UARDIAN VolumeG 6, Issue 3 March/April 2013 LEADING ENLISTED ON THE Gibson Takes Over as N.D. Guard’s Senior Enlisted Leader GROUND PG. 4 Central Accord 13 Takes Place in Douala, Cameroon PG. 8 SHOOTING STRAIGHT N.D. Marksmanship Team Claims Bronze in All-Army Competition PG. 16 Medal of Honor N.D. Resident Clinton L. Romesha Awarded the Nation’s Highest Military Honor PG. 14 Inside This Issue Features Commander in Chief 818th Engineers North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple 6 Return Home The Adjutant General Maj. Gen. David A. Sprynczynatyk Excitement filled the N.D. National Chief of Public Affairs Guard’s Army Aviation Support Facility Capt. Dan Murphy in Bismarck as the community gleefully welcomed Soldiers of the 818th Engineer Editor Company home from a yearlong Staff Sgt. Eric Jungels deployment to Afghanistan. Contributors Capt. Karl R. Altenburg Chaplain Candidate (1st Lt.) Yacob Makonnen Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp Master Sgt. Daniel Solberg Sgt. 1st Class Billie Jo Lorius Sgt. 1st Class Amy Wieser Willson Staff Sgt. Bradley Benton Multinational Staff Sgt. Brett Miller 8 Tech Sgt. Bradly Schneider Training Staff Sgt. Nathanael Baardson Sgt. Jonathan Haugen N.D. Soldiers took part in the Spc. Jennifer Joyce multinational training exercise Central Spc. Devin Greywater Accord 13 in Douala, Cameroon. Spc. Whitney Montonye American and Cameroonian military Bill Prokopyk Leroy Council partners wrapped up preparation and kicked off the combined-joint-aerial The North Dakota Guardian is an authorized publication for resupply exercise, which included about members, families and retirees of the N.D. National Guard. 750 U.S. and Cameroon service members. • Contents of the North Dakota Guardian are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, or the Department of the Army or Air Force. • Editorial content of this publication is the responsibility of the Joint Force Headquarters, N.D. National Guard ( JFND) Public Affairs Officer. Shooting • Printed by United Printing, a private firm in no way connected to 18 the U.S. Government under exclusive written contract with the for the Top JFND. Reproduction is by the offset method with a circulation of approximately 4,600. • The North Dakota Guardian is published by the JFND Public N.D. Army and Air Guard members who Information Office, Box 5511, Bismarck, N.D. 58506-5511, make up the state’s marksmanship team 701.333.2007 shot their way to third place in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s U.S. Small ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS Arms Championship, or “All-Army” Contributions to the North Dakota Guardian are encouraged! competition. Send articles, photos and art to Guardian Editor, JFND PIO, Box 5511, Bismarck, N.D. 58506-5511. Electronic submissions are preferred. Please e-mail stories in Microsoft Word or PDF format to: [email protected] Phone: 701-333-2195 Fax: 701-333-2017 Digital photos should be 300 dpi, if possible. On the Cover Departments Col. Frederic Ndjonkep (foreground), Cameroon Army exercise planner, Guardian Snapshots ..................... Page 12 briefs Col. Giselle Wilz (to his right), Task Force Central commander, on News Briefs ..................................... Page 20 the airfield at the Cameroon Air Force Base in Douala, Cameroon, Sound Off! ..................................... Page 23 Africa. The Cameroonian and American military leaders are conducting a site visit in preparation for the start of Central Accord 13, Interact With Us! a U.S. Army Africa exercise focused on aerial delivery and medical See even more N.D. National Guard highlights treatment and evacuation. at our social media sites, and share your thoughts! Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Amy Wieser Willson, www.youtube.com/NDNationalGuard www.twitter.com/NDNationalGuard Joint Force Headquarters www.flickr.com/photos/NDGuard www.facebook.com/NDNationalGuard Guard Posts Dispatches from the N.D. Guard Family Sequestration & its Effects on our National Guard As you know, the federal budget crisis the daily operations and readiness of our Maj. Gen. David facing our nation is directly impacting our organization, and their absence is a serious N.D. National Guard. The Department concern. We will continue to be proactive Sprynczynatyk of Defense was ordered to cut $46 billion in sharing the latest information on any from its budget, and the National Guard sequester developments that will affect our N.D. Adjutant General Bureau is to cut $574 million between now organization. Aand the end of this fiscal year (Sept. 30) in However, just as our military Federal a process called sequestration. The N.D. Tuition Assistance program was recently aircraft will not be fielded to the 119th National Guard’s share of this includes suspended and then reinstated through Wing, or any other Air Force unit; we will funding for operations, maintenance, the end of this fiscal year, we remain continue to work diligently for a