Articles
Regional Command – East conducted an active shooter exercise on Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo on August 12, 2021 to train Soldiers from a variety of sections with a variety of specialties to ensure readiness in the instance of a real-world active shooter. The exercise included active shooters, casualties, response from the joint operations center, civilian emergency responders, medical personnel, security details, and military police responses. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Gloria Kamencik)

Aug. 12, 2021

Regional Command - East conducts mass casualty, active shooter training

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo — Regional Command – East conducted an active shooter exercise on Camp Bondsteel on Aug.12, 2021 to train Soldiers from a variety of sections with a variety of specialties to ensure readiness in the instance of a real-world active shooter. The exercise included active shooters, casualties, response from the joint operations center, civilian emergency responders, medical personnel, security details, and military police responses.

If you visit Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, you may be met at the front gate by Figo and his handler Cpl. Charles West, with the 131st Military Police Detachment. Figo is a Malinois X, a mix of the Belgian Malinois and the German Shepard dog. The combination results in an intelligent, good-natured, level-headed energetic protector of their beloved human. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Gloria Kamencik, KFOR29)

Aug. 12, 2021

Military Working Dogs provide essential role for Camp Bondsteel security

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo — If you visit Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, you may be met at the front gate by Figo and his handler Cpl. Charles West, with the 131st Military Police Detachment. Figo is a Malinois X, a mix of the Belgian malinois and the German shepherd dog. The combination results in an intelligent, good-natured, level-headed energetic protector of their beloved human.

Task Force Valkyrie of the 1st Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment, conducts Bambi bucket training in Kosovo July 30, 2021. This training ensures readiness if called upon by Kosovo to assist in any wildfires. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Gloria Kamencik)

Aug. 11, 2021

Regional Command - East hits ground running

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo — Soldiers from the U.S. Army, including Soldiers from multiple National Guard states, Reserve Component, and Active Duty, as well as Soldiers from Poland, Latvia, Switzerland, Turkey, Slovenia, Greece, Hungary, and Italy, have fully established at various locations across Kosovo as part of Regional Command – East. Needless to say, we hit the ground running. Kosovo has experienced a fair amount of wild fires of late, and RC-E has been called upon to assist in combating fires in the Western and Northern portions of Kosovo.

New functionality, resources and content have been added to the Vermont National Guard’s app making it easier for members to access information ranging from The Adjutant General’s Feed, VTNG news, family and military support resources to recruiting contact details and more.

Aug. 10, 2021

Vermont Guard mobile app enhanced with additional features

CAMP JOHNSON, Vermont — New functionality, resources and content have been added to the Vermont National Guard’s app making it easier for members to access information ranging from The Adjutant General’s Feed, VTNG news, family and military support resources to recruiting contact details and more.

Maj. Gen. Greg Knight, Vermont's adjutant general, shares results of an organizational assessment with local reporters during a media roundtable Aug. 6, 2021. The assessment, conducted by the National Guard Bureau's Office of Complex Investigations in 2020, gives the Vermont National Guard a favorable rating and lists 35 recommendations to improve the organization. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Don Branum)

Aug. 10, 2021

Vermont adjutant general shares organizational assessment results

CAMP JOHNSON, Vermont — Maj. Gen. Greg Knight, Vermont's adjutant general, shared on Aug. 6 the results of an organizational assessment conducted in 2020 by the National Guard Bureau's Office of Complex Investigations.

Anna Nasset from Stand Up Resources speaks during event for #NotJustApril on Camp Johnson, Vermont, Aug. 19, 2020. Typically military and civilian organizations host events during the month of April to focus attention on sexual assault awareness and prevention; however, due to COVID-19 restrictions the Vermont National Guard shifted their series of events from April to August and designed them around the theme: #NotJustApril, from Aug. 18-21, 2020. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. J. Scott Detweiler)

Aug. 10, 2021

Vermont National Guard introduces new anti-harassment reporting policy

The prevention of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation is a top priority at the Vermont National Guard. Recently, we published a comprehensive Harassment Reporting and Response Plan to address these serious issues.

Man speaks from podium.

Aug. 9, 2021

Biden to approve Austin's request to make COVID-19 vaccine mandatory

WASHINGTON — By mid-September, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will request a waiver from President Joe Biden to make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for service members, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said. 

The Vermont National Guard released on Aug. 8 the results of an organizational assessment conducted from January-April 2020 by the National Guard Bureau's Office of Complex Investigations.

Aug. 8, 2021

Vermont National Guard releases organizational assessment

CAMP JOHNSON, Vermont — The Vermont National Guard has publicly released a 113-page assessment prepared by the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations at the request of VTNG Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Gregory Knight.

Marine Pfcs. Preston Toledo and Frank Toledo, both Navajo Code Talkers and cousins, relay orders in the Navajo language on a field radio. They were attached to a Marine artillery regiment in the South Pacific. This photo was taken July 7, 1943.

Aug. 4, 2021

Remembering the Code Talkers

RUTLAND NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY, Vermont — National Navajo Code Talkers Day is Aug. 14, 2021. As the observance approaches, we should take a moment to recognize the sacrifices and contributions of the nearly 25,000 Native Americans who served in the Armed Forces during WWII. In the words of Signal Officer Maj. Howard Connor, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”

Army 1st Lt. Joan Emerson of Charlie Company, 186th Brigade Support Battalion, records the hospital beds that are part of each medical pod at the Alternate Healthcare Facility in Essex, Vermont, on April 7th, 2020. The Vermont National Guard is working with the state of Vermont and emergency partners in a whole-of-government effort to flatten the curve during the COVID-19 pandemic. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Cpl. Gillian McCreedy)

July 29, 2021

Voluntary COVID mapping task force concludes operations

CAMP JOHNSON, Vermont — In the early winter of 2020, Vermont Governor Phil Scott tasked the Vermont Department of Health and the Vermont National Guard with mapping the spread of COVID-19 across the state.

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. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...
Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...
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