2022 RNG SECOND QUARTER

Making history

What started out as a routine story about a unit deployment for the Tennessee National Guard, quickly became something even bigger.

As I spoke to Capt. Heather Real, of the 208th Medical Company, I learned that her team would be the first medical unit to deploy since the 1980s. And what’s more, they were preparing to deploy after the majority of the unit had been on COVID-19 orders in some capacity since the early days of the pandemic.

The ability for the company – only stood up in 2017 and not part of the state’s regular deployment rotation – to adapt amid the ever-changing demands being put on the National Guard in recent months shows the strength and resiliency they possess.

And those qualities are staples not just in Tennessee but for the Guard as a whole, whether activated or not, and are on display during annual training, which writer Lucretia Cunningham breaks down on page 14.

In addition to our focus on deployment and training, Nikki Davidson examines suicide prevention measures units are taking for their members (page 20).

The 2020 Annual Suicide Report , released in September 2021, stated that 77 reservists and 119 guardsmen died by suicide in calendar year 2020. Of those, the majority

of service members were white, male, enlisted guardsmen and reservists who were in their 20s and single.

We also hear from units that are aiding states in the fight against cybercrime, a financial expert breaks down best uses for AT pay and a retired airman previews upcoming networking opportunities for soldiers and airmen attending the 51st EANGUS conference.

contributors

Allison Churchill

Kate Horrell

Lucretia Cunningham

Nikki Davidson

Leslie Stone

Rebecca Alwine

Natalie Gross

Jessica Manfre

Elena Ferrarin

@reservenationalguard

@RNGmagazine

@ReserveGuardMag

So dig in to all we have to offer this issue, and remember – you’re not alone. If you need support for yourself or your battle buddies, confidential assistance exists at the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1; or text 838225.

KARI WILLIAMS Associate Editor

ABOUT THE COVER

During a mass casualty exercise, Sgt. Jacob Winton, a medic from the 208th Medical Combat Area Support team, performs a triage assessment of a Norwegian role player at the Role 2E hospital at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. Photo by Spc. Nathan Smith

Col. Lance Smith and Spc. Esther Jibes observe a Polish medic conduct a breathing assessment at the Role 2E hospital at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. Photo by Spc. Nathan Smith

14

AT gets guardsmen ‘back to the basics’

by Lucretia Cunningham

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Contents

SECOND QUARTER 2022

16

Best activities near military installations around the country

by Nikki Davidson

20

Guard looks to technology, social media to provide mental health assistance

by Nikki Davidson

26

Seven Summits climb serves as therapy for Purple Heart recipient

by Elena Ferrarin

28

With cyberattacks on the rise, states turn to National Guard for help

by Natalie Gross

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Guardsmen, reservists to compete at Invictus Games

An Air Force reservist and an Air National Guardsman are among the U.S. athletes who will head to the Netherlands in April to compete in the Invictus Games.

Sixty-five service members and veterans, including Staff Sgt. Kevin Greene (Air Force Reserve) and Staff Sgt. Matthew Cable (Air National Guard), will go head-to-head against fellow adaptive athletes from 20 countries in Prince Harry’s Warrior Games-inspired event. The Invictus Games features 10 adaptive sports. Athletes will converge at The Hauge from April 16-22, 2022. To learn more about the Invictus Games, visit https://invictusgames2020.com/

EANGUS conference registration

Registration is open for The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. The 51st EANGUS Big Dam Conference will be held Aug. 7-10 at the Statehouse Convention Center, 101 East Markham Street. See page 25 for what to expect at this year’s event, which was supposed to be held in Arkansas in 2020.

Registration costs $175 through July 1; $200 from July 2 to Aug. 6; and $225 at the conference itself. For more information, or to register for the conference, visit https://eangusconference.org/

ChalleNGe Academy expands to Pennsylvania

The Keystone ChalleNGE Academy, located at Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania, is now accepting applications for its inaugural cadet class. High school dropouts aged 16 to 18 years old qualify for the program, where a nontraditional school setting gives them the opportunity earn a G.E.D. or high school credits. Attendees must volunteer. Their participation cannot be court mandated. Two sessions are currently planned, with the first class in July 2022 and the second in January 2023.

The alternative-education program, which began in 1993, lasts 17 months, with a residential and post-residential phase. For more information, or to register, visit https://www.dmva.pa.gov/KeystoneStateChallengeAcademy/ Eligibility/Pages/Admissions.aspx#S2.

Cadets with the Wisconsin Challenge Academy prepare for an event at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. The Challenge Academy begins with a five-and-a-half-month residential phase, followed by a one-year, postresidential phase. Photo by Scott T. Sturkol

Staff Sgt. Kevin Greene, of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, competes in a cycling competition in June 2019 at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Sahara L. Fales

Super Hornet coming to Fort Wayne Air Show

The Fort Wayne Air Show is among the events selected to showcase the Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet “Rhino” Demo Team. Alongside the Air Force’s Thunderbirds, the Super Hornets will take to the sky June 4-5 at the 122nd Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base.

“We are excited to be one of the few sites in the country selected by the Navy for a 2022 demonstration from the Super Hornet team,” said Lt. Col. Scott Boatright, executive director of the Fort Wayne Air Show, in a news release. “Our lineup in the air and on the ground continues to grow and this is shaping up to be our biggest show in many years.” For more information or to purchase tickets to the show, visit https://www.fwairshow.com/

Honoring fallen reservists

Recently introduced legislation in California would honor a Marine Corps Reserve sergeant major who was killed while serving in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, along with two other service members.

H.R. 6631 would rename a post office in Yorba Linda, California, after Sgt. Maj. Robert J. Cottle, who died at 45 years old; and fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni, who was 19 years old at the time of his death. The Yorba Linda residents both were killed on March 4, 2010, while deployed in support of combat operations. Cottle was the first Los Angeles Police Department officer to die in combat since Sept. 11, 2001. A second bill, H.R. 6630, would honor Kim also with the renaming of a post office. Kim was killed Nov. 13, 2006, when a vehicle he was driving was hit by an improvised explosive device.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to the “Black Knights” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 154, approaches the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Hayden Burns

HARRIS: YRRP OFFERS RESILIENCYBUILDING TOOLS

BY ALLISON CHURCHILL

Air Force Reserve Capt. D’Anthony Harris was well-prepared to serve his fellow airmen through the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, a Department of Defense effort to provide resources and support to reserve component service members and their families.

His time as a security forces specialist inspired him to study psychology, ultimately leading to his current role in the YRRP’s cadre of speakers. He and his colleagues experienced their own personal struggles with family violence issues and drinking.

“Just making very reckless decisions,” said Harris, who enlisted in the National Guard in 2005 and transferred to the reserves in 2009.

While working on his master’s degree in

clinical mental health at Mercer University, he heard about an opening for a mental health technician at the 413th Aeromedical Staging Squadron. Harris had reclassed to be a mental health technician after starting his graduate studies.

