{"id":69151,"date":"2023-12-17T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=69151"},"modified":"2023-12-18T23:07:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T23:07:47","slug":"guards-past-present-future-linked-in-vice-chiefs-new-york-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=69151","title":{"rendered":"Guard\u2019s Past, Present, Future, Linked in Vice Chief\u2019s New York Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville, vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, administers the Oath of Enlistment to New York National Guard enlistees at the Fort Hamilton Military Enlistment Processing Station, Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 13, 2023. Sasseville visited New York Guardsmen at multiple locations across the city. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Zach Sheely)
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BROOKLYN, N.Y. \u2013 The National Guard is the nation\u2019s oldest military organization, tracing its roots back to 1636, and Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville educated the Guard\u2019s newest enlistees about its storied history on its birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 387 years, we’ve had men and women answering the call to serve the nation,\u201d the vice chief of the National Guard Bureau said. \u201cJob No. 1 is to fight the nation’s wars. Job No. 2 is to serve our communities and citizens here at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Guard is more relevant than ever,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s great to be part of this fantastic, historic organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of a larger itinerary to visit Guardsmen across the city, Sasseville administered the enlistment oath to New York Guard recruits at the Fort Hamilton Military Enlistment Processing Station.<\/p>\n

He also met with recruiters and their leaders to hear their perspectives on what many have called the most challenging recruiting environment since the establishment of the all-volunteer force in 1973.<\/p>\n

The New York Army National Guard\u2019s Recruiting and Retention Battalion has been particularly successful in navigating issues that range from a strong job market to a decline in qualified applicants to fill the ranks. Earlier this year, the New York Army Guard was named the top recruiting organization across the Guard for the third straight year.<\/p>\n

The New York Army Guard recorded 118% in the number of enlisted Soldiers, new officers and warrant officers who joined from October 2022 to September 2023, and the number of Soldiers who reenlisted as a percentage of each state\u2019s total Army Guard strength.<\/p>\n

A score of 100% means the state met its recruiting goals. Scores above 100% indicate a state exceeded those recruiting goals.<\/p>\n

This success is based on an organizational strategy to invest in and emphasize recruiting, said Army Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony Abbate, the New York Army Guard\u2019s Recruiting and Retention Battalion senior enlisted advisor. A quarter of the New York Army Guard\u2019s active force is dedicated to recruiting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just one thing,\u201d Abbate said. \u201cIt\u2019s the senior NCO leadership across the state. It\u2019s our ability to hire passionate, patriotic Soldiers who volunteer for recruiting duty. They believe in this. They know that we have a lot of responsibility to provide the units here in New York state with a lot of talented men and women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbate said he has not seen a decline in the number of people who want to serve. The reasons for their desires to serve vary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing well in high schools and college markets, and with legal permanent residents,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are people who are not yet Americans, but they want to be. One of the ways they\u2019re doing that is getting their expedited U.S. citizenship through the New York National Guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbate said the Army\u2019s Future Soldier Preparatory Course has been a game changer for recruiting in all Army components, specifically in helping applicants pass the aptitude test required for entry.<\/p>\n

This program was established in 2022 and provides education and training to help American youth overcome academic and physical fitness barriers to military service.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s amazing what happens when you take a cell phone out of somebody\u2019s hand to put them in a situation where they’re getting paid to learn,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sasseville said the Guard offers an unparalleled value proposition to the nation, and to the 430,000 or so service members who fill its formations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Guard is set apart because of who we are and what we do,\u201d he said. \u201cOur Guardsmen come in on chunks of time, big and small, to either go downrange and fight our nation’s wars, or they come on duty serving their states to get a wide range of missions done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vice chief said the Guard offers its members pride in service to country and community; hands-on high-tech training; education benefits and a retirement pension.<\/p>\n

Most Guardsmen serve part time and draw their primary source of income from civilian professions, often in different vocations than their military jobs. This broad scope of skills is what makes Guardsmen so valuable to America, he said.<\/p>\n

Abbate said the New York Guard is a juggernaut that offers current and prospective members many opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot since 9\/11,\u201d he said. \u201cAll the deployments, COVID response, and everything in between.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasseville \u2014 accompanied by Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Shields, New York\u2019s adjutant general, and Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau Tony Whitehead \u2014 also visited New York Guardsmen on station securing transportation hubs in the city as part of Joint Task Force Empire Shield.<\/p>\n

Empire Shield is the state\u2019s standing military organization that plans and prepares for defense support to civil authority missions throughout the New York City area. The unit is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and jointly staffed with Army and Air National Guard personnel along with members of the New York Guard State Volunteer Force and New York Naval Militia.<\/p>\n

This unit was established on Sept. 11, 2001, and is state-resourced and sustained from the New York National Guard to support state and city emergency management and law enforcement officials with a rapid response force of National Guard members for homeland security missions.<\/p>\n

About 500 Army and Air National Guard members serve on the task force.<\/p>\n

Sasseville also stopped at the Jamaica Armory in Jamaica, Queens, to view the progress of a major renovation project of the historic 190,000-square-foot building.<\/p>\n

This armory is home to the New York Army Guard\u2019s 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery, and the 442nd Military Police Company. Once renovations are complete, the space will accommodate 600 Soldiers and serve as a modernized hub for New York Guard response to emergencies in New York City.<\/p>\n

At the Military Enlistment Processing Station, Sasseville and Whitehead invited the new recruits to join them in the ceremonial cutting of the National Guard\u2019s 387th birthday cake.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat better way to spend the Guard\u2019s birthday than welcoming our newest Citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen into our great force?\u201d Whitehead said. \u201cCongratulations to each of you, and welcome to the National Guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard X (Twitter<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville, vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, administers the Oath of Enlistment to New York National Guard enlistees at the Fort Hamilton Military Enlistment Processing Station, Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 13, 2023. Sasseville visited New York Guardsmen at multiple locations across the city. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69153,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69151"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69154,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69151\/revisions\/69154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/69153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}