Colorado Voice of the Warrior - Oct 2011

8/3/2019 Colorado Voice of the Warrior - Oct 2011

1/8

Voice Warriorof the

211ctober

EANGUS president educates Colorado National Guardsmennlisted Association of the nited tates resident oger A. agan held a town hall meeting

for Colorado ational uardsmen ept. . his is what he had to say.

hen we have a delegation of strength in membership because numbers talk we have a voice.ou are the pointy end of the spear and we cant afford to

let that go. ince 9/11 billions of dollars have been invested

in the uard to bring us up to an operational status. f we turn

that around because of the economy and cuts in the epartment

of efense and allow ourselves to go back to being a strategic

reserve its unconscionable to the taxpayers of America. hatsthe reason that AA andAA (the ational

uard Coalition exist because when we talk about federal

service and defense of our nation and the second mission for

our states we bring a bigger bang for the buck. he reserves are

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so we have an even stronger interest in what goes on.

n urricane atrina and ita there were more mergency

Assistance Compact cross relationships between states than any

other time in history. e showed that we could bring 5

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hats what many in the entagon dont understand and because

they dont understand it we go through Congress.

ere not going to win in the entagon. ere going to winon Capitol ill.:KDWZHEULQJWRWKHJKWLVXQHTXDOHGE\DQ\UHVHUYHRUDFWLYH

duty organization because we live and vote in the communities

we serve. And people listen. e have that impact and we have

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to do it cheaper faster and better.

e need numbers in order to do these things. Currently there

are only about 4 A members out of a potential

. hen go to Capitol ill numbers talk. f could say

we had 2 members instead of 4 theyd listen a lot

closer.

his is a clarion call for help. e need each of you if youre

not members to become members and for those of you who are

members to get more members. t helps your state and it certainly

helps your nation. hats our focus and we want to help you.

HJLVODWLYHUVWPHPEHUVKLSDOZD\VConsider the reasons for belonging to a professional mili-tary organization. he reasons vary. f you were a doctor youd

belong to the American edical Association. f you were a law-

yer youd belong to the American Bar Association. rofessionals

should belong to professional organizations. oure a oldier an

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2/8

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and retirees from both the Air and Army ational uard of Colorado. AC is affiliated with its national level counterparts the nlisted As-

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WKH8QLWHG6WDWHV&RQWDFWXVDW65HYHUH3NZ\6XLWH&HQWHQQLDO&2 [email protected].

NGACO 2011 Board of Directors

resident

ob awrence C)

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on estreich tCol)

ice resident-nlisted

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ecretary

eonard ill C)

reasurer

ichael ensch )

xecutive irector

ichael towell C)

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etiree irector

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egislative irectors

Craig olf tCol)-Air

Christopher e itt C)-Army

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aul amirez Capt)

Conference irector

rankie omez )

embership irector - Air

Crystal intzley gt)

embership irector - Armyark Brackney C)

Communications irector

Cheresa heiral gt)

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oshua Burger Capt)

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acant

egal Advisor

eith obinson A)

2011 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. (476321_01475)

It takes special people to dedicate themselves to serving theircountry, and we appreciate the commitment of our troops athome and overseas and their families who support them.

On behalf of all of us at Wells Fargo, thank you for serving.

wellsfargo.com

Honoring the commitment ofour troops and their families

oes or nit have an representative

o o know who that warrior is

or more information, contact or rm or ir

membership director or visit s at www.ngaco.org.


3/8

More from the president of EANGUS

id you know the Chief of the ational

uard Bureau doesnt have a vote in the

oint Chiefs of taff?

ational uard mpowerment is the answer. As of ept. 29,

only two more senators need to sign on to support this bill

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at the entagon.

id you know that when youre in state active duty, the

niformed ervices mployment and eemployment ights

Act act doesnt apply to you?

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enlisted associations in ontana, for example, worked to

change that at the state level. Thats the value of being a

member at both the state and the national level. ou havetwo organizations working together for you to help your a-

tional uard succeed.

o you know your veteran status?

f a uard member doesnt serve more than 9 days of

consecutive active duty, or combat duty, he or she isnt a vet-

eran. This status is what precludes a uardsman from such

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ouse Bill 025 seeks to change that. ere not asking for

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2011 EANU conference summaryBy rankie omez

NAC Conference irector

he 4th Annual nlisted Association of the ation-

al uard of the nited tates conference in Charles-

ton .a. was a great success.

e have a new Area irector on the Army side.