After he graduated in 2014, he was asked to go active duty to fill in for one of YRRP’s administrative assistants — the Air Force Reserve’s program is based at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, like the 413th ASTS. When the person returned six months

HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM

2008: YRRP is established by the 2008 NDAA

2009: Suicide prevention is added as a YRRP responsibility

2010: Cadre of Speakers initiative is added

2012: EventPLUS is launched as a planning tool

2016: 2,500+ American job centers offer career services

COURTESY PHOTO

later, a position on the program’s data analysis team opened up, and Harris moved into that. Reading the feedback showed him what reservists, guardsmen and their families needed from the program.

“When I finally got a chance to speak, it was easy,” said Harris, who has his own private practice, Interlinked Counseling & Consulting

One of the biggest problems he sees in his work, both for YRRP and in his practice, is isolation.

“You’re more embedded in your civilian life, so when you come back from deployment, there’s that expectation to get back to normal,” he said.

Complicating those expectations is the fact that life went on as normal while the service member was away. Their employer might have filled their position. Their child might have become a vegetarian. Friends might have moved away.

YRRP addresses such issues from multiple angles. Service members and their families can learn about advocacy groups that will help them protect their jobs. Children can meet others their age who have gone through the same situation. Representatives from higher echelons will explain policies that might not have been discussed during a drill weekend. And mental health experts, like Harris, teach attendees how to better communicate with each other and establish a new normal.

“Reservists don’t have the same access to resources as active-duty components,” Harris said.

As a member of the cadre of speakers and a master resiliency trainer, Harris teaches event attendees the four pillars of resilience in the Comprehensive Airman Fitness model: mental, physical, social and spiritual. Someone who wants to be stronger spiritually might learn mindfulness meditation, Harris said.

He also teaches a course based on the Wheel of Life, prompting students to evaluate which parts of their life could improve.

“Am I putting too much effort into my career and not enough into my family?” Harris gave as an example. “It helps them create smart goals and build in those areas that we feel we’re falling short.”

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One resource Harris tells YRRP event attendees about – and that he also supports in his practice – is Give an Hour, a nonprofit that provides confidential mental health care to at-risk communities.

“Being a cop, if you say you have mental health problems, you might get benched,” Harris said.

Therapy arranged through the organization doesn’t go in a service member’s record.

Harris practices what he preaches at home.

His wife, Joanne, is also in the Air Force, so they make plans so the person at home can deal with emergencies, big or small.

“I was teaching a class, and my wife texted me to say the coffeemaker wasn’t working. She said the light was on but nothing was coming out. I told her to switch on the side and it worked,” Harris said. “She would have been devastated by the coffee maker.”

For more information about YRRP, visit https://www.yellowribbon.mil/.

Tennessee medical unit embarks on historic deployment

208th Medical Company is first of

BY KARI WILLIAMS

Late last year, the 208th Medical Company became the first medical unit under the Tennessee National Guard to deploy since the 1980s.

“It means the world to be recognized as a medical unit to be able to come to an environment like this, and again, bring the best [care],” said Spc. Shannon Martin, who is among 55 soldiers, ranging in specialty from dentists and nurses to medics, currently down range in the Middle East for a nine-month deployment.

the state to deploy since 1980s

Maj. Heather Real, the unit’s commander, said in late December while on pre-deployment training at Fort Hood that her unit was expected to be at four locations across three countries.

“[The soldiers have] gone through an incredible amount of training to get where they are,” Real said of the medical company, which was stood up in 2017, and is not part of the state’s regular deployment rotation.

The unit’s mission supports operations Spartan Shield and Inherent Resolve.

Preparing for deployment

This 208th, according to Real, falls directly under an active-duty medical task force, with a primary duty as a “role two,” focusing on resuscitative care and damage control in relation to trauma patients.

The team stabilizes the wounded in order for them to be transferred to a “role three” medical facility, which is more equipped to handle surgeries and other resuscitative care, as well as post-operative treatment.

Real said they also will serve as primary care providers for fellow soldiers and coalition partners.

During a mass casualty exercise, Sgt. Zach Vredenburgh, a medic from the 208th Medical Combat Area Support team, assists an uninjured role-player at the Role 2E hospital at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, on Feb. 4, 2022.

Photo by Maj. Alexa Carlo-Hickman

its kind in

Previous units deployed to the Middle East, according to Real, reported seeing a lot of concussions and blast injuries, along with shrapnel and “impalement-type wounds.” Vehicle rollovers resulting in crush injuries also are expected. Gunshot wounds would be rarer, she said.

Deployment training, according to Martin, included real-life, high-stress situations so the soldiers would know how to react “without causing an issue,” in addition to cross training between medics and ancillary personnel.

“I would say it was pretty rigorous, but in the best way possible,” Martin said. “... It was the most realistic training that we could have had to prepare us for this deployment.”

Team ran through tactical scenarios, such as what to do if an active shooter enters the facility or if they come under direct fire, Real said.

Standard Army training includes:

• Mission Essential Task Lists (Collective training that focuses on providing Health Service Support like sick call, mass casualty events, and patient treatment in a CBRNE environment);

• Advanced Trauma Life Support (Providers);

• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (Providers);

• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (Providers/nurses);

• Basic Life Support/CPR (Everyone);

• Tactical Combat Casualty Care (Everyone)

Additional training includes MARCH –Massive hemorrhage, airway, respiratory, circulation and hypothermia – which Real said is a “mental model” to assess patients as part of TCCC.

The team also conducted collective training, ala “M*A*S*H,” to practice patient flow.

“We have to train all of that together,” Real said. “Sometimes the trickiest part is passing off the patient from group to group to group to make sure they get the full spectrum of care.”

Sgt. Matthew Coffman, a medic with the 208th, has been in the Guard for a decade. This deployment is his second but included more rigorous medical training than his first.

Coffman said the unit being the first of its kind to deploy since the 1980s is “a big thing” because of how long it has been since such a deployment occurred.

“Now that we’re falling into a role two, we are the higher echelon of care,” Coffman said. “Now we’re learning to be the main hospital for everyone on base.”

Coffman had been attached to other units, such as military police and artillery, until his time with the 208th. Now, he’s working “handin-hand” with X-ray and lab technicians, he said, in addition to drawing blood and learning how X-rays are incorporated with physical patient assessments.

Pre-deployment into practice

Martin, a lab technician, has been with the Tennessee National Guard for three years, and this particular deployment is her first.

“I was actually excited,” Martin said. “I have wanted to have an opportunity where I can take care of our people and other people and provide the best medical treatment possible. I thought it was going to be a great, incredible opportunity to be able to do that for our force.”

Within the first few weeks of being in the country, Martin said they have experienced “almost exactly” what they trained for.

“I haven’t really seen anything other than what my unit prepared me for,” she said.

Similarly, Coffman said it has “been fairly calm,” only seeing a couple patients who needed extra care.

“One person we worked with is a burn patient, who burned himself with hot water, and we had to tend to burn care daily,” Coffman said.

