Articles
Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Riley, vehicle operations and ground transportation, 158th Fighter Wing, poses for an official photograph.

March 30, 2018

Meet your Guard: Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Riley

CAMP JOHNSON, Vt. — This edition of Meet Your Guard focuses on Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Riley, a vehicles operations/ground transportation specialist, with the 158th Fighter Wing, Logistics Readiness Squadron, who is also a native of Colchester, Vt. Riley works as a full time supervisor for the Vehicle Operations Section of the Logistics Readiness Squadron.

Vermont Guard members obtain medical experience in Senegal

March 20, 2018

Vermont National Guard medical personnel work in Senegal

ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal — Vermont National Guard members mobilized to Senegal Feb. 4-23 to work with Senegalese medical personnel to obtain experience providing services as part of a medical readiness training exercise.

1st. Lt. John C. Helme, 1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry Regiment, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) poses for a photograph. (Courtesy Photo)

Feb. 16, 2018

Meet your Guard: 1st Lt. John Helme

CAMP JOHNSON, Vt. — This edition of Meet Your Guard focuses on 1st Lt. John C. Helme, a signal officer, with 1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry Regiment, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), who is also a native of Barre, Vt., and currently lives in Burlington, Vt. Helme teaches math at Colchester Middle School.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Yulia Benson, bandsman, 40th Army Band, Vermont Army National Guard plays during a concert.

Feb. 16, 2018

Meet your Guard: Staff Sgt. Yulia Benson

BURLINGTON, Vt. — This edition of Meet Your Guard focuses on Staff Sgt. Yulia Benson, a 42R band musician, with 40th Army Band, 86th Troop Command, Garrison Support Command, who is also a native of Kazan, Russia, and currently lives in Milton, Vt. Benson has served in the Vermont National Guard for 11 years and works full time in the guard.

Sgt. Peter Shepardson, wheeled-vehicle mechanic, Bravo Company, 186th Brigade Support Battalion, Vermont Army National Guard, poses for a photo. (Courtesy Photo)

Feb. 16, 2018

Meet your Guard: Sgt. Peter Shepardson

CAMP JOHNSON, Vt. — 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.

Biathlon Competition

Jan. 27, 2018

National Guard Biathlon Regionals Held in Vermont

CAMP ETHAN ALLEN TRAINING SITE, Vt. — 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.

Moving water

Oct. 26, 2017

National Guard purifies and distributes water

COMERIO, Puerto Rico — 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.

Puerto Rico Hurricane Assistance

Oct. 25, 2017

Reserve unit climbs the extra mile

JAYUYA, Puerto Rico — 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.

Soldiers participate in warfighter exercise

July 18, 2017

86th IBCT (MTN) finishes warfighter exercise

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — 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.

Grenade Throw

June 13, 2017

572nd BEB kicks-off annual training

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — 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.

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 Staff Sgt. Blayne Flickinger, a medical technician assigned to the Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th medical group, takes the vitals of a local resident during the Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) Program: Operations Healthy Tennessee at Rhea County Middle School, Evensville, Tenn., July 10, 2025. The IRT Program is a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) initiative that provides real-world, hands-on training opportunities for military units while delivering critical services to American communities in need.
Ohio Guard Participates in Operation Healthy Tennessee 2025
By Staff Sgt. Sarah Stalder Lundgren, | July 16, 2025
EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - Ohio Air National Guard members arrived July 9 in Tennessee to participate in Operation Healthy Tennessee, an initiative that offers the public no-cost medical, dental, optometry, nutritional education,...
U.S. Army Soldiers, assigned to 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 40th Infantry Division, California Army National Guard, conduct civil disturbance operations (CDO) training at Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, Calif., June 11, 2025. California Army National Guardsmen in their Title 10 duty status train for crowd control and de-escalation techniques in alignment with legal rules for using the appropriate level of force. U.S. Northern Command is supporting federal agencies by providing military forces to protect federal functions, personnel, and property in the greater Los Angeles area. On June 7, the Secretary of Defense directed USNORTHCOM to establish Task Force 51 to oversee Title 10 forces supporting this mission.
California Guard's 79th IBCT Activated as Brigade for First Time in History
By Staff Sgt. Amber Peck, | July 16, 2025
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – In a historic first, more than 2,000 Soldiers from the California Army National Guard’s 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were mobilized under Title 10 federal orders to support federal agencies in the...
A UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter assigned to the New York National Guard's A Company, 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation, prepares to lift an M-119 howitzer belonging to the 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery during a training exercise at Fort Drum, New York, June 8, 2025. The 258th Field Artillery's C Battery will be part of a 246-Soldier New York Army National Guard contingent serving as the Opposing Force, or OPFOR, at the National Training Center from July 25 to August 3.
NY Army Guard Serves as Opposing Force at Training Center
By Eric Durr, | July 15, 2025
LATHAM, N.Y.  –  Two hundred forty-six New York Army National Guard Soldiers will go to Fort Irwin, California, the home of the Army’s National Training Center in the Mojave Desert, starting July 15.The Soldiers will serve...
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