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Welcome to the Delaware National Guard Retired Officers Association
Website. Our purpose is to foster fellowship among retired officers of
the Delaware National Guard and to maintain the esprit de corps of our
members through social and educational programs. We aim to provide
information of interest to our members concerning their benefits and
entitlements earned through their dedicated military service to our State
and nation.
This website belongs to our members and we encourage your thoughts
and ideas on how we can make this a better product to serve you.
Please forward your comments to our webmaster at Milheritage.aol.com.
Our website includes:
Welcome to the Delaware National Guard Retired Officers Association
Website. Our purpose is to foster fellowship among retired officers of
the Delaware National Guard and to maintain the esprit de corps of our
members through social and educational programs. We aim to provide
information of interest to our members concerning their benefits and
entitlements earned through their dedicated military service to our State
and nation.
This website belongs to our members and we encourage your thoughts
and ideas on how we can make this a better product to serve you.
Please forward your comments to our webmaster at Milheritage.aol.com.
Our website includes:
 | A calendar of events | |
| Our "Did You Know?" Newsletter | |
| Links to other organizations | |
Delaware National Guard
Retired Officers Association
Retired Officers Association
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Contact Us:
Delaware National Guard Retired Officers Association
First Regiment Road, Wilmington Delaware 19808
webmaster: Brig Gen (DE Ret) Kennard R. Wiggins, Jr.
Milheritage@aol.com, 410-398-0742
News:
National Defense Authorization Act empowers the National
Guard
By Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill, National Guard Bureau
WASHINGTON - The position of the chief of the National Guard
Bureau has been elevated to a four-star billet 100 years after the
bureau came into existence.
The chief of the National Guard Bureau also became a principal
advisor to the secretary of defense through the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff as a result of a Jan. 28 stroke of the
president's pen that triggered the most sweeping changes for the
National Guard in 100 years.
The Division of Militia Affairs, the precursor of the modern
National Guard Bureau, came into existence in February 1908,
according to Michael Doubler, Ph.D., a retired colonel who is one
of the Guard's preeminent historians.
The first chief was Col. Erasmus Weaver, who served from 1908-
11. The stature of the chief's office has been progressively
increased during the century since.
On Jan. 28, President George W. Bush signed the National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2008, which
includes provisions that:
• A bipartisan council of governors advise the secretary of
defense, the Department of Homeland Security and others on
National Guard matters.
• The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff determine the
feasibility of increasing the number of U.S. Northern Command
reserve component members.
• Up to 15 reserve component general officers serve at
combatant commands, an increase from 10.
• The National Guard Bureau (NGB) becomes a joint activity
of the Department of Defense. Previously, it was a joint bureau of
the Army and the Air Force.
• The chief of the NGB becomes a principal advisor to the
secretary of defense through the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
• The grade of the position of the chief of the NGB increases
to a four-star general.
A driving force behind many of the changes in the NDAA is the
transformation of the National Guard from a Cold War strategic
reserve to today's operational reserve.
The vast bulk of the major reforms of the National Guard included
in the bill were derived from the National Guard Empowerment Act
of 2007 introduced in Congress by Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Sen.
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Rep. Gene
Taylor (D-Miss.)
The provisions of the NDAA that affect the National Guard are
among many others that affect the nation's armed forces.
”The act authorizes funding for the defense of the United States
and its interests abroad, for military construction and for national
security-related energy programs," Bush stated.
The NDAA also:
• Gives servicemembers a 3.5 percent pay raise.
• Includes the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act to improve
support for wounded troops and their families, including providing
increased treatment closer to home rather than at the base from
which the servicemember deployed.
• Lowers the eligibility age for retirement by three months for
each 90 days a Guard member serves on certain types of active
duty. The active duty must be served after the NDAA was
enacted, and eligibility cannot be reduced below 50 years of age.
Also in the NDAA:
• $650 million authorized for miscellaneous equipment for the
Army National Guard and $150 million for Air National Guard.
Previously, National Guard and Reserve Equipment Appropriation
money has been appropriated without authorization.
• End strengths of 351,300 for the Army National Guard and
106,700 for the Air National Guard. The Army National Guard end
strength increased from 350,000 while the Air Guard level is
essentially unchanged. The secretary of defense can authorize the
Guard to exceed end strength by up to 3 percent.
The NDAA does not authorize any additional weapons of mass
destruction-civil support teams but instead refers the issue to an
advisory panel to study.
-- The (New London, Conn.) Day, the National Guard Bureau's
Office of Legislative Liaison and other sources contributed to this
report.
Commission: Big Changes Needed for 'Operational Guard'
A commission that has studied issues related to the National
Guard and Reserve for two years has concluded that America’s
reserve component is no longer strategic, but operational and
should be treated as such.
To that end, the 12-member Commission on the National Guard
and Reserves has made 95 recommendations, detailed in a 448-
page report and now available on the NGAUS Web site, along
with the executive summary. It also may be viewed at www.cngr.
gov, the commission’s Web site.
Arnold L. Punaro, the commission chairman and a retired Marine
major general, said during a press conference at the report’s
release Thursday that the reserve component is now “part and
parcel” of the total force military. The manpower provided by the
Guard and Reserve in recent years is “the current firebreak to
having to go back to the draft.”