A pandemic preparation

The unit also has been active throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which Real said has been “very, very conducive” to the current mission.

“We stood up the COVID response in the state of Tennessee,” she said. “Over half of my unit has been on COVID response orders at some point in the past two years.”

Among them was Martin, whose work as a lab technician allowed her to hone her skills and ensure she knows how to run tests in the lab, read the results and share that information with providers, who then relay it to the patient.

Her main responsibility is to ensure she’s looking at the “microscopic level,” ranging from hematology to blood banking. She runs blood samples and analyzes them to help provide the best treatment.

“It’s been great to be able to give that higher level of care … instead of just looking from a visual inspection,” she said.

Being activated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic helped Coffman prepare “quite a bit” for this deployment.

“We got to obviously test for COVID and things of that nature, which is still something here,” Coffman said. “It has not gone away.”

It also gave the unit time to “learn and develop medical skills,” such as handling COVID vials, he said.

Real worked with the state health department to create Tennessee’s pandemic response and said in December the team had “been preparing a lot overseas for COVID mitigation and quarantine procedures.”

“Some of our guys, they know this stuff inside and out,” Real said. “So that part has been a little bit easier. They had that on-the-job training throughout the past two years.”

During a mass casualty exercise, Col. Lance Smith, a surgeon, and Spc. Esther Jibes, a medic from the 208th Medical Combat Area Support team, observe a Polish medic conduct a breathing assessment at the Role 2E hospital at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, on Feb. 4, 2022. Photo by Spc. Nathan Smith

DEPLOYMENT READINESS STARTS AT HOME

BY JESSICA MANFRE — SPONSORED

Army Reserve Lt. Col. Jerry Quinn, chief operating officer at the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association (AAFMAA), remembers what it was like trying to “manage it all” as a young private. He enlisted in 1985, serving six years on active duty before transitioning to the Colorado National Guard.

“I was a National Guardsman from 1991 through 2004 before I moved over to the Army Reserve, where I have been ever since. My deployments have included stateside emergencies, international, and combat zones,” Quinn said.

With his transition between different components of service, he’s learned a thing or two about preparing for the unexpected and ensuring all is squared away before departure. Some of those lessons were hard learned. Quinn shared a story of receiving an unexpected per diem windfall as a sergeant.

“It was certainly a welcome input to my cashflow for sure,” he laughed.

Looking back, he saw it as a wasted opportunity to save and prepare — a mistake he’d like to prevent others from making.

“I could have planned and positioned that money for my benefit long term, much better than I did,” he added.

Members of the Guard and reserves are familiar with changing orders, delayed pay and insurance. With these uncertainties, Quinn stressed the importance of thinking far ahead in terms of preparing finances for deployment — proactive planning versus reactive planning.

“If there’s one thing that I know, it’s not just about being physically fit or maintaining my shots and my health records so that I’m deployable, or keeping my kit bag ready to go. But it’s also about ensuring my family is prepared for a deployment and that my accounts are set up properly,” he explained.

For Quinn, this means having emergency

funds for things that will inevitably go wrong, budgeting well and lining up resources to support deployments.

“Take a look at the resources available to you and ask your employer what benefits are available. I work for an organization where we provide many, many resources and tools and tips on how to take advantage of all of your benefits either during periods of active duty transition or as a veteran,” he said.

Established in 1879, AAFMAA is the longeststanding, nonprofit financial solutions provider supporting military families and veterans with advice, information, insurance, financial planning, investments, mortgages, survivor assistance and other benefits.

“Today our mission is to ensure the financial security and financial security and independence of the Armed Forces community,” Quinn said.

He will continue that mission concurrent to his service in uniform.

“I’m doing good, important work. I enjoy fulfilling the role as a reserve officer and as a reserve member,” Quinn said. “I stand ready to answer America’s call on America’s worst day. I take a lot of pride in knowing that this is the way I serve my community.”

A soldier who today assists other service members in getting financially ready said hindsight is 20/20.

AT GET S G U A R DSMEN

BY LUCRETIA CUNNINGHAM

Plans for the National Guard’s annual training are looking more collaborative after social distancing themes the past few years.

While COVID-19 pandemic support in their respective states continues to be an ongoing mission, some of the 54 units have plans for large-scale, combined deployment readiness training this year.

Pennsylvania’s 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division is sending more than 3,500 soldiers to the NTC at Fort Irwin, California, where they’ll practice offensive and defensive combat operations.

Close to 600 soldiers from Tennessee’s 30th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 230th Sustainment Brigade are also attending the mass deployment training at NTC, where

they’ll provide logistics and supply support for the 56th. The team is equipped to move ammo, food and fuel in a setting Lt. Col. Shawn Richardson, 30th CSSB commander, said is as close to a deployed environment as you can get without being deployed.

“At NTC, members get a renewed sense and a healthy understanding of tasks they haven’t used in a while,” he said. “It’s all about getting back to the basics.”

Back to basics

Guardsmen from Georgia’s 277th Maintenance Company will also use AT to get back to the basics and put their skills to the test. They’ll travel to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, in support of the Army Reserve’s 206th Transportation Company’s premobilization training.

As the 206th accomplishes drivers’ training, 277th Company commander 1st Lt. Ashley Sandford said her team would be there to ensure unserviceable vehicles won’t impede the mission at hand.

“To be able to do their job both in a field environment and a garrison, training environment is something that never happens,” she said. “Also, being ready to go in less than 90 days is something else they’ll get out of this experience.”

Assembling at the NTC isn’t an opportunity that comes around often. Especially for units outside of brigade combat teams, said Utah Army National Guard Maj. Adam Ashworth, an administrative officer with the 65th Field Artillery Brigade. For those units, the NTC can send a support package or Exportable Combat Training Capability to designated locations for brigades like the 65th to also get battle drills in.

Ashworth is part of the planning committee for Utah’s first eXportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC) at the Orchard Training Center near Boise, Idaho, where they’re also hosting a combined arms training event.

“It just sets in motion the ability for us to use the organic units that are part of us and gives other National Guard units across the country an opportunity to jump on board,” Ashworth said.

Close to 3,000 National Guard soldiers are expected to attend XCTC in Idaho this summer. In addition to the 1,200 soldiers coming from Utah, soldiers from California and North Carolina will also join the threeweek-long exercise.

International annual training

Guam’s National Guard will travel to Camp Roberts, California, where another XCTC is occurring this year. The island’s 105th Troop Command encompasses a range of mission sets, from engineering to the unit’s band. As the command’s 1224th Engineer Support Company prepares for its upcoming federal mobilization, its Hotel Company, 29th Infantry Brigade Company Team, 29th Brigade Support Battalion, will perform the XCTC rotation in support of the 1st Battalion, 294th

Infantry Regiment, also from Guam. Lt. Col. David P. Santos Jr., 105th Troop commander, said the unit also is focusing on its community mission with natural disaster training ahead of Guam’s typhoon season.

“The 105th Troop Command is designed to support all three mission sets that we’re charged with as guardsmen,” Santos said. “Federal, state and community missions.”

