Organizational, Soldier quality and readiness the focus at 2011 Missouri National Guard Commanders Conference

Officers with the Missouri Guard discuss the direction of the organization at the 2011 Missouri Army and Air National Guard Commanders Conference in Branson, Mo., in August.

(Ann Keyes/Missouri National Guard)

By Ann Keyes
ngmo.pao@us.army.mil

BRANSON, Mo. - The 2011 Missouri Army and Air National Guard Commanders Conference provided a framework from which Guard officers will work in the year ahead, focusing on the quality of individual Soldiers and Airmen, their readiness and the value of the organization as a whole.

"We have five strategic goals," said Col. Wendul Hagler, Missouri National Guard joint chief of staff, detailing improved Soldier and Airman readiness, empowerment of the organization, strategic communication, responsibility of resources, and management and growth of the force structure as priorities.

"We will be Soldier, Airman and Family focused; we want to have honor in everything we do; opportunities for all; willing to learn, which means we're willing to make honest mistakes and to learn from those mistakes; we will meet changing demands; and we will empower and mentor our force so that they can take on those changing demands," said Hagler of Show-Me State Guard values.

Several hundred Missouri Army and Air National Guard officers attended this year's conference in Branson recently. While Army and Air Guard personnel were met with a heavy conference schedule, Family members explored Branson Landing and other parts of the southwest Missouri city.

The two-day event was primarily about work, 'the way forward,' although a challenging 2011was noted.

"We're coming up on 180 days of state emergency duty," said Hagler of the Guard's call up for repeated and unrelenting natural disasters.

"We had a tremendous snowstorm in which we had Soldiers out all over the state of Missouri on a moments notice. We had a tornado that struck our own Lambert Fields in St. Louis on Good Friday. We began the year with a tornado on New Year's Eve; there were tornados in Rolla, Fort Leonard Wood and St. Louis. And we had a flood," said Hagler. "We participated and collaborated in a National Level Exercise, which was in the one week between drawing down from the southeast Missouri flood and joining the fight in the city of Joplin, which is the scene of a horrific tornado. That was followed by unprecedented flooding on the Missouri River in the northwest part of the state."

Various Missouri Guard leaders took their turn before the audience over the course of the conference, detailing expectations on several platforms.

Lt. Col. Rebecca Segovia spoke about the Missouri Guard's State Partnership Program with Panama, which fosters mutual interests and aids in international security. The program allows for the exchange of information on everything from security force tactics to drug abuse prevention to helicopter rescue operations.

"Our partnerships breakdown barriers and provide for global awareness," said Segovia, adding that the program also cultivates Soldiers and Airmen who are organized, trained and equipped for joint and interagency operations.

Col. Michele Hovland spoke to electronic innovations in various stages of implementation, including the use of mobile media, encryption for mobile devices and guest Internet services which are now standard in Missouri National Guard armories.

Guest speakers also punctuated the conference, including author John Giduck who addressed Soldiers and Airmen on anti-terror training and the evolution of mass-hostage siege tactics.

Artist and comedienne Yakov Smirnoff spoke to relationship resiliency, of primary importance to the overall health of the Missouri Guard.

"If Soldiers are not okay in all aspects of their lives, they're not focused," said Sgt. Karmen Walling, who deployed to Kosovo with the Missouri Guard in 2009. "If you think about Soldiers who have problems, it's most often as a result of them not being connected, they are isolated. It all goes back to the structure of their relationships."

Smirnoff spoke to the challenges families face whether civilian or military, and to the importance of laughter and love in close relationships.

"I love to laugh at my husband. He makes me laugh all the time," said Walling of 1st Sgt. Jason Walling, who serves with the Missouri Guard 1139th Military Police Company. "And we work at our relationship together. It's one team, one fight."

Missouri Guard Command Sgt. Maj. James Schulte spoke to Family Readiness Groups as being key to the effectiveness of commanding officers.

"The Family Readiness Group is a powerful way for you to get everyone on board with your mission," said Schulte, adding that retirees are willing to step up to the job as leaders of such groups.

"Some of them have sons or daughters in your commands. They want to help," said Schulte, going on to talk about other programs that boost morale and are available for commander utilization.

"We've souped-up our competitive events program. It's great to get awards and it's neat to have trophies to display in the armories and it's neat to have medals and badges, but the real strength of the competitive events program is when you send troops off to do something, other troops want to know how they can do it, how they can get involved. Then those troops come back and it gets better in every aspect. It contaminates in a positive way.

"This past year, for the first time in history, the Missouri Guard was the all-states winner of the National Guard rifle and pistol championships. Those people are force multipliers. Many of those team members are working at the Training and Evaluation Battalion training our troops before they mobilize. We have added proficiency in weapons qualifications and done it with less ammunition and less time extended because we get good training up front.

"We had a combatives tournament this year; first time ever and we had to turn people away who wanted to compete. We sent our first state team to the national championships and they finished third in the nation. For the Batman Death March we sent three teams in three categories and we came back with two first places and a second place. Those people are physically fit and endurance trained; they are a force multiplier."

Intermittently, conference attendees witnessed an award or promotion ceremony. The 1-129th Field Artillery Regiment, Headquarters, Headquarters Battery, of Maryville, was noted for winning the Supply Excellence Award; Field Maintenance Shop number 3, of Cape Girardeau, won the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence, as did Forward Support Company, 1140th Engineer Battalion, also of Cape Girardeau.

Command Sgt. Maj. Edward Jack Lambeth assumed command from now-retired Command Sgt. Maj. Randall Perkins, who left the 1107th Aviation Group earlier this year.

"I'm very honored. I have big shoes to fill," said Lambeth of Perkins, who held the post of sergeant major for six years and command sergeant major for an additional three.

Lambeth said he is ready to meet future changes and challenges head-on, a sentiment echoed throughout the conference.

"We are as engaged as we've ever been," said Hagler to Missouri Guard commanders. "We embark on missions that are new and different everyday. We have met every commitment and every request made by national authorities, every time. That's how committed we are to our force and our nation. I applaud you for that."

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please visit www.moguard.com and our social media sites:
www.facebook.com/Missouri.National.Guard; www.twitter.com/Missouri_NG; www.youtube.com/MoNationalGuard; www.myspace.com/missouri_ng; www.flickr.com/photos/missouriguard