Articles
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Claire Johnson, a combat medic assigned to Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, Vermont National Guard, sits in the cabin of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Joshua Cohen)

March 3, 2022

Soldier Spotlight: Staff Sgt. Claire Johnson

CAMP JOHNSON, Vermont — When Staff Sgt. Claire Johnson, a combat medic, joined the New York Army National Guard, she did not anticipate the course her military career would take. “I originally enlisted in the New York Army National Guard when I was 17, right out of high school,” Johnson explained. “My dad was in the military, so he always pushed me in that direction, I never really knew I wanted to be in the Army, I knew I wanted to be in the medical field first.”

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Gagner, commander, Army Mountain Warfare School, 124th Regiment (Regional Training Institute), Vermont National Guard, escorts an Austrian military delegation through the AMWS at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, Jericho, Vermont, Feb. 14, 2022. Austria is scheduled to be Vermont’s newest state partner under the State Partnership Program.

March 1, 2022

Vermont National Guard hosts Austrian delegation

COLCHESTER, Vt. — The Vermont National Guard hosted Austrian military members at numerous National Guard sites Feb. 14-15 as part of the State Partnership Program.

The District of Columbia National Guard will help U.S. Capitol and D.C. police at traffic control points in the nation's capital during anticipated First Amendment protests in February and March 2022. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III approved the assistance of up to 400 DCNG members and 300 Guard members from outside the District of Columbia.

Feb. 23, 2022

National Guard to back law enforcement at DC demonstrations

WASHINGTON — As many as 700 members of the National Guard will be available to help local law enforcement during First Amendment demonstrations expected in the nation’s capital.Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III approved requests from

Students at the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School’s Basic Military Mountaineer Course practice traversing in crampons and learning to stop a fall with ice axes Jan. 21, 2022. The AMWS is a U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command school operated by the Vermont Army National Guard at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, Vermont.

Feb. 17, 2022

Making Mountaineers: U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School

CAMP ETHAN ALLEN TRAINING SITE, Vt. – Each service member who enters the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School passes under a placard with an ominous warning from Ethan Allen himself: “The Gods of the valleys are not the Gods of

Staff Sgt. John Hampson, an instructor at the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School, demonstrates a casualty evacuation system to students at the school’s Basic Military Mountaineer Course at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, Vermont, Jan. 22, 2022. U.S. and foreign service members learn basic, advanced and specialty mountain warfare skills at the school.

Feb. 17, 2022

Legacies of Excellence: Mountain Warfare School instructors

Service members from French desert commandos to U.S. Special Forces operators have sung the praises of U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School instructors.

Pictured from left, the aid station that accompanied a mobile home (which no longer exists) where the first Army Mountain Warfare School courses were run when it was established in 1983; the current AMWS building, which was built in 1987, and the new $30 million facility scheduled to house students and instructors and support courses in April 2022.

Feb. 17, 2022

Humble Beginnings: U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School

CAMP ETHAN ALLEN TRAINING SITE, Vermont — The U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School was established April 5, 1983, in a mobile home next to a tin shack on a small hill in Jericho, Vermont. The tin shack still exists, across from where a new $30 million facility is being constructed.

Students at the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School’s Advanced Military Mountaineer Course in Jericho, Vermont, drag mountaineering equipment on sleds as they leave the site where they camped in temperatures that plunged to -29 degrees with windchill Jan. 27, 2022.

Feb. 17, 2022

Beyond the Basics: U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School

CAMP ETHAN ALLEN TRAINING SITE, Vermont — The education at the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School doesn’t end at the Basic Military Mountaineer Course.From the four advanced and specialty courses taught in the hills and mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire to the

F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the 34th Fighter Squadron, 388th Fighter Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah depart Vermont Air National Guard Base in South Burlington, Vt, Feb. 16, 2022. These deployments were conducted in full coordination with host nations and NATO military authorities, and although temporary in nature, they are prudent measures to increase readiness and enhance NATOs collective defense during this period of uncertainty. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Michael Davis)

Feb. 16, 2022

VTNG releases statement on F-35 operations

CAMP JOHNSON, Vermont — In the early morning of Feb. 16, F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the 34th Fighter Squadron, 388th Fighter Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah departed the Vermont Air National Guard Base in transit to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. We understand the concern experienced by some this morning, and while the Vermont National Guard will not respond to individual comments related to this mission, the Public Affairs Office has logged all concerns, and leadership takes each comment seriously.