The 109th Airlift Squadron with the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 133rd Airlift Wing is taking its AT to the Pacific for Valiant Shield. The joint-service exercise occurs every two years in Joint Region Marianas with operating areas that include Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base, plus surrounding islands like Rota, Saipan and the Republic of Palau.

Pilots and maintainers from the 109th will travel to the exercise in their C-130 Hercules aircraft and provide tactical airlift operations to support joint all-domain warfare training. The “Herc” will perform supply and equipment movement for all of the branches through different methods, including realworld airdrops and specialized refueling operations.

More than that, Maj. Brennan Coatney, Minnesota’s mission commander for this exercise, said training in an unfamiliar environment is also an excellent practice for overseas and home operations.

“Outside of a big base complex where everything is solved for them, it’s going to better prepare airmen for contingency operations involving national defense,” he said.

Pre-AT process includes ‘cultural awareness’

Other National Guard units performing AT overseas include soldiers from Wisconsin’s 112th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment who will provide media support for exercise African Lion in Morocco.

Colorado’s 169th Field Artillery Brigade will attend DEFENDER-Europe 2022 this summer – a multinational exercise in the Baltic region. Capt. Remington Henderson, 169th FAB Public Affairs officer, said foreignpartner relationships are another vital aspect guardsmen learn as they train overseas.

“A very big part of the training process leading up to this exercise is actually cultural awareness,” he said. “Having to work with partner states and countries is a very different thing, so we’re continuing to build those relationships even at the lowest-level soldier.”

1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team bayonet soldiers conduct Combined Arms Live Fire training at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California. Photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Tolliver

BEST ACTIVITIES

NEAR MILITARY INSTALLATIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY

BY NIKKI DAVIDSON

One of the benefits of serving in the military is the opportunity to travel to new places and experience things never before possible. Here’s a rundown of some off-duty excursions located just a short distance from military installations across the United States.

Joint Base San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is a city with a vibrant culture and fierce military history. One of the best ways to appreciate the past is by visiting the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

Before San Antonio was East Texas, it belonged to Spanish colonists. The original missions built by residents nearly 300 years ago still exist today and are open for exploration.

“There are historical Spanish soldiers’ quarters at Mission San José, as well as a reconstructed bastion in the corner of one of the compound walls,” said Chantelle Ruidant-Hansen, the park’s visual information specialist. “At Mission Espada, you can still see inside a Mexican army bastion that was built in the early 1800s and even compare it to ruins of a 1700s Spanish bastion.”

Service members and their families receive free entrance to the park. The missions are roughly 10 miles from Joint Base San Antonio.

Those who want to get a taste of the modern-day culture, dining and shopping in San Antonio but are short on time can hop on an electric-powered boat for a 35-minute cruise down the San Antonio River.

“Everywhere you look on the tour, there’s a point of interest, and that allows you to know exactly what you need to visit after,” said Go Rio San Antonio River Cruises General Manager Lee Talamantez. “The Riverwalk is a beautiful place, and it shows the city’s unique charm, its ambiance.”

Fort Custer, Michigan

Fort Custer is one of the nation’s premier National Guard Training Facilities. When service members get time to spend off base, they might be surprised to find there’s an extensive antique car museum just 13 miles away.

The Gilmore Car Museum has a 90-acre campus with a collection of more than 300 antique automobiles and motorcycles.

“Guests are often really surprised that out in the Michigan

countryside, there’s a car museum that exists like this,” said Josh Russell, the Gilmore Car Museum’s executive director. “It’s a full experience here. If you come during the week in warm weather months, we have five or six classic cars giving rides every day.”

The museum often hosts car shows on weekends with food, drinks and live entertainment. Admission to the museum is free for active-duty military.

Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Home of the Army Reserve Command, thousands of reservists visit Fort Bragg annually for training.

Outfitting company Cape Fear Adventures gives them the chance to experience the great outdoors and explore 25 miles of water on the Cape Fear River. The business provides guided single or multiday white water rafting trips and stand-up paddleboard, kayak and canoe rentals.

“It can be as mild as they choose, but it can also be as strenuous as they choose,” said Cape Fear Adventures Owner Ilia Smirnov. “We have a trip called the 10-mile challenge where they have to paddle 10 miles and go through some rapids. It’s not only fun, but it’s challenging and something different.”

The outlet also hosts “Land Yoga by the River” one-hour yoga sessions. Cape Fear Adventures offers military discounts, and its season runs from March to October.

Fort Hood, Texas

People looking for another-worldly escape can head underground near Fort Hood.

The Inner Space Cavern is about 43 miles from the base and features an expansive labyrinth of cave passages that range from large cathedral-style rooms to tight crawl spaces. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure style experience as visitors can explore the cave through well-lit and paved guided tours or choose the Wild Cave Tour, which entails crawling, climbing and squeezing through tight spots into dark chambers.

“The Wild Cave Tour is true caving, and we have had quite a few soldiers from Fort Hood come and do it as a team-building thing,” said Taunya Vessels, general manager of Inner Space Cavern. “It’s a great family place too, and we have a little bit for everybody.”

A military discount is available with an ID.

Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska

Roughly 15 miles from both Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base is a veteran-owned business that takes service members on experiences they won’t soon forget.

Rodney Pangborn was stationed in Alaska when he was active-duty Air Force and loved the area so much he never left. He started his own business, Rod’s Alaskan Guide Service, to share his appreciation of Alaska and offer dog sledding, snowmobile and ice fishing excursions.

He recommends ice fishing trips for families and groups of friends looking for an off-duty break.

“One of the cool things during the day is if all of the fish are up toward the bottom of the ice, we turn all the lights off and your eyes adjust, you can actually see the fish down in the water attacking your bait or swimming by it,” Pangborn said. “It’s just really a neat experience.”

Groups who schedule nighttime fishing trips in a heated cabin might even be treated to a view of the aurora borealis. There is a 10% military discount on all excursions.

Dover Air Force Base, Delaware

The Dover Motor Speedway is only about 5 miles from Dover Air Force Base, making a trip to the racetrack quick and easy.

The speedway is usually open for tours Monday through Friday with a reservation. Adrenaline junkies can go the extra mile and schedule a racing experience that will put them behind the wheel of an Indy-style race car.

“There’s only one Dover Motor Speedway, only one 1-mile concrete oval, and it’s the world’s fastest 1-mile oval,” said Michael Lewis, communications manager for Dover Motor Speedway. “You will see racing here that you don’t see anywhere else in the country.”

This year’s NASCAR weekend is April 29May 1, featuring the DuraMAX Drydene 400 of the RelaDyne NASCAR Cup race.

BY KATE HORRELL

Starting or growing your emergency fund When creating an emergency fund, consider how much it would cost if your car needed a new transmission at the same time your dog got sick. Or if you or your spouse lost a job.

Strongly consider putting some – or all – of your AT pay into a dedicated bank account. If you do have an emergency fund, take a portion of your AT and make your emergency fund bigger.

