Guard troops pour into Washington as states answer the call
By the busload and planeload, National Guard troops were pouring into the nation’s capital on Saturday, as governors answered the urgent pleas of U.S. defense officials for more troops to help safeguard Washington even as they keep anxious eyes on possible violent protests in their own states.
Military leaders spent chunks of Thursday evening and Friday calling states in an unprecedented appeal for more National Guard troops to help lock down much of the city in the days before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Overstreet teacher receives National Guard’s first Teacher of the Year award
Niki Mulrooney didn’t expect the fourth annual Veterans Day event she planned to go off-script.
The program has gone as planned until the end, when National Guard Col. Rodney Harris walked up to the podium during Overstreet Elementary School Principal Cynthia Milons’ closing remarks and said he was about to present an award.
Governors pull National Guard over immigration policy
The governors of multiple East Coast states have announced that they will not deploy National Guard resources near the U.S.-Mexico border, a largely symbolic but politically significant rejection of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy that has resulted in children being separated from their families.
Mississippi National Guardsmen deploying to US-Mexico border
Mississippi National Guardsmen are being deployed to the southwest U.S.-Mexico border this week to assist with border security.
Photos: Patriotic send-off
Supporters, family and friends of local National Guard members gather alongside Highway 12 in Starkville to say their goodbyes to those leaving for deployment from the National Guard Armory Monday. Kennedi Jones, 6, watches as her father’s bus drives by. “I love my dad. I’m gonna write him lots of letters,” she said. She is the daughter of Constance McFarland and Childon Jones of Aberdeen.
More than 4,000 Mississippi soldiers leaving home for a year
More than 4,000 Mississippi National Guard soldiers are leaving their homes this month as part of a year-long deployment.
Local National Guard units preparing for deployments
Members of the 2nd Battalion of the 114th Field Artillery of the Army National Guard will depart from Starkville and Columbus on Monday to prepare for a one-year deployment to the Middle East.
Miss. National Guard to move 10 recruiting offices
The Mississippi National Guard is closing 10 storefront recruiting centers — including the one in Columbus — as soon as possible and moving them to more secure locations.
Budget crunch idles National Guard units
Many of the nation’s citizen-soldiers, whose motto is “Always Ready, Always There,” won’t be at regular training drills this weekend because of a federal funding shortfall.
Wicker to oppose 155th elimination
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker says he will fight the Obama administration’s proposal to eliminate the Mississippi National Guard’s 155th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Tupelo.
12 Guard members indicted in recruitment fraud
Twelve current or former Mississippi Army National Guard members have been indicted in cases alleging they swindled money through a program that offers incentives for recruiting new soldiers.
Senate derails Army bid to take National Guard helicopters
The Army has lost an initial Senate skirmish over a hotly disputed plan to take Apache attack helicopters away from National Guard units in a budget-cutting move that has infuriated governors and state military leaders.
Man accused of taking youth program food
A dining hall manager has been arrested and accused of stealing steaks, seafood and other edibles that belonged to the Mississippi National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academy, authorities said Thursday.
Mugging around empty casket sparks furor
The Wisconsin National Guard announced Tuesday that it had suspended a member from honor guard duties after she apparently posted to social media a photograph of soldiers mugging around an empty, flag-draped casket.
First female Miss. National Guard general dies
Maj. Gen. Catherine S. Lutz, the first female general officer in the history of the Mississippi National Guard, has died. She was 58.
Camp Shelby looks to future in cyberspace, drones
As Camp Shelby’s role as the National Guard’s largest mobilization center is winding down, its leaders are focusing now on a future in cyberspace and drones for the facility.
State braces for Guard furloughs
Maj. Gen. Augustus L. Collins, the adjutant general of Mississippi, was to release details today of upcoming furloughs among more than 1,400 full-time National Guard employees across Mississippi.
P.S. I love you: Family Readiness Group sends boxes to Afghanistan
Their soldiers have been gone barely a month, but the family members of the Mississippi National Guard’s 223rd Engineer Battalion are reaching out with Cheetos, chewing gum and ChapStick.
Skyping around the Christmas tree: Guard families stick close to loved ones
Maybe he didn’t put on the lights, but he watched and supervised from afar. Really far. A U.S. military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Matt Thompson joined his fiancée and their children via Skype to decorate the family Christmas tree.
Goodbye, Godspeed: West Point holds sendoff ceremony for Guard unit
WEST POINT — Lt. Col. Michael Cleveland stared into the sea of faces at the West Point High School gymnasium, searching for the three he holds most dear. There, on the left, near the top of the bleachers — his wife, Shannon Cleveland, and their two daughters, Hannah and Sierra.
He paused at the podium and struggled to gain control. His voice shook anyway as he spoke: “Not a day will go by that I will not think of you.”