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 | April 15, 2022

158th Civil Engineers hone skills at Silver Flag

By Senior Airman Jana Somero, 158th Fighter Wing

Tyndall Air Force Base welcomed 14 Green Mountain Boys from the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Civil Engineer Squadron to Florida for the annual Silver Flag exercise March 21 to April 1.

Hosted by Detachment 1 of the 823rd RED HORSE Squadron, Silver Flag is a 10-day exercise to train and prepare Airmen across multiple career fields for real-world scenarios they may encounter on deployment. The training focuses on hands-on experience with contingency tools and equipment not usually used or obtainable at their home station.

“Here at Silver Flag, they take Airmen from different specialties and they give them tasks outside of their current Air Force Specialty Code,” said Maj. Mathew Lehman, the base civil engineer assigned to the 158th Civil Engineer Squadron at the Vermont Air National Guard. “You’ll have electricians doing small repairs, you’ll have water and fuels systems maintenance cutting concrete. They call it multi-capable Airmen.”

Instructors lead the first eight days of the exercise, and the last two days are student-led under instructor observation.

“They will train the first eight days for what they’ll do in the last two days,” said Lehman. “It will give them the confidence and the competence to do their job in a wartime environment.”

“I’ve been able to touch equipment that I haven’t been able to since tech school,” said Airman 1st Class Vanessa Tinoco, an HVAC technician assigned to the 158th Civil Engineer Squadron at the Vermont Air National Guard. “I am definitely grateful for this experience here. I’ve been able to work on a lot of equipment that I will see on deployment, but I wasn’t familiar with.”

Silver Flag also offers opportunities for joint readiness training. Throughout the exercise, 191 active-duty, Guard, and Reserve Airmen trained together in a realistic, simulated deployment from Kuwait to Iraq.

“Coming here to Silver Flag, we have units from all across the Air Force and as engineers,” said Master Sgt. Patrick Clohessy, the structures shop supervisor in the 158th Civil Engineer Squadron at the Vermont Air National Guard. “It’s nice because we all speak the same language. We all blend in without a hiccup. It’s been a real positive experience.”

The training format ensured that all Airmen could work together efficiently and easily in a future deployed environment.

“One of the beautiful things about working with so many different Airmen within the same AFSCs is that you get to build on some of that relationship and camaraderie that happens between active, Guard, and Reserve,” said Lehman. “Everybody is here doing the same job and producing at the same level.”

By the end of Day 10, all 14 Green Mountain Boys completed all tasks and training.

“They had a great attitude throughout the whole training,” said Lehman. “They knocked the whole thing out of the park and really made the Green Mountain Boys proud.”

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...