ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Amid a tough recruiting environment, the Army National Guard is pleased with its recruiting and retention efforts across the country, leaders from the component said.

“This has been a good year for us so far in the recruiting environment. We’re up 11% in enlistments since the last fiscal year,” said Col. Josh Barrow, commander of the Washington Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Command. “We’re still in an uphill battle here, in terms of winning the war on talent, but I’m excited for the future and … where we’re headed.”

Education benefits are vital to recruiting talented people into the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, two senior officers told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense.

Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, chief of the Army Reserve and commander of Army Reserve Command, testified June 1 that tuition assistance and access to health care benefits are “vital for recruitment.”

As the nation continues to experience stronger storms and more frequent natural disasters, the demand for National Guard assistance has increased, leaders from the component said.

“In the post-Katrina environment, the goal is not to be late to need,” said Brig. Gen. Jonathan Beddall, vice director of the National Guard Bureau’s Joint Operations Center, referring to the August 2005 hurricane that devastated New Orleans and swaths of the southeastern U.S.

The National Guard’s State Partnership Program remains critical to the force and “has paid huge dividends,” particularly in Ukraine, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said.  

“Building enduring, trusted relationships” with global partners is a key part of the component’s readiness, Gen. Daniel Hokanson said, citing as an example the partnership between the California National Guard and Ukraine, which dates to 1993. 

From expanding benefits to modernizing its combat forces, the National Guard continues to prioritize its people after a challenging year, the component’s top general said. 

“What does the future look like for our National Guard? What are our priorities going forward? They’re … people, readiness, modernization and reform,” said Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau.

Software developed by an Army sergeant could better equip the military as it seeks new ways to counter the rising and evolving threat of drones. 

During a recent deployment to Saudi Arabia, Massachusetts Army National Guard Sgt. Mickey Reeve used his free time to develop a counter-unmanned aerial systems software. His work won the inaugural Innovation Oasis competition hosted by U.S. Central Command.

As global threats continue to evolve, the National Guard is investing in its cyber capabilities to fight on the digital front and keep those threats at bay.

The National Guard is “at the nexus” of cyber efforts at the state and federal levels, and fills that nexus well, said Col. Joed Carbonell, chief of the National Guard Bureau’s cyber division. 

Members of the Hawaii National Guard have been activated to support local officials dealing with the eruption at the Mauna Loa volcano, where the lava is just a few miles away from a main highway.

Twenty Hawaii National Guard service members have been activated, according to a Dec. 5 tweet from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

Nearly a month after Hurricane Ian ripped through Florida, the National Guard continues to provide support to communities that are still recovering from the powerful storm.

The hurricane, tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S., forced evacuation orders for approximately 2.5 million Floridians and left about one-quarter of the state without power at peak outage. The storm, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 28, killed at least 119 people in Florida alone and was the state’s deadliest storm since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.