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

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        National Guard Office of Special Victims' Counsel

    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
  Overseas Operations
 
 Download
 Details
 Share
 NEWS
 Highway Patrol officers add value on Cal Guard deployment By Maj. Jason Sweeney,
                40th Combat Aviation Brigade
 CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – National Guard members are Citizen-Soldiers who often have civilian careers with very different skill sets than their military occupational specialties. On the military side, Staff Sgt. Cindy Gray is a 92W water treatment specialist and Sgt. Daniel Gunther is a 91B wheeled vehicle mechanic. On the civilian side, both Gunther and Gray are California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers. Gunther and Gray are deployed to the Middle East with the U.S. Army National Guard’s Task Force Phoenix, which is providing full-spectrum aviation operations for the U.S. Army Central Command’s Operation Spartan Shield and Operation Inherent Resolve. When Task Force Phoenix needed Soldiers to serve as drivers and protection for the Task Force commander and command sergeant major, Gunther and Gray were the obvious choices. “As a personal security detachment and as drivers, their skills as highway patrolmen are exactly suited to both of these jobs,” Task Force Phoenix Commander Col. Alan Gronewold said. “They’re proficient with firearms, they’re well trained in how to handle tense situations, how to de-escalate situations, and they’re both great drivers. I feel safer riding with either of them than with anybody else because I know they’re well trained and can handle vehicles.” “We chose them based on their skill set on the civilian side,” Task Force Phoenix Command Sgt. Maj. Refugio Rosas said. During the nine-month deployment, Gunther and Gray make sure Gronewold and Rosas get where they need to go and provide security when they get there. Gunther and Gray’s home unit is the California Army National Guard’s 1040th Quartermaster Company in Hollister, California. For their civilian careers, Gray works out of the CHP’s Hayward office in the San Francisco Bay Area and Gunther out of the CHP’s San Jose office. Older Americans may know the CHP from the long-running television series “CHiPs,” starring Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox. The show was famous in its day for car chases and crashes on Los Angeles freeways. In real life, many Californians have personal experience with the CHP when they see flashing lights in their rearview mirror when they’re driving over the speed limit. But Gunther and Gray say there’s a lot more to being CHP officers than car chases and speeding tickets. “Everybody thinks we write tickets and go after people all the time, but most of what I do, especially on my shift, is help people,” Gunther said. “I respond to accidents and help drivers stranded on the road. We deal with wildfires that have happened lately in California, weather-related incidents, all kinds of stuff. Probably 70 to 80 percent of my job typically in a day is just helping people, making sure they get on their way safely.” Gunther served four years in the active-duty Army before switching to the California Army National Guard to be closer to family in California. “I love serving,” he said. “I enjoy wrenching on vehicles. I enjoy the Army lifestyle. And I like helping other Soldiers out.” After leaving active duty, he applied for a position with the CHP because of the similarity between law enforcement and military service. He’s been working as a CHP officer since 2016. He said his dual careers as a mechanic in the Guard and a patrol officer with the CHP are a perfect fit. Gray’s military career began when she joined the California Army National Guard while attending Fresno State University, where she earned a criminology degree. She’s spent much of her Guard career serving on the California National Guard’s Honor Guard, which provides military honors at funerals. She completed the CHP Academy in 2020 and then spent a year on the road as a patrol officer before being activated to deploy overseas with the Guard. Her first year with the CHP was a busy one. She was involved in riot control, arrests of felons and car chases. During a typical shift, she said she might help a motorist change a flat tire, pull over a reckless driver, assist at traffic accidents, or help keep traffic moving around stalled vehicles or debris. “But there’s not really a typical day because every day is different,” she said. As a child, Gray was impressed and inspired by a Fresno County sheriff's deputy who ran the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program at her elementary school. She said since then, she’s always wanted to serve, both in law enforcement and in the military. The National Guard allowed her to do both. “I plan on staying on in the Guard,” she said, adding that she’s hoping to attend Officer Candidate School when she returns from the deployment. “I feel like the balance between the CHP and the Guard is good because they complement each other,” Gray said. “And the Guard keeps me on track with staying fit. I also feel like serving one weekend a month and two weeks a year in the Guard gives me a little break from work, too. But I think my drive and determination came from the fire within me to serve my community, help people in need and be part of something bigger. Both the California Army National Guard and the CHP have not only fulfilled my expectations regarding these goals but have far exceeded them.” Command Sgt. Maj. Rosas said Gunther and Gray’s civilian skills bring added value to Task Force Phoenix during the deployment. “Sgt. Gunther and Staff Sgt. Gray are professional Soldiers,” he said. “They’re always ready for any type of mission. If one word says anything about them, it’s ‘awesome.’ They’re awesome for what they do on the civilian side of the house and for what they do for the Army National Guard.”
 SHARE
 PRINT
  California National Guard
 Deployment
 Citizen-Soldiers
 civilian jobs
 California Highway Patrol
 NY National Guard Strengthens Bonds with Allies in Morocco Overseas Operations • 6 days ago
 Alaska Guard Soldiers Honored Before Middle East Deployment Overseas Operations • 13 days ago
 29th Infantry Division HQ Heads Exercise Immediate Response Overseas Operations • 18 days ago
 134th Medical Company Joins Combined Resolve Exercise Overseas Operations • 19 days ago
 Guard Soldiers, Czech Partners Celebrate Victory in Europe Day Overseas Operations • 21 days ago
 2024 (24)  2023 (57)  2022 (71)  2021 (58)  2020 (41)  2019 (56)  2018 (55)  2017 (46)  2016 (31)  2015 (36)  2014 (48)  2013 (64)  2012 (134)  2011 (163)  2010 (179)
 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