Articles

Feb. 16, 2018

Meet your Guard: Sgt. Peter Shepardson

This edition of Meet Your Guard focuses on Sgt. Peter Shepardson, a 91B wheeled-vehicle mechanic, with Bravo Company, 186th Brigade Support Battalion, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), who is also a native of Essex Junction, Vt., and currently lives in Westford, Vt. Shepardson has served in the Vermont National Guard for three years.

Jan. 27, 2018

National Guard Biathlon Regionals Held in Vermont

National Guardsmen from 24 states competed in their respective Regional Biathlon Competitions at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, Vermont. Biathlon consists of target shooting and ski racing. Competitors, ranging from novice to master, are divided into west, central, and east regions.

Oct. 26, 2017

National Guard purifies and distributes water

National Guardsmen are working together to supply the local area with drinking water using their reverse osmosis water purification units (ROWPU). The units supply anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 gallons of water a day. From the early morning and into the night residents with containers and tanks on their trucks make their way to receive clean water.

Oct. 25, 2017

Reserve unit climbs the extra mile

Winding their way up steep mountain roads, no more than 12 feet wide, the 268th Transportation Company, 393rd Combat Support Sustainment Battalion, 166th Regional Support Group, 1st Mission Support Command out of Ft. Buchanan, Puerto Rico delivers cases of water and food to the 5,000 residents of Jayuya. Many residents are surviving without electricity for more than six weeks following Hurricane Irma, so the mission of the 268th TC is as much community relations as it is commodity distribution.

July 18, 2017

86th IBCT (MTN) finishes warfighter exercise

The 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont National Guard, conducted a warfighter exercise held from June 3-14. The exercise is a tactical operations drill designed to train brigade staff using a simulation with the Army’s Command Post of the Future, a software system that enables commanders to see the battlefield and communicate across the force. The brigade was at Fort Drum to facilitate the exercise.

June 13, 2017

572nd BEB kicks-off annual training

The 572nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont National Guard, kicked off annual training with a bang on Tuesday. Soldiers from the unit participated in various live-fire ranges with fragmentation grenades, Mark 19 40mm grenade machine guns, M4 carbines, M249 light machine guns and M240B machine guns.

June 10, 2017

Mechanics support warfighter exercise

Two U.S. Soldier Mechanics with Echo Company, 186th Brigade Support Battalion, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Spc. Kale Raymond, a power-generation equipment repairer, and Spc. Kyle Spaulding, a wheeled vehicle mechanic, worked behind the scenes to support the brigade’s warfighter exercise, a tactical operations drill designed to train brigade staff. In addition to supporting the exercise as the only mechanics, the two provided support for the advanced echelons (ADVON) in their battalion.

June 9, 2017

Different units cooperate to sustain the 86th IBCT Warfighter Exercise

More than 600 Soldiers are involved with the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), 10th Mountain Division, during its warfighter exercise at Fort Drum, New York, June 3-18. It is a feat to address the logistics of sustaining a large force while operating in the field, but brigade Soldiers from the 1157th Forward Support Company, Colorado National Guard, 186th Brigade Support Battalion, Vermont National Guard, and active-duty Soldiers from Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters, Headquarters Battalion, 10th MTN DIV, all came together to make it happen.

June 7, 2017

572nd BEB conducts first tactical operations exercise as a battalion

The newly reconstituted 572nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont National Guard, participated in a brigade Warfighter exercise at Fort Drum, New York, June 3-18. The Warfighter serves as a good starting point for the new battalion and allows them to work with their attachments and units, like Echo Company, 186th Brigade Support Battalion, and new additions from outside the state like Charlie Company from Connecticut and Delta Company from Colorado..

May 18, 2017

Leadership through Officer Candidate School

Officers are managers of Soldiers. They plan missions, give orders, and assign Soldiers to tasks. As managers, officers have a vital role and the Army strives to find capable Soldiers to prepare them for that role.

The official logo of the Vermont National Guard.

National Guard News
U.S. Army Soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Brigade, 11th Airborne Division load onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) exercise at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii Oct. 14, 2024. The Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) is the Army’s newest Combat Training Center (CTC) and generates readiness in the environments and conditions where our forces are most likely to operate in. JPMRC 25-01 includes training participants from across the U.S. Joint Force, and multinational Allies and partners.
Hawaii Multinational Exercise Furthers Indo-Pacific Readiness
By Capt. Allen Gutierrez, | Nov. 1, 2024
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii — As one of Hawaii’s largest exercises, the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) brought together a diverse coalition of U.S. and multinational forces from Oct. 5-18,...

Native American Spc. Moses Brave Heart of the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 235th Military Police Company is growing his hair long after receiving an exception to military policy.
Indigenous South Dakota Soldier Receives Hair Exemption
By Staff Sgt. Breanne Donnell, | Nov. 1, 2024
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Native American Spc. Moses Brave Heart of the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 235th Military Police Company is growing his hair long after receiving an exception to policy. Brave Heart is a member of the...

Soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 263rd Air Defense Artillery, 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, South Carolina Army National Guard, attended a deployment departure ceremony Oct. 19, 2024, at the Easley Readiness Center, Easley, South Carolina. This unit is preparing to deploy to support Operation Inherent Resolve.
South Carolina Army Guard Air Defenders Deploying to CENTCOM
By Staff Sgt. Tim Andrews, | Oct. 31, 2024
EASLEY, S.C. - A departure ceremony was held Oct. 19 for South Carolina Army National Guard Soldiers deploying to support Operation Inherent Resolve in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.The Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 263rd...