Articles

March 30, 2018

Meet Your Guard: Tech. Sgt. Lindsey Bond

This edition of Meet Your Guard focuses on Tech. Sgt. Lindsey Bond, a maintenance analyst, with the 158th Fighter Wing, who is also a native of Colchester, Vt., and now lives in Milton. Bond has served in the Vermont Air Guard for nine years.

March 30, 2018

Meet your Guard: Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Riley

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.

March 20, 2018

Vermont National Guard medical personnel work in 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.

Feb. 16, 2018

Meet your Guard: 1st Lt. John Helme

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.

Feb. 16, 2018

Meet your Guard: Staff Sgt. Yulia Benson

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.

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.

The official logo of the Vermont National Guard.

TAG's State of the Guard 2026

Note: the above YouTube video link may not work on all government computers. 

National Guard News
Two Oregon Army National Guard Flight Medics assigned to G Company, 1-189th Aviation Regiment, are hoist lifted back aboard an HH60M Black Hawk while working with Clackamas Fire Department responders and Air Force Reserve Pararescuemen from the 304th Rescue Squadron, during joint training along the Sandy River at Dodge Park in Sandy, Oregon, on June 5, 2026. The Water Rescue Team Air Mobility Exercise simulated a flood scene in fictional Clackamine County where neighbors were cut off by rising river levels as combined teams from the Clackamas Fire Department, Oregon Army and Air National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Air Force Reserve executed waterborne operations and hoisted simulated victims from remote river locations. Photo by John Hughel.
Oregon Guard, Local Responders Conduct Aviation Rescue Training
By John Hughel, | June 9, 2026
SANDY, Ore. – With simulated floodwaters cutting off neighborhoods and covering access roads, Oregon National Guard rescue crews flew low above the Sandy River June 5 to practice lifesaving helicopter operations in Clackamas...

Soldiers assigned to 2nd Platoon, 940th Military Police Company, train alongside Ecuadorian airmen in a paintball shoothouse during Exercise El Gato 2026 in Salinas, Ecuador, May 15, 2026. Soldiers conducted training iterations in preparation for a force-on-force paintball event the following day. Photo by Staff Sgt. Caleb Sooter.
Kentucky Guard, Ecuador Strengthen Partnership Through Training
By Staff Sgt. Caleb Sooter, | June 8, 2026
SALINAS, Ecuador – Kentucky Army National Guard Soldiers in the 940th Military Police Company participated last month in Exercise EL GATO, or Ecuador Liaison Guard Annual Training Operation, with members of Ecuador’s army,...

Idaho Airmen assigned to the 124th Fighter Wing's Security Forces Squadron participate in a field training exercise at Saylor Creek Training Range, Grasmere, Idaho, June 4-6, 2026. The annual Security Forces Squadron field training exercise helps to maintain proficiency and strengthen skills needed to support evolving mission requirements. Photo by Airman 1st Class Sarah Welch.
Idaho Airmen Improve Readiness Through Qualification Training
By Airman 1st Class Sarah Welch, | June 8, 2026
GOWEN FIELD, Idaho - Airmen assigned to the 124th Fighter Wing's Security Forces Squadron participated in readiness training June 4-6 at Saylor Creek Training Range in Grasmere to maintain proficiency and strengthen skills...