The Idaho National Guard stands ready to answer our nation's call while also responding to state emergencies and helping local communities as they've done during the pandemic.
The Idaho National Guard always has a focus on maintaining a high level of readiness.
"The Idaho National Guard has not received any preparatory orders for mobilization or deployment in response to the Russia Ukraine situation," said Col. Christopher Borders.
The Idaho National Guard has two components the Army side and the Air Force side.
The Army side has a wide range of combat capabilities including armor, infantry, artillery, aviation and combat engineering, but they also have support units that can provide medical, logistics and intelligence to name a few and they have a history of deployments.
"The largest deployment in Idaho history was conducted by the 116th Cavalry Brigade back in 2004 when they mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom Three," said Borders.
The 116th Cavalry Brigade also deployed to Iraq in 2010 and even though it was a smaller deployment the men and women provided a wide range of complex missions.
The Army side of the guard has also had a number of other deployments under their belt with aviation being called upon six different times.
Currently, the 116th Cavalry is deployed to southwest Asia as part of Operation Spartan Shield and this decorated brigade is one of five in the country deemed as an urgent armor unit making them a high priority combat unit.
"Some element of the Idaho National Guard has deployed to every major U.S. conflict since the Idaho National Guard’s inception," said Col. Borders.
The Air side of the guard also has a number of deployments with their largest happening in 2016 with the 124th Fighter Wing taking part in Operation Freedom's Sentinel.
In total, the Air National Guard has deployed ten times and we were there in 2020 when the men and women returned home from southwest Asia.
"Oh my gosh immensely proud," said a proud mother. "Very proud of him and all of these people who went and served," replied his father.
So whether it is the A-10 Warthog or the Abrams tank the Idaho National Guard stands by while also continuing their missions here at home.
"We are a very relevant force, we are current, we are combat-proven and we are always prepared for the mission whether it is here at home supporting the state with COVID response or somewhere across the globe standing up against our adversaries," said Col. Borders.