Paying off debt

Investing for retirement

Use AT pay to boost your retirement savings.

“Annual training pay is a great opportunity for topping off retirement accounts,” Ross said. “At a minimum, it is important to make sure to capture the full Blended Retirement System matching contributions that are available. Contributing at least 5% of your base pay will make sure you get the full DOD matching contributions.”

And of the four income goals beyond basic living expenses – creating or growing an emergency fund; paying off debt; investing for retirement; and saving for planned spending – figuring out which one is the best fit depends on the individual, according to Adrienne Ross, AFC®, CFP®, ChFC®, owner of Clear Insight Financial Planning.

“It’s easy to look at the annual training pay as ‘extra’ money to spend,” said Ross, who has spent more than a decade helping military families, including her own, make the most of their money. “Deciding how best to use the money depends on your unique situation. If you already have an emergency fund, you have paid off high-interest debt and you are contributing to your retirement savings, you have built a solid foundation. Using the extra money from annual training to fund college savings, goals, family goals and other goals might be right for you.”

Paying off high-interest debt is always a smart financial move. Not only will it decrease the amount of interest paid over time, but will provide financial flexibility due to eliminating monthly minimum payments.

High-interest debt is generally anything more than a 4% or 5% interest rate. For those with high-interest rate debt who already have a solid emergency fund, use AT pay to pay down or pay off that high-interest rate debt.

Debt with lower interest rates may be a priority for paying off, for the flexibility it provides. This decision will depend on your specific situation. Are you comfortable with a $500 car payment each month, or is it sometimes hard to make that payment?

Reservists, she said, need to make sure they’re coordinating thrift-savings plan contributions with their civilian employer’s retirement plan. The maximum-allowed employee contribution across all retirement plans for 2022 is $20,500.

To avoid excess contributions, Ross suggests tracking year-to-date contributions, which can be found on civilian pay and leave-andearnings statements.

“Keeping track of total contributions to all retirement accounts throughout the year will help you catch and adjust excess contributions prior to the end of the calendar year,” she said.

Guardsmen who are in the legacy retirement system will still benefit from putting a portion of their AT pay into TSP as long as it doesn’t interfere with the contribution limits from their civilian employer.

Annual training can produce additional income ranging from roughly $3,300 to upwards of $17,000 for enlisted guardsmen and nearly $6,800 to more than $21,700 for officers.

Saving for planned spending

Another smart use of AT pay is to save it for planned spending. Whether planning to buy a new car next year, or your oldest child is a college-bound high school junior, funding the savings for these expenses can make it easier when the expenses happen.

Every service member has different financial planning concerns, but they can all make progress by using AT pay wisely.

“The key is to make deliberate decisions around how to use the money to achieve your goals,” Ross said.

NOTE: Pay ranges came from using the following criteria on the Guard’s AT pay estimator:

Enlisted, E-1, less than four months

Enlisted, E-9, 40 years

Officer, O-1, 1 year

Officer, W-5, 40 years

GUARD LOOKS TO TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROVIDE MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE

BY NIKKI DAVIDSON

For 18 days, an infantry National Guard officer paced around an isolation tent while deployed in the Middle East. His father had died during his tour, prompting an unexpected trip home during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was quarantined to ensure he wasn’t carrying the virus back to his unit when he returned.

Jordan, who wished to be identified only with his first name to avoid jeopardizing his job, said he understood the isolation was a COVID-19 precaution but that it “felt like a prison.”

“I think it breaks a lot of people,” he said. “For 18 days, we’d go walk outside to get our meals and walk back inside. I worked out as much as I could. I jogged back and forth in the tent as much as possible. I did a lot of reading, but, you know, the isolation is terrible.”

Overseas COVID-19 isolations are just one of several new mental health stressors that National Guard units have dealt with in the past two years. Troops have been mobilized

for natural disasters, protests and riots, in addition to pandemic response, more often and longer than any period since World War II. More recently, state leaders are calling on guardsmen to work as substitute teachers, hospital support staff and school bus drivers.

The additional activations, according to Jordan, have hurt morale, making many guardsmen feel “worn out and overutilized, but underappreciated.”

“There are people just being used as bodies, bus drivers or riot control,” Jordan said. “Things that are out of the realm and out of their scope of duty. They’re just being utilized

because they exist and because they’re part of the government.”

A challenging new landscape

National Guard suicide rates have remained steady for the past couple of years, according to Department of Defense data. In the 2020 calendar year, there were approximately 27 suicides per 100,000 National Guard members. Guardsmen under the age of 30 are at higher risk of suicide than their civilian counterparts.

That number is unacceptable for DOD leadership, who are providing additional resources to help guardsmen in need.

“Suicide rates among our service members and military families are still too high, and the trends are not going in the right direction,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement.

The annual report does give some insight

U.S. Air Force Maj. Huong Timp, 133rd Medical Group Physician Assistant, sits down with an airman to guide them through what the Medical Group can offer someone needing mental health support. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Jessica A. Lewellen

into risk factors based on the population most affected by suicide in the last year.

White males under 30 are most at risk, the data on the Army shows, and they are also more likely to die from a self-inflicted gunshot than the civilian population. Service members who store their personal firearms unlocked and unloaded were also found to be at a higher suicide risk.

When analyzing the data, the department found that soldiers who died by suicide were more likely to have experienced failed or failing relationships, financial stress and excessive debt 90 days before their death.

Shifting to provide help in new ways National Guard leadership is taking some new measures to support the mental health of guardsmen, including training more than 1,000 civilian doctors and medical health professionals on mental health issues specific to service members.

Chaplain Julie Taylor, of the New York Air National Guard’s 109 Airlift Wing, says part of their new tactics includes a shift in how they’re reaching service members, emphasizing social media and technology.

“I do think that this COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many more of us into being creative and different types of interactions that are meaningful,” said Taylor, who also works as a civilian Unitarian Universalist minister.

Taylor said her work has shifted to more communication through Facebook or text messaging.

“Up until a couple of years ago, I had never done a suicide intervention via text,” she added. “But I’ve done quite a few of them now.

“By meeting them where they are now and not forcing them to do something they weren’t ready for, which is to have a faceto-face conversation, it created a trusting relationship where then they were ready to take that referral to do a face-to-face meeting because they trusted me,” she added.

As a whole, DOD leadership is leaning toward new technology to help guardsmen.

According to the DOD’s 2020 Annual Suicide Report, Military OneSource saw a four-fold increase in video counseling sessions between 2019 and 2020.

One pilot program the department launched to provide better mental health resources was a six-minute training video called “Simple Things to Save Lives,” and focused on how people can recognize warning signs of suicide on social media and how to intervene and refer someone to care. According to a survey, 80% of respondents found the video helpful.

Taylor has noticed one of the most powerful tools to strengthen guardsmen’s mental health is a sense of purpose.

