An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Articles
News | June 10, 2021

Vermont National Guard biathletes eye 2022 Beijing Olympics

By Joshua Cohen Vermont National Guard Public Affairs

Three Vermont National Guard biathletes are training hard in anticipation of attending the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. If selected, VTARNG members will make up 37 percent of the U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team.

The event would mark the first time Spc. Deedra Irwin takes part in the international games. A member of 86th Troop Command, the 29-year-old biathlete is “excited about the possible opportunity to represent my country and my team. Participating in the Olympics has always been a dream of mine and something I've worked towards for a long time.”

Irwin, a 42A human resource specialist who has served in the Guard just over two years, said she was drawn to the biathlon sport from Nordic ski racing because of the added difficulty of shooting mid-race.

“It combines pure endurance and grit with the steadiness and accuracy of precision shooting, and I’ve never been more challenged in my athletic career than I have been by biathlon,” Irwin said.

Since 1973, the Vermont National Guard has maintained a dedicated biathlon program at the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, one of the oldest biathlon facilities in the United States.

Of nine elite biathletes now training at CEATS, Maj. Kevin Elmer, National Guard biathlon coordinator, said he expects three will attend the China Olympics: Irwin and Spcs. Leif Nordgren and Sean Doherty. Nordgren and Doherty represented the United States at the 2014 Winter Games in Russia and 2018 Olympics in South Korea.

"Doherty, Nordgren and Irwin also just finished the 2020 World Cup, which means selection for Olympics is highly likely," Elmer said. U.S. members are officially named in January.

Elmer said Solders named to the U.S. National Biathlon Team are placed on year-round, full-time orders. Most of the training is conducted at CEATS, where biathletes reside in athlete barracks complete with a specialized exercise area configured for biathlete training.

"Anytime a Soldier has a top 10 finish at the National Guard Championships, our coaches begin evaluating if they have the potential to make a U.S. national team," Elmer said.

Doherty, a 12W carpentry and masonry specialist with Detachment 1, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Garrison Support Command, is serving his fourth year with the Vermont Army National Guard.

“I joined because I wanted to continue to further my career as an athlete as well as create options for myself going forward. I would say the National Guard biathlon program is one of the best in the nation. If you are serious about competing at a high international level, the program here has all the resources to get you there,” he said.

Nordgren, a 15P aviation operations specialist, joined the Vermont Army National Guard in 2019 “for the short-term goal of getting great support while I finish out my biathlon career and the long-term goal of becoming a pilot.” He is assigned to Detachment 2 Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 224th Aviation Regiment.

“Biathlon is a lot of work. It takes a ton of dedication and personal drive to push yourself to be the best athlete you can be. The Soldiers with those traits will take to biathlon very naturally, as there is always something to improve, whether its ski technique, shooting precision or technique,” he said.

Depending on training cycles, preparations “can be anywhere from 15 to 25 hours per week of purely physical training. Add to those two to 10 hours of shooting training, dry-fire, stretching, proper nutrition, and sleep, biathlon is a full-time job,” Nordgren said.

Elmer mentioned another biathlete, Spc. Vasek Cervenka, with a chance to make the Olympic team.

“He will need to have an amazing summer and fall and outperform some exceptional biathletes, but he is focused on his goal and has a legitimate chance to make his dreams a reality,” he said.

A 12W carpentry and masonry specialist, Cervenka has served in the Vermont Army National Guard for almost three years. “I joined back in early 2019 to help fund my biathlon career, which I hope to finish out as a Guardsman. Then, I’ll explore the other opportunities the Vermont Army National Guard has to offer.”

Elmer said the biathlon program's second mission is training Soldiers across the Army and Air National Guard to move on snow and shoot effectively. Approximately 180 Soldiers from National Guard units across the country gather twice a year to conduct biathlon races in addition to serving with their assigned units across the country.

"We have races and compete against each other. These Soldiers then go back to their home units where they teach the skills they learn to their fellow Soldiers, so that's the primary purpose," he said.

Biathlon training involves cross-country skiing between rifle ranges, where participants engage targets at 50 meters. The exercises help Soldiers shoot accurately after moving quickly across snow-covered terrain.

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.

National Guard News
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...