manned construction and salaries. While salaries optimistic that a similar solution can be flying mission. for our traditional and Active Guard and reached that will eliminate the need for The good news is that we are one of the Reserve (AGR) Soldiers and Airmen, as any military technician furloughs. We few Air National Guard units in the nation well as our state employees, will not be are thankful that DoD has reinstated the that will not lose positions; as a matter of affected, our federal technician force is valuable Federal Tuition Assistance benefit, fact, we will realize a slight increase in our facing possible furloughs between now and which helps more than 500 of our Guard manpower structure. The addition of our the end of the fiscal year if Congress and Soldiers in continuing their education. cyber targeting group is on track and will the administration don’t reach a budget The reinstatement of the Federal Tuition ensure that we retain our current personnel agreement. Assistance program will allow the State strength. However, this means that some Our leadership will continue to work Tuition Assistance program to continue to Airmen will have to retrain in new skills with the governor and congressional benefit all N.D. Soldiers and Airmen. required with this new mission. delegation to mitigate the impact of these On a related topic, the budget cuts have We all understand that the strength budget cuts. However, if sequestration caused the U.S. Air Force to reconsider and of our organization is the N.D. National continues on its current path, we have been reduce its number of aircraft. The Secretary Guard Family: our Soldiers, Airmen, loved ordered to furlough our more than 600 of the Air Force recently announced the ones, civilian employees and the employers federal military technicians for both the results of the Intra-theater Airlift Working of our traditional Guard members. I Army and Air components. Our federal Group and the news was not good for understand how much these cuts will military technicians are instrumental in the Happy Hooligans. The C-27J Spartan impact our extended military family. We will continue to work hard to diminish the effect on our force. The one thing that will not change is my No. 1 priority to take care of people. I know that, together, we will overcome these fiscal challenges and remain the best National Guard in the nation. Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, N.D. adjutant general, speaks to Soldieres with the N.D. Army National Guard’s 818th Engineer Company (Sapper) in Fort Bliss, Texas, March 12. The Soldiers served as combat engineers in Afghanistan, where they cleared routes of improvised explosive devices to protect coalition forces, ensuring safe movement and mission accomplishment. www.ndguard.ngb.army.mil · 3 REPRESENTING THE ENLISTED FORCE Gibson Replaces Job as Guard’s Top Senior Enlisted Leader Photos by Sgt. Jonathan Haugen, Joint Force Headquarters By Sgt. 1st Class Billie Jo Lorius N.D. National Guard Public Affairs 4 · Guardian · March/April 2013 (Opposite page) Chief Master Sgt. James Gibson, the N.D. National Guard’s new senior enlisted leader, accepts the N.D. National Guard colors Feb. 9 from Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, N.D. adjutant general, during a change of responsibility ceremony at Raymond J. Bohn Armory in Bismarck. (Left) Sprynczynatyk presents Command Sgt. Maj. Dan Job the N.D. National Guard Distinguished Service Medal as Job’s wife, Claudette, looks on during his retirement ceremony at the armory. Job retired after more than 40 years of service in the National Guard. (Below) Command Sgt. Maj. Dan Job passes the N.D. National Guard’s colors to Sprynczynatyk during the change of responsibility ceremony. An Iraq War veteran with more than 40 As the senior enlisted leader, Gibson During the ceremony, Job was awarded years of military experience relinquished his will serve as the chief enlisted advisor the federal and state Legion of Merit for duties as the N.D. National Guard’s senior to the adjutant general, responsible for exceptionally meritorious service and selfless enlisted leader to Chief Master Sgt. James morale, welfare, discipline, performance, service. Gibson during a change of responsibility training, awards, recruiting, retention, equal A native of Linton, N.D., Job enlisted in ceremony at the Raymond J. Bohn Armory opportunity, promotions and assignments the U.S. Army in 1972 before joining the in Bismarck Feb. 9. Command Sgt. Maj. for the Soldiers and Airmen of the N.D. N.D. Army National Guard in 1975. He Daniel Job retired and was honored for his National Guard. served in key enlisted leadership positions military service as part of the ceremony. “I’m honored to be your new senior with the 141st Engineer Battalion and Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, N.D. enlisted leader,” Gibson said. “I would the 164th Engineer Group. From 2003- adjutant general, presided over the change like to wish Command Sgt Maj.