NY National Guard members responded selflessly to attacks on Sept. 11, 2001

Story by Eric Durr August 31, 2021 at 09:05AM New York, NY--Twenty years ago, New York Air National Guard Technical Sgt. Jeremy Powell was the first member of the United States military to realize Sept. 11, 2001 was not going to be an ordinary fall day. Powell was a full-time Air Guardsman assigned to the Northeast Air Defense Sector in Rome, New York. The unit's mission was to control the air defense of the northern United States east of the Mississippi. At 8:37 a.m. Powell, who was then a senior radar technician, took a call from a Federal Aviation Administration controller in Boston informing him an airliner may have been hijacked and that the FAA needed a fighter jet to get a visual on the plane. NEADs commanders called the 102nd Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard and directed them to get two F-15s airborne. At 8:46 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. By the end of Sept. 11, 2001 4,265 members of the New York Army and Air National Guard were on state active duty to respond to the attacks. This was in addition to 2,000 Active Duty Guard Soldiers and Airmen who at work that day. New York Army National Guard Soldiers did not wait for the usual phone call alerting them to report to their unit for a state emergency mission. They saw what was happening on TV, put on their uniforms, and reported to the armory. "The New York Army National Guard was magnificent," said retired Air National Guard Maj. Gen. Thomas Maguire, who was then serving as the Adjutant General. "The Soldiers went to the sound of the guns." When the sun set on Sept. 11, 2001 there were 1,500 New York Army National Guard Soldiers on duty in lower Manhattan assisting the police and fire departments and another 1,500-mostly from units of the 42nd Infantry Division-were on hand to assist on Sept. 12.

Idaho National Guard father, son respond to fires together

Story by Crystal Farris August 30, 2021 at 06:03PM As a kid, Idaho Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Jeb Baker used to practice punching what he thought was a punching bag hanging up in his family’s garage. It was only after their dog chewed through the bottom of the dark blue duffle, exposing a military uniform, that Jeb realized his father had served in the U.S. Air Force. “He never talked about his career,” said Jeb. “The day I enlisted as an Army firefighter was the day I found out my dad had served as a firefighter in the Air Force. It was interesting that I inadvertently followed in his footsteps.” Today, Jeb serves as a fire chief for the 939th Engineer Fire Fighting Detachment and full time as a firefighter and assistant fire chief for the Idaho Army National Guard’s Orchard Combat Training Center. Last year, his 19-year-old son Pfc. Tyson Baker, joined the Idaho Army National Guard as an infantryman with Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion of the 116th Cavalry Regiment, and later became a seasonal wildland firefighter at the OCTC, continuing his family legacy as a third-generation firefighter and military service member. In August, the father and son team were two of 16 citizen-Soldiers and Airmen who volunteered to assist the Idaho Department of Lands fight wildfires in northern Idaho after Gov. Brad Little declared a state of emergency in July. The group of Guardsmen assigned to Task Force Timber Shield were the first in the Idaho National Guard’s history to deploy as Firefighter Type 2 Red Card certified wildland firefighters.

U.S., Central American firefighters train for fire emergencies together

Story by Maria Pinel August 29, 2021 at 10:53PM U.S. Air Force firefighters with the 612th Air base Squadron, based out of Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, hosted another iteration of CENTAM SMOKE, a five-day multinational firefighting training exercise August 23-27.

KAFB Fire Department Conducts Multi-Agency Live Fire Training Exercise

Story by Airman 1st Class Karissa Dick August 20, 2021 at 04:25PM The Kirtland Air Force Base Fire Department collaborated with the Ruidoso Fire Department in a live fire training exercise at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Aug. 18, 2021, to prepare for real world scenarios and ensure mission readiness.

Damage Control Knowledge Saves George Washington

August 13, 2021 at 08:52PM Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Stamer USS George Washington (CVN 73) Sailors' quick thinking and knowledge of damage control saves the ship from a catastrophic fire.