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

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National Guard News
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Tyler Pierce, a crew chief assigned to the 123rd Airlift Wing, Kentucky Air National Guard, inspects the fuselage of a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at Karup Air Base, Denmark, June 4, 2026. The 123rd Airlift Wing is providing tactical airlift support to NATO Allies throughout June in support of Ramstein Flag 2026, an Allied Air Command large-scale, air-focused, multi-location and joint operating area exercise that kicked off June 8 with 18 participating nations and more than 200 aircraft. Photo by Lt. Col. Dale Greer.
Kentucky Air Wing Supports Ramstein Flag Exercise
By Dale Greer, | June 10, 2026
KARUP, Denmark – Airmen with the Kentucky National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing are supporting a NATO Allied Air Command exercise in Denmark through June 19, providing tactical airlift for an event spanning three operational...

Brig. Gen. Trent Gibson, the adjutant general of the Montana National Guard, receives a project update from Soldiers assigned to Detachment 1, 230th Engineer Company at Legion Park in Culbertson, Montana, June 2026. The project includes construction of a pedestrian trail, parking area and pavilion foundation, providing valuable engineer training while supporting a community recreation area. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. Devin Doskey.
Montana Guard Develops Engineer Skills, Transforms Park
By Senior Master Sgt. Devin Doskey, | June 10, 2026
CULBERTSON, Mont. – Soldiers assigned to Montana National Guard’s Detachment 1, 230th Engineer Company are transforming Legion Park into a community recreation area during annual training, combining hands-on engineer training...

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...