“Pride may not always be the experience, but to have a sense of ‘What I’m doing makes a difference,’ or ‘What I’m doing matters,’ and ‘My contribution matters,’ that’s a resilience piece,” she said. “It is very important to create a buffer zone or to create layers on that resilience to hopefully stave off the days when it feels crappy.”

If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts or just need to speak to someone, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, or text 838225.

307th Bomb Wing spearheads installation of USB charging ports for B-52 bombers

The anticipated B-52 Stratofortress innovation will eliminate the in-flight need for potentially dangerous lithium-ion batteries and extend the functionality of electronic devices during missions.

BY LESLIE C. STONE

Two airmen are spearheading the installation of USB charging ports for B-52 bombers following their success at the 2021 Strike Tank Innovation Rodeo.

“Leaders from the base, and the community as well, decided which ideas to support with their innovation funding,” he said.

Both Carroll and Wolf are part of LR Werx, the AFWERX spark cell for the 307th Bomb Wing that launched in November 2020 with the goal of encouraging innovation within the unit.

Spearheaded by Wolf, the program was named in honor of the unit’s “Long Ranger” moniker.

Innovating the nation’s oldest bomber

The U.S. Air Force’s B-52, which has been in service since 1955, currently lacks a USB charging port. The proposed map light design will be mounted in a B-52 Stratofortress and not only give pilots the ability to charge electronic flight books while in flight but also upgrade the technology to energy-efficient LED lighting.

Since most tablets have a short battery life lasting just three or four hours, the charging ports will ensure the tablets stay fully functional while carrying information vital to

Lt. Col. Warren Carroll and Maj. Brandon Wolf, of the 307th Bomb Wing, pitched the idea for the aircraft LED map light prototype, equipped with a USB charging port, winning a “Golden Ticket” worth $15,000 to help bring the innovation to life.

“The need for a combination USB port and map light system is certainly not new,” Carroll said. “The military has been mirroring what’s happening in commercial aviation for years, and we have been transitioning toward an electronic flight bag, or EFB.”

Barksdale Air Force Base held its fourth annual competition in which airmen were given the opportunity to present their ideas to a leadership panel on the hit TV show “Shark Tank” last year.

the success of a mission. It will also eliminate the need for potentially dangerous lithium-ion batteries during in-flight missions.

“When flying a worldwide mission in my younger days, we would literally have to take a duffel bag weighing more than 50 pounds crammed full of paper charts, maps and booklets pertaining to every country and every territory we would cross,” Carroll said.

Now Carroll and his crew use an EFB that lets them carry everything for their missions (e.g., in-flight calculations, technical orders, landing data and other pertinent information) on a single electronic tablet.

“We can reference the same duffel bag’s worth of information, plus have a copy for every crewmember,” Carroll said

Permanent solution to ongoing power problem

Carroll said they had been searching for a solution that would let them use EFBs on longer missions.

“We had a temporary solution that was more of a carry-on kit that we would plug in and use,” he said, “but the need was always there for a more permanent solution to this power problem. A lot of us reserve citizen

airmen are also commercial airline pilots who see solutions [in our work there] that would probably work in the military as well.”

PIVOT, a company that creates aviation gear, is creating the prototype, Wolf said.

“A lot of the major airlines use PIVOT casters to suction cup an iPad to the window so they can have it displayed while flying the aircraft,” he said. “This company has brought to market a solution that meets all of our powering requirements and allows us to have map lights at every location where a person is sitting. It puts USB power in a convenient place for all the people in the aircraft to use. The R&D has already been done, but there are some testing requirements that are slightly different for military use.”

The first batch of combination map light/ USB charging ports will outfit an aircraft for the 2nd Bomb Wing and for the 343rd Bomb Squadron. Three lights will be mounted in each aircraft at a production cost of around $2,800 apiece, according to Wolf.

Once the devices prove successful, they will be made available to the entire fleet.

“We don’t know for sure when this will happen but, hopefully, it will be this year,” Carroll said.

“It’s dependent on the remaining steps in the additional testing and certification process the military requires.”

Specifically, the military will subject the prototype to rigorous testing procedures that simulate a variety of environmental conditions to ensure that it meets U.S. MIL-STD-810 compliance.

Carroll and Wolf said they hope their success with this prototype will show other airmen that their ideas can be turned into reality.

“You can make a difference at whatever level [in which you are serving],” Wolf said.

Lawn care, snow removal services available for military families during deployment

BY REBECCA ALWINE

can use this program every time they deploy.

“No amount of phone calls helps to fix the problem,” he said of the helplessness he felt at the time. “Focusing on the mission at hand is hard when you’re distracted by the stuff back home.”

Quenneville, a member of the Vermont National Guard, is the owner of Jay’s Snow Plowing in Fairfax, Vermont, which officially opened for business in December 2020. His passion for helping fellow military families, however, started long before.

“In 2019, one of the units in our organization deployed and since I was back here, I did snow plowing for the unit member’s families that were left behind, for free,” he said.

His desire to help families who are facing obstacles stems from the feeling he had – and they aren’t limited to plowing snow in the winter months. That’s why when Ki Matsko, program director of Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Troops/SnowCare For Troops, reached out to Quenneville, he was eager to get involved.

The GreenCare for Troops/SnowCare for Troops programs fall under Project Evergreen, a greenspace organization with a goal to bring families and communities together to make a greener, healthier, cooler earth, Matsko said. In 2006, board members decided to give back to military families by helping with lawn care during deployments. In 2010, snow and ice removal were added to the services offered.

Most of the services provided to military families are performed by professionals in the lawn and landscape industry, many of whom transition to snow removal in the winter months.

Both programs are available to deployed service members E-6 and below. The services are available during deployment at the service member’s residence and the lot must be smaller than 1 acre. Deployment orders are required, and service members

Matsko said the process of connecting families and volunteers is focused on keeping the family safe and comfortable, while also providing the help they need.

“We don’t give the family’s information to the volunteer match, we give the family the information of the volunteer,” she said. “The family then reaches out to the volunteer and the volunteer can contact GreenCare to verify. Safety is a priority.”

Matsko also said the military family does need to be proactive when setting up the services, but doing so makes it easier all around. That way they can explain to the volunteer about gates on the yard, pets or other specifics of their yard.

GreenCare is available in all 50 states and is always looking for volunteers to help families. Some of the volunteers are service members, like Quenneville, and others just want to help.

“It may be snow for one family and the heat going out for another, I just want to help as many families as a I can,” Quenneville said. “Snow plowing is something I can help with.”

For additional details on eligibility requirements, visit Project Evergreen at https://projectevergreen.org/ about-the-program-military-families.

When Staff Sgt. Jay Quenneville recalled the time he left for pre-deployment training and three days later water was coming through the roof of his home, he expressed a level of frustration many service members have felt.

IMAGES ARE COURTESY CONTRIBUTIONS

EANGUS provides opportunities for junior enlisted to engage with senior leaders

BY KARI WILLIAMS

The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States should have held its annual conference in Arkansas in 2020 – then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. Now the group is set for a re-do in 2022.