Congratulations to cott vans (tah for being

elected into this new position. vans is currently the

conference operations manager for A at the

national level.

ets also give recognition to elen cotti ahn

(Colorado on a job well done as the former Area

director. ahn contributed greatly to the increase in

membership and spreading the word out about A-

to our young troops.

Congressman im alz of the 1st istrict of in-

nesota gave a great speech as did est irginia ov.arl ay omlin Congresswoman helly oore-

Capito 2nd istrict est irginia Command gt.

aj. of the Army ational uard ichard . Burch

and eputy irector Army ational uard aj. en.

imothy . adavy. hese were just a few of many

keynote speakers.

enior nlisted eader for the ational uard

Command Chief aster gt. enise elinski-all and

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of efense-eserve Affairs Command gt. aj. ohn

ipe also gave great updates and presentations. ur

delegates leadership and professional development

warriors have all been exposed to some great insight

about the current and future state of our ational

uard and our association.

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tor for our AC but was picked up to be on the

national committee for A. e worked the

Charleston . a. conference as a volunteer and is

now on the committee for the ong Beach Calif.

conference.

n the morale side of the house the Area softball

team (which included two of Colorados own gt.

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in the championship game of the 211 A Area

softball tournament. Area came back in the bottom

of the inning to win by one and was crowned the 211

A Conference champion. reat effort Area !

Mark your calendars

The 2012 NGACO conference is slated forMarch 30-April 1, in conjunction with the

2012 military ball sponsored by NGACO.

More details will follow in the coming months.


4/84

A newbie to NAU: my thoughtsBy CAN Capt. inder . Blacke

NAS Professional evelopment Attendee

After joining the Colorado ational uard just

a few months ago had no idea what the ational

uard Association of the nited tates was or that

it even held an annual meeting. owever was for-

tunate enough to be invited to tag along with our stateleadership as a professional development candidate

to this years conference. omebody mustve recog-

nized that needed a little work

blindly agreed to go without a clue what to expect

but with an open mind and willingness to learn. ittle

did know that would gain a whole new perspective

on the ational uard and meet fellow uardsmen

from across the nation whom will maintain as key

points of contact and friends throughout my career.

he weekend was booked from end to end withlectures presentations guest speakers social events

and more. he information presented was pertinent

and enlightening and while some issues were di-

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conference the majority of the material was relevant

at all levels. learned about the value that the ation-

al uard offers to America and the lengths A

goes to in order to ensure that uardsmen are taken

care of. learned how important it is for all uards-

men to be members of A or A (for our

RZQEHQHWDQGKRZFULWLFDORXUUROHLVDVVSRNHV-people in the community.

n addition to the knowledge gained in the lecture

hall gained just as much during the informal times

and social events. he conference gave me an oppor-

tunity to spend time with my fellow uardsmen from

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als. uring these casual conversations experienced

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fellow uardsmen. learned that we are all genuinely

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country and each other. t was an opportunity for me

to be immersed in the ational uard culture and

have only positive things to say in return.

sincerely enjoyed my time at this years A

conference and gained more from those few days than

would have in a year on the job. truly appreciate

all the work A did to sponsor such a rewarding

event and thank the Colorado ational uard for giv-

ing me the opportunity to attend.

Colorado Air ational uard Capt inder . Blacke, 4th ing, partici-

pates in the early morning un un on the shores of ake ichigan during

the A conference Aug. , , in ilwaukee, is. hoto by Air orce

aster gt. enneth agel , isconsin ational uardA)

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5/8

2011 NAU conference summary%\&KLHI:DUUDQW2IFHU/LQGD%OLQFRH

NAS elegate

Colorado sent 12 delegates both Air and Army to

the ational uard Association of the nited tates

conference in ilwaukee in August.

e had a lot of great speakers throughout the confer-

ence. Among them was the onorable im alz co-chair of the ouse ational uard and eserve Compo-

nents Caucus who stated that empowerment is a must for

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eign ars are on board to support the mpowerment Act.

alz also said that unemployment is unacceptable

for our veterans. e wants our A hospitals to be like

the ayo Clinic and doesnt want our veterans to be

shortchanged with it comes to care.

