot of injured patients who will need to be moved quickly and efficiently from the affected area to accepting hospitals throughout the United States. One key to making this work is knowing which patients are being sent where, so they can be tracked through the system. That’s why we’re working closely with the DASF throughout this exercise.”
Capt. Ross Birdsong, a nurse with the 60th Inpatient Operations Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and Sgt. Ursus Vargas of the 6th Medical Group, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., carry a mannequin onto a Kentucky Air Guard C-130 Hercules on May 17, 2011, on Springfield-Branson National Airport's flight line during National Level Exercise 2011. The exercise is based on a scenario involving a simulated earthquake along the New Madrid fault line. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Maxwell Rechel)
Mounkes noted that the Kentucky Air Guard is no stranger to operating initial-response air hubs. The unit opened the Alexandria Airfield Hub in Louisiana in support of aeromedical evacuations after Hurricane Katrina, and last year it operated the major airlift hub in the Dominican Republic supporting earthquake relief operations in Haiti.
But each new deployment or exercise provides a valuable opportunity to learn more, and NLE 2011 is no different, officials said.
“This has been a tremendous training experience for us because of the opportunity it’s providing to work with so many local, state and federal agencies,” said 2nd Lt. Matt Skeens, 123rd CRE logistics officer.
“Working with civilian agencies is always an important lesson, and that’s really been one of our primary focuses here: to integrate our processes with those of the civilian agencies like FEMA, local emergency management personnel and medical teams from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Being able to speak the same language is probably the most difficult thing we’ve had to do, and it’s also the thing we’ve learned the most about.”
This kind of training does more than enhance mission accomplishment, according to Master Sgt. James Nalley, the 123rd CRE’s maintenance flight chief. It also helps grow a new generation of leaders ready to answer the nation’s call any time a natural disaster strikes.
“Exercises like this are essential to developing the skills and confidence of our young Airmen,” Nalley said. “We’re already very good at what we do, but I feel like we can’t get enough of this stuff. It makes us better every time.”
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Story and photos by Staff Sgt. Michael Oliver, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs Office
Kentucky Guardsman Sgt. 1st Class Gregg Blakeley, Unit Training Equipment Site materials identifier and examiner, receives the 2010 National Guard Bureau Environmental Security award from Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini, state adjutant general, and Col. Michael Bennett, Army National Guard Environmental Program Division chief, at a ceremony on Boone National Guard Center in Frankfort, Ky., May 10. Also in attendance is Blakeley’s wife Ashley.
FRANKFORT, Ky., - Kentucky Guardsman Sgt. 1st Class Gregg Blakeley was presented with the first place sustainability 2010 National Guard Bureau Environmental Security award for his waste and material recycling program at the Unit Training Equipment Site on Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center .
“I didn’t come up with this program all by myself,” said Blakeley. “It has been a team effort from the entire maintenance shop.”
By insuring environmental compliance, Blakely saves the Kentucky Guard thousands of dollars in materials, resources and enhances Soldiers safety and prevents training interruptions.
“Our motto in Kentucky is ‘Unbridled Service’ and the work that Sgt. 1st Class Blakeley has done is a model of ‘Unbridled Service,’” said Maj. Gen. Edward Tonini, state adjutant general.
“Guys come up with ideas to improve the shop and I say let’s do it,” said Blakeley.
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