The 51st EANGUS Big Dam Conference will be held Aug. 7-10 in Little Rock at the Statehouse Convention Center, 101 East Markham St.

Richard Smith, a retired Air Force chief master sergeant who now works as the National Guard Program Director for USAA’s Military Affairs department, said he has been involved with EANGUS for nearly 40 years.

“EANGUS is a family,” said Smith, who previously served as the 9th Command Chief of the Air National Guard, at the National Guard Bureau command chief of the Air National Guard at the Pentagon. “Going to an EANGUS conference is like going to a big family reunion.”

EANGUS Director Matt Krenz said the 2021 event in Albuquerque, New Mexico, topped out at roughly 1,300 attendees, but he expects an even higher turnout this fall as attendees participate in membership and bylaw meetings, hear from state and national leaders and network among the Air and Army National Guard.

While the “real intent” of the conference is to pass resolutions that determine EANGUS’s lobbying positions for the coming legislative session, it’s also a way, according to Smith, to reconnect with fellow enlisted service members.

“You cover a lot of bases when you go there,” Smith said.

Networking a ‘crucial’ component Networking at the conference, according to

Krenz, is “really crucial.” Service members attending on professional development orders, typically an E-6 and below, haven’t had a lot of opportunities to interact with senior leaders before the event.

The professional development brings together enlisted soldiers and airmen who typically have a specific curriculum, part of which includes breakout sessions for their respective components.

Those sessions address component-specific policies and various equipment and regulatory guidance, among other topics.

Krenz said that, about five years ago, EANGUS implemented speed mentoring in which state senior enlisted leaders visit with groups of two to three junior enlisted members for five to 10 minutes in a rotation.

“The feedback we’ve gotten has been phenomenal,” Krenz said.

The National Guard Bureau chief typically speaks at the conference, discussing his perspective on what’s happening in the National Guard. A representative from VA – either the secretary or deputy secretary –will provide an overview on happenings in VA “and highlight any major issues they are working on,” according to Krenz.

For exhibitors

Additionally, at least 150 vendors and exhibitors are expected to showcase services and products to EANGUS membership.

Smith, who has been with USAA for 12 years, said the company has had a presence at EANGUS since 1996 when it opened

eligibility to enlisted forces.

His goal as an exhibitor is to connect with members and receive feedback. The majority of EANGUS members already are USAA members, Smith said, so his role is more one of awareness.

“A tremendous number of them come there just to say hello because it’s their company,” he said. “…When they stop by, they’re saying, ‘How’s my company doing?’ or they want to tell me a success story.”

There are also networking opportunities in the exhibition hall, where company representatives can talk to guardsmen who might have the skill sets companies are looking for. The 2021 event featured 111 exhibitors.

Registration remains open New this year, a 5K will be held as part of the conference. The race will start in a park near the Big Dam in a down and back course across the dam.

While there’s business to be conducted, for Smith, the real purpose is the people.

“To me, as Dick Smith, it’s all about the networking,” Smith said. “I get to see people I’ve known all my adult life.”

Krenz said that EANGUS is in “constant communication” with Arkansas to stay apprised of COVID-19 case levels. As of press time, there were no mask or vaccine mandates in Arkansas, though the convention center itself could require masks.

Command Chief Master Sgt. Maurice Williams speaks at the 2021 Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States conference. Photo courtesy Matt Krenz

Army veteran Benjamin Breckheimer is the first Purple Heart recipient to climb the Seven Summits, the highest peaks in each of the seven continents.

It’s a feat that only a few hundred people worldwide accomplish, and Breckheimer did it with a fused ankle – one of many consequences of nearly losing his leg after driving over an IED in Afghanistan.

“It’s definitely been a thing of growth,” Breckheimer said. “The journey started for very selfish reasons and morphed into something I never really imagined.”

Besides his accomplishments, the message the 37-year-old really wants to share is this: No matter how terrible life might feel, no matter how much physical and emotional pain, it’s possible to climb out of the darkness.

That’s because at one point, the former Army staff sergeant and reservist nearly killed himself.

BY ELENA FERRARIN

‘The light switched off in my head’ It was in 2015, after a failed attempt to climb Mount Everest due to an earthquake and avalanche that killed at least 18 people. Breckheimer and his team survived by ducking behind an ice sledge on their way to base camp.

He’d been working as a surgical technician in Florida after medically retiring from the Army in 2013. He came home dejected, questioning whether he wanted to continue climbing. Divorced and alone, he felt lost. He started drinking a lot.

One day, sitting on the edge of his bed, he was about to put a handgun to his temple when he took one last look as his two dogs, he said.

Then something clicked.

“The light switched off in my head that this was not OK,” he said. “I started thinking that I would be abandoning them (my dogs), and

that instead of taking away my pain, I would be creating a lot more pain for my family and friends.”

His mindset shifted and he became more intentional about life. He reached out to his friend and surgeon, Dr. Joseph Hsu, who helped him get a job at the hospital where Hsu worked in North Carolina. There, Breckheimer met his current wife, a nurse.

“I try to tell people that time is really the best medication,” Breckheimer said. “That’s a really hard thing to accept because it could take weeks or years. For me, it was almost six years.”

Service history

A Wisconsin native, Bruckheimer enlisted in the Army Reserve as an operating room specialist in 2002. He was 18 years old. After more than two years with the 452nd Combat Support Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia, he volunteered for active duty and was reassigned to Brooke Army Medical

Breckheimer has climbed all Seven Summits after nearly losing his leg due to an IED explosion while serving in Afghanistan.

Courtesy photo

Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He then volunteered to deploy for a year to Baghdad, Iraq, with the 10th Combat Support Hospital out of Fort Carson, Colorado.

“It was one of the most rewarding but also mentally draining years of my life, just seeing so many casualties,” he said.

He came home and two years later, reclassified as a cavalry scout and was assigned to the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, out of Fort Lewis, Washington. He deployed in July 2009 to Afghanistan, and finally felt like he was where he belonged, he said. Two months later, he was injured.

He had a concussion, a perforated eardrum, and pelvic, vertebrae and bilateral femur fractures. His lower right leg was nearly severed.

Breckheimer ended up at Brooke Army Medical Center under the care of Hsu, whom he’d first met in 2005 when the two served side-by-side in Iraq. He spent four years in a limb-salvage program, but never regretted pushing for deployment, he said. “It’s what I wanted.”

‘Not a bulletproof amazing human’ Hsu, now a professor of orthopedic trauma at Atrium Health’s Musculoskeletal Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, conducted dozens of surgeries on Breckheimer, who dealt with multiple setbacks due to complications, infections and even hardware breaks.

“To even have kept it (his leg) and even function at the level that he does … it’s not medical. It’s not surgical. It’s not science,” Hsu said. “It’s grit. It’s him. It’s that resilience.”

Breckheimer’s story is especially inspiring, and transformative for those who hear it, because he’s open about his struggles with mental health, Hsu said.

