Eartheditor

News and commentary by a National Guardsman

New York Army aircrew lifts 19,000-pound cable spool to mountain — May 21, 2019

New York Army aircrew lifts 19,000-pound cable spool to mountain

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Looking back on this article I wrote 14 years ago (Wow!) – it was such a fun assignment, not to mention I got to meet Jay Rand, Olympic ski jumper who was such a nice guy. I genuinely miss these regular field assignments with New York’s Joint Force Headquarters and going across the state with its Soldiers and Airmen.

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By Staff Sgt. Mike R. Smith, Guard Times Staff

LAKE PLACID, NY – Whiteface Mountain manager, Jay Rand, stands in a clearing at the base of Whiteface Mountain on a September morning looking with anticipation towards the eastern Adirondack skyline. Directly aside Rand is a ten-ton spool of cable so thick in diameter, and you could not wrap both hands around it. Roughly eight miles away and 3000 feet above him is the summit of Whiteface.

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Base’s softball game a home run for camaraderie — May 20, 2019

Airmen and their families from the Air National Guard’s education center and the Tennessee National Guard’s 134th Air Refueling Wing join for a team photo, May 17, 2019, before playing two softball games at Springbrook Park in Alcoa, Tennessee, as a means to promote camaraderie and team building. Both units are located at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base. (U.S. Air National Guard Base/Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

Base’s softball game a home run for camaraderie

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ALCOA, Tenn. — Airmen and their families from the Air National Guard’s I.G. Brown Training and Education Center and the Tennessee National Guard’s 134th Air Refueling Wing joined for a unit Vs. unit softball game Friday, May 17, at Springbrook Park in Alcoa, Tennessee.

“This is an opportunity to team build a bit, which does not happen enough,” U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Juan P. Castro, assigned to the education center, said.

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Practice makes perfect at public affairs managers course — May 9, 2019

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. George Roach, a public affairs superintendent assigned to the 11th Attack Wing in Pennsylvania, answers mock media questions as part of a simulated aircraft mishap, May 8, 2019, during the Public Affairs Management Course at the Air National Guard’s education center on McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in East Tennessee. The course includes two-weeks of instruction on how to run a successful Air Force public affairs office. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

Practice makes perfect at public affairs managers course

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U.S. Air Force Airmen who practice public affairs at Air National Guard bases across the nation answered mock media questions, May 8, 2019, during the Public Affairs Management Course at the education center on McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in East Tennessee.

Their on-camera practice and peer reviews may help them when a real crisis arrives at their units, along with an interested public.

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Training center honors sexual assault awareness — April 25, 2019

Dr. Jennifer L. Thomas, the U.S. Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program coordinator assigned to the Air National Guard’s training and education center in East Tennessee, speaks with staff during an awareness luncheon, April 25, 2019, to support Sexual Assault Awareness Month. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

Training center honors sexual assault awareness

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MCGHEE TYSON AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Tenn. — U.S. Air Force staff assigned to the Air National Guard’s training and education center held two events this week to observe sexual assault awareness month.

The campus’s sexual assault prevention and response office and the chaplain office organized the events.

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Striking their best Denim Day — April 24, 2019

Striking their best Denim Day

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U.S. Air Force staff assigned to the Air National Guard’s training and education center in East Tennessee wore denim today, April 24, 2019, and made their best denim poses outside the Warrior Network television studio in support of Denim Day. Denim Day is an international observance that addresses the improper attitudes about attire toward sexual assault as well as helps to honor Sexual Assault Awareness Month, among other support. The campus is also holding an awareness month luncheon tomorrow, sponsored by the center’s SAPR and chaplain offices. #denimday #USAF #IGBrownTEC#ANG #respect

North Carolina chiefs meet up — April 18, 2019

U.S. Air Force, North Carolina Air National Guard Chief Master Sergeants, assigned to the 145th Airlift Wing take a moment for a group photograph April 17, 2019, outside Patriot Hall on the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in East Tennessee. The chiefs held a three-day workshop on campus. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

North Carolina chiefs meet up

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Happy Patriots’ Day this week!

U.S. Air Force, North Carolina Air National Guard chief master sergeants, assigned to the 145th Airlift Wing in Charlotte took a moment for a group photograph, April 17, 2019, outside Patriot Hall on the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in East Tennessee.

The chiefs held a three-day workshop, to include TEC’s bullet-writing course.

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A paddler’s approach to teamwork — April 16, 2019

A paddler’s approach to teamwork

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Just before 9/11, my father asked me along on a grand canoe trip to the Boundary Waters with his Hudson-valley paddling friends. We’d drive from Schenectady in upstate New York to Ely in upstate Minnesota to spend a week exploring that maze of placid waterways in the vast wilderness area between the United States and Canada.

My dad had his one-person canoe, but his friend, Joe Nicolella, needed a tandem canoe partner.

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sprung Spring — April 9, 2019

Spring flowers bloom, March 28, 2019, outside Wingman Hall at the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center on McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in East Tennessee. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

sprung Spring

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Spring flowers bloom on a mild and sunny Thursday afternoon at Wingman Hall, March 28, 2019, on the Air National Guard’s training and education center campus on McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, located just outside the Smoky Mountains near Knoxville, Tennessee.

Spring bloom

25th State Partnership Program event makes education center’s first — April 5, 2019

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Chris Lawson, National Guard Bureau vice director, Strategy, Plans, Policy and International Affairs, speaks with more than 100 attendees of the State Partnership Program workshop, April 2, 2019, at the Air National Guard’s training and education center on McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in East Tennessee. The general welcomed the group and spoke on the history and importance of SPP’s mutually beneficial alliances and partnership with 83 nations across the world. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

25th State Partnership Program event makes education center’s first

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About 100 Soldiers and Airmen from the U.S. National Guard Bureau and the 54 states and territories spent this week in East Tennessee at the Air National Guard’s training and Education Center, learning and networking on the nation’s State Partnership Program.

The workshop prepares partnership managers – usually assigned at a state joint force headquarters – to run effective partnerships and alliances with 83 nations worldwide. NGB offers it once a year and has for the last 25 years of SPP history.
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Memento maker helps recognize others’ service — January 17, 2019

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. William Shepherd outside his office, Dec. 4, 2018, is assigned as a facilities manager at Air National Guard’s I.G. Brown Training and Education Center in East Tennessee. Off duty, Sergeant Shepherd crafts a variety of memorabilia that display and recognize military service. (U.S. Air National Guard photo/Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith)

Memento maker helps recognize others’ service

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If U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. William Shepherd ever sets your name on wood you’ll have something hand-crafted to show from your military service.

Sergeant Shepherd is the facilities manager for the Air National Guard’s I.G. Brown Training and Education Center located in East Tennessee, but he also supports the center’s faculty and staff by crafting a variety of wooden wall plaques, coin holders, and framed flag boxes, among other work.

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