Budget cuts were also a big topic of discussion

throughout the conference. As resources dry up the

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not forget what our responsibility is to our state and na-

tion. e were encouraged to continue telling our story

to Congress that we add value to America. A

distributed a card with talking points about the ational

uard vision mission and our cost effectiveness so that

we can help spread the message.

e need to get our membership up to 1 percent

across the nation. As of une we are only at 5

percent. hats the answer to raising our membership

levels? e realize that individuals choose what pro-

fessional organizations to belong to and there are so

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of the ational uard. Current AC members

pass on your ational uard agazine after you read

it so those who arent members can see what A

does for the ational uard.

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the lives of two civilians following aHU\FDUFUDVKarch . hoto by aul

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a Charles ick edal of eritin recognition of his contributions to the

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of the Colorado Air ational uard received a inston . ilson rophy

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istinguished lying nit laque.

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more photos.

Do you want to know what else happensat a national conference?

Ask one of these warriors. Each wasselected to attend on the basis of his orher professionalism and commitment to

the Colorado National Guard mission.

NGAUS

Capt. inder Blacke, 40th ing ublic Affairs

st t. ent neiting , th pace Battalion

st t. Tim Bouma, 2th pace upport Company

EANGUS

Tech. gt. cott Bomar, 3th pace arning

quadron

enior Airman Alex Carmona, 3th pace arning

quadron

gt. sabel est, 93rd ilitary olice Battalion

pc. aule upelyte, 69th ires Brigade

pc. ouis rtega, 220th ilitary olice Company

enior Airman avid ieto, Airman of the ear

gt. oseph Bishop, oldier of the ear

Whats easier than ir orce asic, and oldier-proof to boot

Writing to or legislators, of corse!

n the time it takes to tie or Velcro shoes, o cold be making or voice heard in Washington!

pe or zip code into the online forms at U and EU and read abot the mostDHKJMO


6/8

In legislation now

ept. 30lease sign our hite ouse petition togive the ational uard a seat on the ointChiefs of taff. e need 5,000 signaturesby ct. 23 for the hite ouse to review

and respond to it, and the sooner, the better.ept. 3ore than half of enate sponsors bill tofurther empower the ational uard bygive the ational uard a seat on the ointChiefs of taff.

ept. 8The ouse eterans Affairs Committee votedin favor of 025 without amendmentand it now passes to the full ouse for con-VLGHUDWLRQ7KHELOOFKDQJHVWKHGHQLWLRQof veteran to include reservists who serve20 or more years and become eligible forretired pay who may not have served onactive duty and received a orm 24.Thank you to epresentatives Tim alz(), Tom atham (A), and on unyan ().

2011 legislative wrap upBy Christopher A. e itt

NAC egislative irector-Army

ational uard Association of the nited tates leg-

islative members recently passed 1 Army ational

uard resolutions 5 Air ational uard resolutions

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7/8

layers scramble at the ational uard Association of Colorado all emo-

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ore photos from the event are available onlickr.

G LF

ANYONE?THE COLORADO NATIONAL GUARD NOW HAS A RE-SILIENCE, RISK REDUCTION & SUICIDE PREVEN-TION OFFICE.

THE R3SP PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO INFORM

AND EDUCATE SERVICE MEMBERS, CIVILIANS,

AND FAMILY MEMBERS ABOUT WELLNESS AND

RESILIENCY; AND MOTIVATE SERVICE MEMBERS

TO MAINTAIN PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL,

AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLNESS THROUGH

ENHANCEMENT OF LIFE SKILLS. ADDITIONALLY, IT

STRIVES TO REDUCE STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH

SEEKING MENTAL HEALTH CARE.

YOU CAN LIKE THE R3SP PROGRAM ON FACEBOOK

AND FOLLOW THEM ON TWITTER.

POINT OF CONTACT IS SGT. CHRIS NEUENFELDT.

BREAKING

NEWS


8/8

%HQHWVXSGDWHBy Paul amirez

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ept. 15

Concerned about a campaign that has alarmed some

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unter offered assurance today that regardless of how

this years negotiations go patients will always haveaccess to the medications they need.

ept.

A launched a telephone service Coaching into Care

to provide assistance to family members and friends

trying to encourage their veterans to seek health care

for possible readjustment and mental health issues.

he program offers unlimited free coaching with

family members or friends over a series of telephone

calls. Callers can reach As Coaching into Care

program at 1--2-45 a.m.- p.m. ondaysWKURXJK)ULGD\VDQGDWmirecc.va.gov/coaching. As

always eterans can reach immediate help at the

eterans Crisis ine at 1--2-255 press 1 for

veterans.

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A andA members.

id o know...

... or des pa for or

EU or U membership, too

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Documents

Colorado Voice of the Warrior - Oct 2011