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
Members of the Finnish Air Force and the 185th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, 192nd Wing, Virginia Air National Guard, collaborate during exercise Smoked Reindeer April 20, 2026, at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia. The bilateral exercise served as a capstone event to certify Finnish cyber teams in accordance with U.S. Air Force Cyber Protection Team standards, strengthening the Department of War National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program between the Virginia National Guard and Finland. Photo by Staff Sgt. Kellyann Elish.
Virginia Guard, Finnish Air Force Strengthen Cyber Partnership
By Staff Sgt. Kellyann Elish, | June 4, 2026
JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. – Members of the 185th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, 192nd Wing, Virginia Air National Guard, and the Finnish Air Force gathered this spring for Exercise Smoked Reindeer 2026 to strengthen...

U.S. Air Force Airman Sam Horace, a member of the 102nd Security Forces Squadron, Massachusetts Air National Guard, participates in close quarters battle training, instructed by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Counter Threat Home Station Training Team, at Fort Benning, Georgia, May 13, 2026. During the two-week training event, Air National Guard Security Forces defenders from Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, Arizona and Kansas participated in a multi-day opposing force academy and enhanced air base ground defense tactics, techniques and procedures under austere and constrained field conditions during the U.S. Army’s 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment certification exercise. Photo by Senior Airman Julia Ahaesy.
Air Guard Defenders Enhance Skills During Ranger Exercise
By Senior Airman Julia Ahaesy, | June 4, 2026
FORT BENNING, Ga. – Air National Guard Security Forces defenders enhanced air base ground defense tactics, techniques and procedures under austere, constrained field conditions during the U.S. Army’s 3rd Battalion, 75th...

Warrant Officer 1 Gregory Hederich, UAS Operations Tech, 81st Multi-Functional Reconnaissance Company, Washington National Guard, operates an Anduril GhostX drone during the counter-UAS field day demonstration at the Yakima Training Center, Washington, June 2, 2026. Photo by Joseph Siemandel.
Washington Guard Strengthens Readiness Ahead of World Cup 2026
By Joseph Siemandel, | June 4, 2026
CAMP MURRAY, Wash. – Representatives from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, multiple National Guards, state defense forces, Washington Emergency Management Division, Civil Air Patrol and active-duty military...