The commission looked at everything from equipment and training
to health care and employer concerns.
Highlights include combining the active- and reserve-component
retirement systems with benefits beginning after just 10 years of
service, but payments for most, including active-component
personnel, not starting until age 57.
In the area of equipment, the report states, “Existing equipping
strategies and budgets for equipment are inadequate to sustain
an operational reserve.” The report says DoD funding to equip the
reserve component fell short by $48 billion in fiscal year 2007.
The report was delivered to Congress and the defense secretary.
Punaro said many of the recommendations could be implemented
immediately, while others will require legislation.
Delaware National Guard Retired Officers Association
First Regiment Road, Wilmington Delaware 19808
webmaster: Brig Gen (DE Ret) Kennard R. Wiggins, Jr.
Milheritage@aol.com, 410-398-0742
News:
National Defense Authorization Act empowers the National
Guard
By Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill, National Guard Bureau
WASHINGTON - The position of the chief of the National Guard
Bureau has been elevated to a four-star billet 100 years after the
bureau came into existence.
The chief of the National Guard Bureau also became a principal
advisor to the secretary of defense through the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff as a result of a Jan. 28 stroke of the
president's pen that triggered the most sweeping changes for the
National Guard in 100 years.
The Division of Militia Affairs, the precursor of the modern
National Guard Bureau, came into existence in February 1908,
according to Michael Doubler, Ph.D., a retired colonel who is one
of the Guard's preeminent historians.
The first chief was Col. Erasmus Weaver, who served from 1908-
11. The stature of the chief's office has been progressively
increased during the century since.
On Jan. 28, President George W. Bush signed the National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2008, which
includes provisions that:
• A bipartisan council of governors advise the secretary of
defense, the Department of Homeland Security and others on
National Guard matters.
• The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff determine the
feasibility of increasing the number of U.S. Northern Command
reserve component members.
• Up to 15 reserve component general officers serve at
combatant commands, an increase from 10.
• The National Guard Bureau (NGB) becomes a joint activity
of the Department of Defense. Previously, it was a joint bureau of
the Army and the Air Force.
• The chief of the NGB becomes a principal advisor to the
secretary of defense through the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
• The grade of the position of the chief of the NGB increases
to a four-star general.
A driving force behind many of the changes in the NDAA is the
transformation of the National Guard from a Cold War strategic
reserve to today's operational reserve.
The vast bulk of the major reforms of the National Guard included
in the bill were derived from the National Guard Empowerment Act
of 2007 introduced in Congress by Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Sen.
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Rep. Gene
Taylor (D-Miss.)
The provisions of the NDAA that affect the National Guard are
among many others that affect the nation's armed forces.
”The act authorizes funding for the defense of the United States
and its interests abroad, for military construction and for national
security-related energy programs," Bush stated.
The NDAA also:
• Gives servicemembers a 3.5 percent pay raise.
• Includes the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act to improve
support for wounded troops and their families, including providing
increased treatment closer to home rather than at the base from
which the servicemember deployed.
• Lowers the eligibility age for retirement by three months for
each 90 days a Guard member serves on certain types of active
duty. The active duty must be served after the NDAA was
enacted, and eligibility cannot be reduced below 50 years of age.
Also in the NDAA:
• $650 million authorized for miscellaneous equipment for the
Army National Guard and $150 million for Air National Guard.
Previously, National Guard and Reserve Equipment Appropriation
money has been appropriated without authorization.
• End strengths of 351,300 for the Army National Guard and
106,700 for the Air National Guard. The Army National Guard end
strength increased from 350,000 while the Air Guard level is
essentially unchanged. The secretary of defense can authorize the
Guard to exceed end strength by up to 3 percent.
The NDAA does not authorize any additional weapons of mass
destruction-civil support teams but instead refers the issue to an
advisory panel to study.
-- The (New London, Conn.) Day, the National Guard Bureau's
Office of Legislative Liaison and other sources contributed to this
report.
Commission: Big Changes Needed for 'Operational Guard'
A commission that has studied issues related to the National
Guard and Reserve for two years has concluded that America’s
reserve component is no longer strategic, but operational and
should be treated as such.
To that end, the 12-member Commission on the National Guard
and Reserves has made 95 recommendations, detailed in a 448-
page report and now available on the NGAUS Web site, along
with the executive summary. It also may be viewed at www.cngr.
gov, the commission’s Web site.
Arnold L. Punaro, the commission chairman and a retired Marine
major general, said during a press conference at the report’s
release Thursday that the reserve component is now “part and
parcel” of the total force military. The manpower provided by the
Guard and Reserve in recent years is “the current firebreak to
having to go back to the draft.”
The commission looked at everything from equipment and training
to health care and employer concerns.
Highlights include combining the active- and reserve-component
retirement systems with benefits beginning after just 10 years of
service, but payments for most, including active-component
personnel, not starting until age 57.
In the area of equipment, the report states, “Existing equipping
strategies and budgets for equipment are inadequate to sustain
an operational reserve.” The report says DoD funding to equip the
reserve component fell short by $48 billion in fiscal year 2007.
The report was delivered to Congress and the defense secretary.
Punaro said many of the recommendations could be implemented
immediately, while others will require legislation.