“(Breckheimer) is not a bulletproof amazing human. He shares the story of how he almost killed himself,” Hsu said. “It’s so important to see someone who is so accomplished talk about it.”

The idea of reaching the Seven Summits was, initially, a misguided attempt to prove himself to his ex-wife and win her back, Breckheimer said.

“Looking back, it was childish and funny,” he said.

While it wasn’t easy finding a mountaineering agency that would help him with his goal, Bruckheimer eventually connected with Dennis Broadwell, of Mountain Gurus. Broadwell encouraged him to keep trying after failed attempts at summiting Mount Baker and Mount Rainier.

Climbing for himself Breckheimer made his first summit in 2014 on Mount Elbrus in Russia, Europe’s highest peak at 18,510 feet. On top of the mountain, he threw his wedding ring — which he’d carried on a necklace for years — into the void.

“I felt overwhelmed and overjoyed,” he said. “I was climbing no longer for her, but for me.”

After the first failed Mount Everest attempt, he scaled Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Everest in 2017, followed by six more summits in the next four years. Each took dogged determination to overcome his physical pain and limitations.

“I definitely had days when I was cursing myself with, ‘Why the hell am I doing this?” he said of trekking along steep snow and icy crevasses.

“I remember hating every day of basic training, but then when you graduate and you see what you’ve accomplished in those 10 weeks, it’s such a huge sense of accomplishment. That’s what I feel in the mountains.”

So how did he afford the expeditions? He drained his savings for the first three, then connected with sponsor ONETEAM Colgan

Foundation. Three female benefactors from New Zealand have provided the majority of his funding since 2017, he said.

“I called them ‘my Kiwi angels.’ They are incredible people,” he said of the women, who want to remain anonymous.

Mission accomplishment

Breckheimer’s Seven Summits grand finale was in June 2021 in Denali, Alaska. All along, he’d been hyper-focused on the task at hand, but on Denali, he was able to take in the scenery and the company of others.

“I enjoyed every single day on the mountain,” he said. “I was always smiling.”

The 2021 climb was his second try at Denali, which requires climbers to carry their own gear weighing almost 120 pounds. Two things that helped him succeed were a new, special ankle brace and training with rock climbing at the suggestion of a mentor, he said.

Breckheimer and his wife, Mallory, now live in Tega Cay, South Carolina, and own Avalanche Coffee Company.

He’s a volunteer for Purple Heart Summits, a program that mentors wounded warriors in the mountains, and is working on a book about his life. He said he’s planning many more climbs around the world because mountaineering is therapeutic for him.

“If there is something you want to do, do it. Don’t be afraid to take that leap because you never know — it might create something new in our life,” Breckheimer said.

Breckheimer poses with a “Mount Everest Redemption” flag as part of his mission to climb all Seven Summits. Courtesy photo

STATES TURN TO NATIONAL GUARD FOR HELP WITH CYBERATTACKS ON THE RISE,

BY NATALIE GROSS

And now, as a growing number of cybersecurity attacks sweep the nation, some states are mobilizing soldiers and airmen for another fight: cybercrime.

“A cyber incident is essentially a jurisdiction’s hurricane, or their tornado,” said Rob Main, North Carolina’s chief risk officer and a retired member of the Air National Guard.

Army Sgt. Andrew Zamora, an information systems analyst with the California National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters, runs through a simulated cyber defense scenario during Cyber Dawn 20 in Sacramento, California.

Photo by Tech Sgt. Christian Jadot

The mission of the National Guard has continued to evolve as national priorities evolve, including the ongoing COVID-19 response, natural disasters, southern border mission and civil unrest.

So it makes sense to use the same “allhazards” response approach that’s been working since before the internet was invented, he added.

“It’s a repeatable model; it’s known by the localities that we support, so it’s no different for them to see National Guard soldiers and airmen supporting their communities in a cyber incident as it would be if the National Guard soldiers and airmen were handing out water in the event of a hurricane,” Main said.

Guardsmen are also helping with proactive measures, such as educating the public on good cyber hygiene practices or critical infrastructure that can help prevent an attack.

Army Lt. Col. Ty Shepard, Joint Task Force Cyber Commander for the California Military Department, said cyberattacks have shut down government and business operations and put residents’ personal identifiable information at risk. A high-profile 2018 ransomware attack on the Port of San Diego, for example, kept people from being able to pay parking tickets or water bills online and also affected local law enforcement’s communications.

“When we have a fire here in California, and it impairs roadways, communications, structures, everything else — or, obviously, threatens

houses and the livelihood of businesses — it’s no different than cyber,” Shepard said. “Having the capability to respond to that is very critical.”

California has three traditional Guard cyber-focused units and nearly 50 fulltime members on state active-duty status working with the California Department of Technology and Office of Emergency Services on cybersecurity efforts. These include incident response and independent security assessments for state agencies and defense of the California government enterprise network.

Shepard said California’s military cyber experts have participated in more than 386 cyber incident response missions in the last year alone, as the state overall was hit with more than 30,000 cyberattacks and a 65% increase in financial losses over previous years.

Col. Thomas Pries, commander of the 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group in Washington state that has been working on election security for years, said he believes the National Guard is uniquely poised to help states with cybersecurity missions.

“We know our communities. We have a chance to build all those relationships,” said

Pries. “It can be intimidating, I think, for folks when a bunch of guys come in in uniform. They’re not used to that, but it’s a little different when they’re Guard guys and we’ve known each other for years and we already know each other’s [competencies], and there’s that trust.”

Another benefit is the Guard’s flexibility to be activated for both state- and nationallevel missions, he said.

“Oftentimes, adversaries, what they like to do is they work … in between the seams of our policy and governance and they’ll find a place where it’s not really a state responsibility and not really a federal responsibility,” Pries said. “And because the Guard can be moved into different statuses, we’re more flexible and able to track these adversaries and get a hold of them.”

Shepard said he anticipates more states catching on to the benefits of using their National Guard forces in this way, as cybersecurity attacks continue to grow in frequency and cost. Already, he’s met with Guard officials and some state leaders in 10 states who are interested in California’s approach.

“I think it’s going to increase everywhere,” he said.

California National Guard soldiers and airmen participate in a cyber-defense exercise in Sacramento, California.

Photo by Master Sgt. David Loeffler

NATIONAL GUARD AT A GLANCE

DEPLOYMENTS

across 52 countries that received Air National Guard support in fiscal year 2019.

Number of times the National Guard was called upon by their states in FY 2019.

Number of State Partnership Program countries that have deployed alongside their National Guard counterparts.

Deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, the Balkans, Guantanamo Bay, the Sinai and other locations that received Guard support since Sept. 11, 2001.

Number of Army Guard soldiers supporting the Department of Homeland Security mission to secure the United States’ southwest border.

Army Guard soldiers deployed in support of missions in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Ukraine, Poland, Kosovo, Eastern Europe, the Horn of Africa, Central and South America and the Sinai Peninsula.

SOURCE: 2021 NATIONAL GUARD POSTURE STATEMENT