Here's how you know
 **Official websites use .mil** .mil
 **Secure .mil websites use HTTPS** lock () https://


Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 Toggle navigation
            
            
            
            
            National Guard
                        Always Ready Always There
                    National Guard
            
            Search National Guard:
                        Search
                    Search
                        Search National Guard:
                            Search
    Home

    News
    
        Guard News

    Overseas Operations

    State Partnership Program

    News Features

    RSS Feeds

    Press Releases

    Transcripts

    Features
    
        Features by Year

    Posture Statement

    State Partnership Program

    Special Features

    About the Guard
    
        How We Began

    Air National Guard

    Army National Guard    
    
        DEERS Soldier Journey

    Leader Development Program

    History and Heritage

    I am the Guard

    NGB Official March

    Leadership
    
        CNGB

    VCNGB

    SEA

    DANG

    DARNG

    Joint Staff    
    
        J-1

    J-2

    J-3

    J-4

    J-5

    J-6

    J-7

    J-8

    Personal Staff    
    
        Inspector General

    General Counsel    
    
        Special Victims Counsel

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        Office of the Provost Marshal

    Office of the Joint Surgeon

    Director of Acquisitions

    Small Business Programs

    Chaplain

    Senior Leader Management Office

    Diversity Equity Inclusion

    Comptroller

    Resources    
        National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance

    Community Engagement

    FOIA

    Fact Sheets

    Helpful Links

    Image Gallery
    
        News Images

    Graphics

    Historical Paintings

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Legislative Liaison

    Small Business Programs

    Social Media

    State Websites

    Videos    
    
        Featured Videos

    On Every Front

    2019 Videos

    2020 Videos

    2021 Videos

    Suicide Prevention

    Family Programs

    Environmental

    Trial Defense Service

    Holistic Wellness Challenge

    Contact Us  Home
  News
  Article View
 
 NEWS
 Pentagon Channel Documentary Focuses on Guard, Reserve Members By David Mays
                Special to American Forces Press Service
 WASHINGTON - They were once known as "weekend warriors," ordinary citizens who gave up just a little bit of their time for minimal military training and a paycheck. "What we advertised was one weekend a month, two weeks in the summer, that's all we asked," said Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve Command. "We were not going to mobilize and go to war unless the Russians came across the Fulda Gap (in Germany); ... we were going to have plenty of time before we were needed to mobilize, to train, to get organized." That changed forever on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the United States launched the global war on terror. Since that war began, first in Afghanistan and later in Iraq, tens of thousands of National Guardsmen and reservists have been mobilized with lightning speed and shipped off for a year or more -- leaving behind jobs and families -- to fight battles thousands of miles from home. The Pentagon Channel is dedicating its latest half-hour monthly documentary, "Recon," to an in-depth look at the people and the units that comprise today's reserve components. "Citizens in Service" takes a look at the history of the Guard and reserves and the gritty reality "part time" servicemembers face alongside their active-duty counterparts. "These days, the men and women who make up our Guard and Reserve forces are more integrated into the Department of Defense missions around the world that even before," Air Force Master Sgt. Daniela Marchus, host of the documentary, said. "In fact, they're usually indistinguishable from those who've chosen the military as a full-time career. Like their active-duty counterparts, they spend more time away from home, families and friends. And they face the same dangers." The documentary features servicemembers who have served in both active duty and reserve-component capacity and share their candid experiences from the present and the past. "You know, back then you got leftovers from the regular Army," said Sgt. Maj. Lana Labay who volunteered in Vietnam, served active duty stateside, then joined the Army Reserve. "We got the old uniforms, the old boots. It was really outdated." "To me it was insulting," said Command Sgt. Maj. Leon Caffie, who heads the U.S. Army Reserve Command. "I came from the active component to the reserve component that was basically a social group. We had organizations that had no idea what they were doing. They were looking for 14 days annual training which in most cases was a big party." "Remember, before Sept. 11, it was a strategic reserve," Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said. "The nation made a strategic decision to accept risk and not equip the Guard fully." The documentary traces the massive call up of Guard members and reservists members during operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield in the early 1990s when American forces were assembled to force Saddam Hussein's army out of Kuwait after it invaded and tried to annex Iraq's tiny border country. "I think Desert Storm was a test of our ability to mobilize the force and deploy it," Stultz said. "But what it did not test was our ability to sustain it." This "Recon" shows how lessons learned from the first Gulf War and subsequent missions, such as enforcing the no-fly zones over Iraq, helped fine tune the role of the Guard and reserves as modern warfighters. It also shows how even greater changes became necessary after the Sept. 11 attacks and looks into the future of the reserve components, including goals laid out by Defense Department leaders. "One thing the attacks made obvious was that the fight in our future would be nothing like those of the past," Marchus said. "Citizens Who Serve" debuts Friday, March 23rd and encores throughout the month of April. It is also available via podcast and video on demand at www.PentagonChannel.mil.
 SHARE
 PRINT
 Pentagon Channel
 
 Washington Guard, Royal Thai Army Conduct Expert Exchange
 By Joseph Siemandel,
  Tennessee Guard Rescues Hiker in Great Smoky Mountains Park
 By Lt. Col. Darrin Haas,
  Champions Repeat at NH National Guard Marksmanship Match
 By Master Sgt. Charles Johnston,
  More
 Tennessee Guard Rescues Hiker in Great Smoky Mountains Park Guard News • yesterday
 Champions Repeat at NH National Guard Marksmanship Match Guard News • 2 days ago
 West Virginia Air National Guard Wing Conducts ’Super Drill’ Guard News • 2 days ago
 Idaho Medical Airmen Train in Field to Boost Readiness Guard News • 2 days ago
 Alaska Air National Guard rescues 6 plane crash victims Guard News • 2 days ago
 2024 (189)  2023 (427)  2022 (526)  2021 (697)  2020 (936)  2019 (387)  2018 (323)  2017 (346)  2016 (245)  2015 (356)  2014 (399)  2013 (469)  2012 (556)  2011 (533)  2010 (1071)  2009 (357)  2008 (638)  2007 (295)  2006 (188)
 Home
 Site Map
 Privacy & Security Policy
 Link Disclaimer
 Web Policy
 DOD Information Quality
 DOD Open GovernmentFOIA
 No FEAR Act
 Accessibility/Section 508
 Contact Us
 Army Guard Careers
 Air Guard Careers
 USA.gov
                    
Staying Connected
    XYouTubeFlickrFacebookInstagram
                 
                
                

Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil