Forced to shrink, Army National Guard gets picky

By Meghan Barr, Associated Press
Posted September 3, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Suffer from a bad case of acne? That could disqualify you from joining the Army National Guard. Too many speeding tickets? In today's slimmer, smarter Guard, that could keep you out, too.

Under pressure from the Pentagon to trim its ranks, the Guard has been quietly phasing in new restrictions that make it harder to enlist.

"To get in now, you have to be the cream of the crop," said Sgt. 1st Class Brian Clum, a recruiter in Ohio.

Military officials portray the cutbacks as an effort to trim excess from a Guard force that was bloated from years of successful recruiting, especially during the recession.

Under restrictions issued by the National Guard's top recruiting commander early this year, the maximum enlistment age was lowered from 42 to 35. And the minimum score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Test, the exam required by all branches of the military, was raised for the Guard from 31 to 50 out of a possible 100.

Also, the Guard stopped forgiving potential recruits for offenses such as theft, assault, driving under the influence or chronic lawbreaking. And it stopped issuing medical waivers, which allowed recruits to be admitted despite health problems as serious as an extreme food allergy and as minor as a painful bout of acne.

In addition, the Guard's budget for bonus money has been cut. While most recruits since 2006 got $20,000 just for signing up, now only a precious few are eligible for any bonus money at all.

Col. Mike Jones, the Guard's top recruiting commander, said a higher percentage of applicants are being turned away compared with just a few years ago, though he would not give precise figures.

For some recruiters, the shrinking Guard is a source of frustration and envy, particularly since the regular Army is growing.

"We literally turn people away every day that want to serve and we can't take them," said Lt. Col. Anthony Abbott, recruiting commander for the Georgia Army National Guard.

It's an about-face from just a few years ago, when the Guard embarked on a recruiting rush with the start of the Iraq war. In 2003, the Guard was at its lowest strength in history with about 330,000 members, down from an all-time high of 457,000 in 1989.

In May, the Guard accepted 3,026 recruits, compared with 5,311 in May 2008. But the Guard gave no figures on how many men and women applied.

John Pike, director of the military think tank Globalsecurity.org, said the government is trying to reduce the outcry over the heavy use of the Guard in the Iraq war and wants to return the force to its original part-time status.

"They used the Guard a lot more than they had planned several times in Iraq just because that was all they had," Pike said.

The tougher enlistment standards may have worked all too well. In June and July, the Guard failed to meet its recruiting goals because of what Jones said may have been a combination of the worsening bloodshed in Afghanistan and the higher standards.

In fact, over the past couple of weeks, Jones told Guard commanders in 40 states they are free to reverse some of the restrictions.

"We might have cut a little too deep, too fast," Jones said.

Is Pentagon responding to public anger?

There are suspicions inside the Guard and out that the reductions are part of an effort to shift the burden of fighting overseas onto the active-duty Army and ease the public outcry over the way that Guard units -- part-time soldiers normally called into action during hurricanes and other disasters at home -- have been sent on long, repeated combat tours in Iraq.

In fact, while the Pentagon has cut the National Guard by about 9,000 soldiers to 358,200 over the past six months or so, the nearly 549,000-strong active-duty Army is under orders to recruit 70,000 new soldiers by the end of September and 22,000 more in the coming fiscal year as the fighting in Iraq winds down and the war in Afghanistan escalates.

— Associated Pr

Georgia Soldiers engage Afghan tribal leaders

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 2, 2009 – Soldiers of Calhoun’s 1st Battalion, 108th Cavalry and their Afghan partners bedded down for the night on Nov. 18 at the Afghan National Police Achin District Center here in preparation for a meeting with Shinwari tribal elders and Afghan security personnel.

Guard plays host to Cobb ‘commanders’

MARIETTA, Nov. 10, 2009 – Guardsmen at General Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center and Dobbins Air Reserve Base, played host recently to members of the Cobb County Honorary Commanders Class of 2009.

This is the second time the two organizations have gotten together since the Guard’s move to the former Naval Air Station (NAS) Atlanta last year. As a Cobb County Chamber of Commerce program, The Honorary Commanders have been visiting the Guard and Reserves for at least a decade branch to become more familiar with each.

During their day-long tour, the group of 22 area businessmen and community leaders received briefings about the Army and Air Guard’s role – at home and abroad – and had the opportunity to meet, and talk, with Soldiers and Airmen.