U.S. Army Capt. Mike Arcovitch, commander, and Sgt. Gloria Kamencik, public affairs specialist, 172nd Public Affairs Detachment, Vermont Army National Guard, lead a crisis communication workshop at the Army Home in Skopje, North Macedonia, Feb. 8-10, 2022. The Vermont National Guard and North Macedonia have been partners in the State Partnership Program since 1993.

Feb. 16, 2022

Vermont Guard shares communication strategy with state partner

SKOPJE, North Macedonia — Soldiers from the Vermont Army National Guard led a crisis communication workshop at the Army Home in Skopje, North Macedonia, Feb. 8-10.

Vermont Army National Guard Spc. Wynn Roberts, competes in the patrol race at Camp Ripley, Minn., on Feb. 27, 2013. Over 400 members of the army and Air National Guard across 31 states competed in and supported this year's Chief National Guard Biathlon. (Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Jeremy Bowcock/Released)

Feb. 4, 2022

How the National Guard Biathlon Program came to Vermont

CAMP JOHNSON, Vermont — Next year marks the 50th anniversary the Vermont National Guard has hosted the National Guard Biathlon program.

The official logo of the Vermont National Guard.

TAG's State of the Guard - April 2025

The above YouTube video link may not work on all government computers. Read the transcript of MG Gregory Knight's full State of the Guard here.

Green Mountain Guard Newsletter Archive

National Guard News
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Gary Keefe, the adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard, left, awards Paraguayan Air Force Commander Gen. Julio Rubén Fullaondo Céspedes with the Medal of Merit in Asunción, Paraguay, Jan. 21, 2026. The award recognizes Fullaondo’s leadership and contributions to strengthening aviation cooperation, interoperability and international partnerships between the Massachusetts National Guard and the Paraguayan Armed Forces. Massachusetts and Paraguay marked 25 years of partnership through the Department of War National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program, reinforcing a long-standing, mutually beneficial security relationship. Photo by Senior Airman Julia Ahaesy.
Massachusetts Guard’s Adjutant General Leads Engagements in Paraguay
By Senior Airman Julia Ahaesy, | Jan. 28, 2026
ASUNCION, Paraguay – Maj. Gen. Gary W. Keefe, the adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard, led a series of senior leader engagements in Paraguay from Jan. 16-22 to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation.During...
Southampton Fire Department First Assistant Chief Ricky Fowler, right, and Capt. Jason Poremba, left, present representatives of the New York Air Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing and Army Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 142nd Assault Helicopter Battalion with a framed photograph at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, New York, Jan. 9, 2026. The image, presented as a token of appreciation for the Guard’s critical support during a wildfire on March 8, 2025, shows a New York Army National Guard UH-60M Black Hawk releasing water from a helicopter bucket directly over a Southampton brush truck on the front lines. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Daniel H. Farrell.
Southampton Fire Department Thanks New York Guard for Wildfire Support
By Tech. Sgt. Daniel Farrell, | Jan. 28, 2026
FRANCIS S. GABRESKI AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, WESTHAMPTON BEACH, N.Y. – Members of the Southampton Fire Department visited Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, New York, on Jan. 9, to thank members...
A U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment, 96th Aviation Troop Command, Washington National Guard, sling loads a PBY-5A Catalina amphibious aircraft from Oak Harbor, Wash., Jan. 21, 2026. A Washington National Guard CH-47 Chinook lifted the World War II-era patrol bomber, which first operated from U.S. Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in 1942, to its new permanent location at the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum. Photo by Adeline Witherspoon.
Washington Guard Lifts WWII-Era Bomber for Move to Museum
By Joseph Siemandel, | Jan. 28, 2026
OAK HARBOR, Wash. – A story, years in the making, came to an end for the city of Oak Harbor when a CH-47 Chinook air crew from the Washington Army National Guard air lifted a World War II-era PBY-5a bomber from downtown Oak...
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