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 End of en era: Lesher one of last Vietnam vets serving on Guard active-duty By Army Sgt. Darron Salzer
                National Guard Bureau
 ARLINGTON,  Va. - As one of the last remaining active-duty Guard members with  service experience in Vietnam, Army Master Sgt. Leland Lesher said the most  rewarding thing about his career is the view from the top while at the Army  Guard headquarters. In a  small ceremony at the Army National Guard Readiness Center on Tuesday, Lesher  swore the oath of enlistment and extension for the last time in his military  career – which began over 40 years ago. He said  his first enlistment came way back in December of 1970 with the Marine Corps  and was followed by boot camp, advanced infantry school and military occupation  specialty school and then a year spent in Vietnam. “After  Vietnam, I left the Marine Corps and went to college,” he said. This is where  Lesher learned about the Guard and made the switch. “I was a  traditional Guard member, and after I graduated from college, I spent 22 years  as a police officer,” he said. Though  he originally enlisted with the Illinois National Guard, Lesher said that he  also served as a North Dakota Guard member and as a member of the Colorado  National Guard for a few years, but has since returned to the Illinois Guard. Over  those years, Lesher has done a lot both here at home nd abroad with the Guard,  as he recounted time spent overseas in Vietnam and Korea, and domestic missions  doing blizzard, flood and ice storm assistance in North Dakota. Since  his first enlistment into the Guard, Lesher said he has seen it go through some  very major changes. “When I  got back from Vietnam,” he said, “the Guard was full of those who wanted to  continue their military careers, those who wanted to avoid Vietnam and then  those who, like myself, had decided they were done with regular military and  wanted something else. “Then  9/11 happened, and it changed the demographics of the Guard from those who had  no or very little combat experience, to a force that has 85 percent [of its  forces] with combat experience. “I’ve  seen the Guard become very professional over the years.” Lesher  said he had the pleasure of being a part of some really great units early on,  and that it’s the close-knit family that the Guard provides and the camaraderie  that has kept him in the Guard for so long. “The  North Dakota Guard and Illinois Guard really were some great units to belong  to, and they put off any reservations I had had initially about the Guard when  I first joined,” Lesher said. His final  stop in his long Guard career is Stuttgart, Germany, where he will have an  active role in the State Partnership program at the European Command level. “Part of  my position in Germany will be coordinating with and assisting states that have  State Partnership Programs with the European Union nations that fall under the  European Command,” Lesher said. “It’s  still at the level of assisting states, but it’s helping them to expand beyond  their state borders,” he said. After a  long military career that has seen the Guard mature over the years and become  an operational reserve, Lesher said he looks forward to his final tour in  Germany and having the opportunity to work within the State Partnership Program. “As my  final three-year tour, it is just phenomenal.”
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