“Thank you for what you do every day in supporting our organization, our Guardsmen and the military as a whole,” MG Terry Nesbitt, Georgia’s Adjutant General told the group during their morning briefings. Nesbitt, along with Maj Gen Scott Hammond, commander, Georgia Air National Guard; BG Maria Britt, commanding general, Georgia Army Guard; and COL Mike Scholes, Georgia Guard director of operations they spoke with the group about the Guard’s capabilities, its mission, vision and core values.

Staff members also discussed current and future operations and community support missions.

“I, we, applaud you for taking the time to be here, and for showing interest in who we are and what we do,” Britt told the group. “Thanks to all of you, and everyone else who, ‘gets it.’”

Once the briefings ended at Guard Headquarters, the honorary commanders boarded a bus and visited the 4th Civil Support Team and Georgia’s Counterdrug Task Force.

Later they received presentations on the Air Guard’s StarBase Program, which focuses on elementary students, primarily fifth graders. The goal of this program at Dobbins and at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, is to motivate students to explore science, technology, engineering and math as they continue their education through “hands-on, mind-on” activities.

The group also received information on the Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe (YCA) Program. With a campus at Augusta’s Fort Gordon and Hinesville’s Fort Stewart, YCA’s 22-week curriculum targets Georgia’s at-risk teens, age 16 to 18, through a program that teaches them such things as academics, life-coping skills and responsible citizenship. It helps them achieve their high school equivalency degree.

 Victoria Turkey, director of marketing and corporate relations for Prime Power Services Inc., in Austell, said she and many among her group learned much about the Guard during their visit.

“All of us [Honorary Commanders] are pro-military, and as much as every service member serves our state and our nation, we serve them,”said Turkey, a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. “And as we support the service member, we also support his, or her family members.

“The more we know, , about the military, the better we can assist them all whenever they need us,” she added.

South Carolina Guardsmen Go Home for Christmas

COLUMBIA, S.C. - About 200 South Carolina Army National Guard men and women will come home for the holidays now that $35,000 has been raised for their bus transportation from Wisconsin.

A spokeswoman for Lowe's Home Improvement of Mooresville, N.C., says the firm chipped in $25,000 to bring the troops home for their 10-day leave.

Julie Yenicheck said Thursday the firm heard from its employees about the soldiers. Private donations are needed because federal regulations bar soldiers from traveling at government expense while they are on leave.

The group includes members of the 1222nd Combat Engineers from Fort Mill and individual volunteers who were training at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.

LTC Anthony Abbott Commands 1-214th FA

Story by Spc. Curtis Porter III
124th MPAD

ELBERTON, Saturday, June 10, 2006 – Georgia’s 1st Battalion, 214th Field Artillery received its new commander and said “so long” to the officer leaving that position. Family, friends and officials, both local and state filled the drill hall of the Calhoun Highway armory to capacity.

Taking the reins of the 214th is Lt. Col. Anthony Abbott of Dacula. Abbott, full-time state training administrator for Joint Forces Headquarters Plans and Operations in Ellenwood, commanded the 170th Military Police Battalion headquartered in Decatur on the M-Day side before taking over the 214th. He’s been a Guardsman for a little over 18 years.

Lieutenant Col. Woodrow “Woody” S. Radcliffe, leaves the unit and moves on to Carlisle Barracks, Pa., where he will attend the Army War College. Besides having commanded the 214th, Radcliffe is the former commander of Savannah’s 3rd ID Detachment, which deployed to Iraq in 2003 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

With the passing of the 214th guidon from the old to the new commander, Abbott stepped to the podium and made it clear that he expects much from his Soldiers, especially his noncommissioned officers.

“While I’m here, we’re going to train for war, prepare for disaster and take care of soldiers,” he said to the audience and the Soldiers assembled before him. “Everything we do in keeping ourselves physically and mentally prepared for whatever the mission may be is of the utmost importance.

“But to be ready also means making sure our Soldiers and their families have their problems dealt with because each is important to accomplishing that mission successfully,” he went on. “That’s why I expect my NCOs to ‘lead from the front and by example,’ and to remember that ‘Soldiers Matter.’”

Abbott completed his remarks by wishing his predecessor well on his newest endeavor, and by thanking Brig. Gen. Larry H. Ross, commander 78th Troop Command in Decatur, for his support and having confidence in Abbott’s leadership abilities.

Yellow Ribbon Program Helps Soldiers and Families Cope

WASHINGTON (10/6/09) - An Army National Guard program is credited with helping tens of thousands of Soldiers and their families cope better with deployment in the two years since it started in Minnesota.

Sgt. Maj. Robert Brown, Yellow Ribbon Program coordinator for the National Guard Bureau, touted the program's success to an audience attending a Sergeants Corner presentation at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting here last week.

The program was started in 2007 to help members of the 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota Army National Guard, which had been deployed for 23 consecutive months, Brown said.

The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act then mandated a national combat veteran reintegration program for the National Guard and Reserve, Brown said.

“In 2008, the National Guard had over 110,000 attendees at events,” he said. “Fiscal year 2009 to date we’ve done over 1,000 Yellow Ribbon pre-, during- and post-mobilization events and … we’ve had over 140,000 attendees. [For] 2010, the way ahead is to break the 200,000 mark.”

The Army National Guard Yellow Ribbon Program is a cooperative network of military services, veteran service organizations, state government departments and other agencies that provide information, resources, referral and outreach to Soldiers, spouses and children throughout all mobilization phases, Brown said.

“Yellow Ribbon is to make Soldiers and their families self-reliant and resilient through the entire deployment cycle,” Brown said. “[NCO] involvement is the key to success. Nobody knows our Soldiers and their families better than the noncommissioned officers.”

Suicide prevention, medical benefits, counseling, school support, youth programs, reintegration and employer support are among numerous issues addressed by the Yellow Ribbon Program.

The program includes events for Soldiers and their families before, during and after deployment. It particularly targets geographically dispersed Army National Guard families for support, Brown said.

At a minimum, Soldiers and family members who attend events leave briefed on their benefits and connect with family readiness groups and family assistance centers, Brown said.

Some 342 National Guard family assistance centers across the United States help servicemembers from all components and have handled 1.3 million cases so far, Brown said.

“Our Soldiers and veterans [are] great Americans,” Brown said. “They’ve answered the call. It’s our responsibility to take care of Soldiers and their family members from here on out.”

HooahMail means speedy delivery of letters to Afghanistan

Nov 23, 2009

By C. Todd Lopez

World War II soldiers read mail from home.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 23, 2009) -- The Army's HooahMail program makes it possible for friends and family members to put a paper letter and photograph into the hands of their loved ones in Afghanistan, in some cases, on the same day it's sent.

The one-year pilot program is scheduled to begin Dec. 1 and makes use of the Internet combined with physical mail delivery to create a hybrid mail system that can get letters into the hands of Soldiers in remote locations much faster than regular mail delivery alone.

"This gives Soldiers actual printed correspondence that is sent from their family members that they can take out on a mission with them and read and reread again," said Bill Hilsher, Army postal program manager.

Family members that want to send a letter and a photograph to a Soldier in Afghanistan would log into the program's Web site at www.hooahmail.us. There, they type in their message and attach a digital photo. They also add delivery information for their Soldier, as though they were addressing a paper envelope.

Their electronic letter is sent via the Internet to one of 10 locations in Afghanistan where special equipment will automatically print it, fold it, stuff it into an envelope, address it, and seal it. The sealed envelopes are then placed into the regular intra-theater APO mail delivery system.

Hilsher said depending on where Soldiers are in Afghanistan, the paper letter from home could be in their hands the same day as mother sent it, or it could take as many as four days. A paper letter sent directly from the states takes much longer, Hilsher said.

"Compared to traditional mail ... it reduces it from an average of 14 days down to same-day or next-day, ready for delivery," he said.

The HooahMail program is free for family members and friends, and is available for Soldiers in Afghanistan only.

Hilsher said the Army postal service expects the program to benefit the service during the holiday season, when it typically sees increases in mail traffic.

"During the holiday season, that's your busiest time and this is going to augment that system," he said. "It'll give friends and families a way to send a message to their loved ones in a timely manner for the holiday season."

Hilsher also said he thinks the improved delivery time will have a positive effect on Soldier morale.

Service for the Army's HooahMail pilot program is provided by "SuperLetter," which provides similar services to the British military for its "e-Bluey" program and the U.S. Marine Corps for its "Motomail" program.