Guardsmen as- October is Zom- Kansas Army sist Army battal- bie Prepared- Guard welcomes ion to prep for ness Month – its newest PlainsPlainsdeployment......7 GuardianGuardianReally!.........13 officers............19 Volume 56 No. 5 Serving the Kansas Army and Air National Guard, Kansas Emergency Management, Kansas Homeland Security and Civil Air Patrol October 2012 Guardsmen partner with Armenians for humanitarian demining By Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Grieco mond. “If they can begin to follow interna- U.S. European Command Public Affairs tionally approved methodology and move Four Soldiers from the Kansas National in the direction of the international commu- Guard worked with a civilian representative nity recommends, we are accomplishing the from the U.S. Humanitarian Demining mission. What makes this mission different Training Center to teach international Hu- than most is the Armenians are at a point manitarian Mine Action standards to mem- where they are developing standard proce- bers of the Engineering Companies of the dures and a training program, so we are Armenian Peacekeeping Brigades Sept. 18 building it from the ground up here.” to 28. The officer-in-charge of the Kansas Na- “In essence, we’re doing a train the tional Guard detachment in Armenia, Capt. trainer mission and trying to build their in- Michael Liotta, said this is not the first ternal capacity,” said Martin Dumond, on- partnership engagement Kansas has had site training instructor from the HDCT, out with Armenia. of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. “I believe we’ve done this demining “Armenia, at this point, does not really training almost three times, maybe more,” have a national set of standard operating said Liotta, a Topeka native. “We also help procedures for demining. We give them our them to set up their emergency manage- training and, as a result, the idea is that they ment plans. The adjutant general of the take the concepts to help develop their own Kansas National Guard is also in charge of national training programs.” emergency response management in Dumond said the procedures taught in Sgt. 1st Class Travis Eichhorn, a Pittsburg, Kan., native and combat engineer with Kansas, so we brought in Armenian first re- the HMA program are based around the ap- the Kansas National Guard, partners with a soldier from the Engineering Compa- sponders to tour and train in our facilities.” proved international set of standards set nies of the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade during a simulated one-man demining Liotta said Kansas and Armenia are State down in Geneva, Switzerland. He said the drill. Kansas National Guardsmen and the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Training Partnership Program nations through a co- goal is to show the Armenians the basic Center representative are instructing Armenian peacekeepers and engineer battal- operative agreement that was forged at the framework and then allow them to tailor ions on international demining standards as part of the Humanitarian Mine Action time Armenia declared independence from that to fit their country’s needs. program and will assist the Armenian government in developing a national standard the Soviet Union. “It’s a way of engaging with the Armeni- operating procedure for demining. (Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick “Bob Dole, a senator from Kansas was ans in the humanitarian realm,” said Du- Grieco, U.S. European Command Public Affairs) (Continued on Page 2) Leaders learn about harnessing 184th Civil Engineer Squadron today’s young workforce builds experience in Germany By Staff Sgt. Jessica Barnett Known for his expertise on leadership By Staff Sgt. Justin Jacobs long hours of hard work to get the jobs Public Affairs Office and management, Tulgan was asked to ad- 184th Intelligence Wing Public Affairs done,” said Maj. Brock Sissel, site com- The Kansas National Guard’s Equal Em- dress the Kansas Adjutant General’s De- Forty-six Airmen of the 184th Civil Engi- mander, 184th CES. ployment Opportunity office hosted a partment about ways for leaders to grow neering Squadron, 184th Intelligence Wing, The projects not only gave the new Air- Leadership Training Seminar with Bruce and improve, a topic deemed important in a deployed to Oberammergau, Germany, in men an opportunity to train in their civil Tulgan, an expert on generational differ- recent statewide climate survey. support of the NATO Training School in engineer career field, it also provided an ences in the workplace, at Nickell Armory, Tulgan told the attendees that the current July for a two-week deployment for training. opportunity for new Guardsmen to get ac- Topeka, Kan., Sept. 26. workforce is made up of five generations, The squadron included a number of experi- quainted with other members of the starting with the pre-baby boomers born enced Airmen as well as several new addi- squadron. before 1946. tions. Despite the inexperience of the new “I am pretty new to the squadron,” said Over the course of the seminar, he taught Airmen, motivation and enthusiasm were Airmen 1st Class Aaron Lewis, heavy about different management styles to help high. Senior enlisted members offered valu- equipment operator, 184th CES. “It was leaders overcome generational differences able guidance as they gave instructions for good to work on projects that I wouldn’t PAID in the workplace. The younger generation completing the tasks in front of them. normally have the chance to in my career PRSRT STD PRSRT SALEM, OR U.S. POSTAGE is looking for strong, hands-on leadership, “It was impressive how the younger Air- field and be able to meet the other member PERMIT NO. 178 PERMIT he said. He recommended teaching them men accepted the challenge of the projects, of the squadron from different shops.” the basics of “followership” through one- came together as a team, and put in the (Continued on Page 6) on-one dialogue. And he noted many of them just want to know that someone is keeping score for them and that they are making a difference. Tulgan also clarified that recent genera- tions were raised on the idea that “everyone is a winner, everyone gets a trophy.” That’s a lie, Tulgan said, people do keep score. He said the younger generation wants to hit the ground running and know that someone is paying attention and keeping score for them. That attitude can work to the Guard’s betterment and the agency’s betterment. “What you have here is an organization with a lot of systems in place for strong leadership and followership, but maybe people are not in the habit of practicing the day-to-day tactics. So maybe there are peo- ple that don’t have the competence and need to learn more,” said Tulgan. 2800 Topeka Blvd. 2800 Topeka OFFICIAL BUSINESS OFFICIAL “We would never put someone in a charge Staff Sgt. Zach Whitener (left), 184th Communications Flight, and Tech. Sgt. Karey Adjutant General of Kansas Topeka, Kansas 66611-1287 Topeka, Penalty For Private Use, $300 of a technical responsibility without teach- Haukom (right), 184th Civil Engineering Squadron, resurface a walkway at the DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY THE OF DEPARTMENT NATIONAL GUARD OF KANSAS GUARD OF NATIONAL ing them the basic technical knowledge. But NATO school located on base during a two-week training deployment at Oberam- we put people in charge of people and only mergau, Germany, July 17. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Justin Jacobs, 184th Intelligence DEPARTMENT AND AIR OF THE ARMY FORCE DEPARTMENT (Continued on Page 10) Wing Public Affairs) Page 2 Plains Guardian • October 2012 Armenian delegation studies U.S. emergency call system By 2nd Lt. Matt Lucht share and ask questions about the staffing Public Affairs Office of the center and training of the operators, Emergency response was the main focus and gather more detailed information about as a four-member delegation from the Re- the entire system. public of Armenia visited Kansas emer- “I think that partnerships are good to gency responder organizations. Armenia have because anywhere we have the same recently adopted a U.S. model for a 911 type of problems,” said Royer. “It is good emergency system and Hovhannes to see what the other guy does, because Khangeldyan, head of Crisis Management maybe they have already solved a problem Center, and his colleagues were eager to see that you have in your area of expertise.” real-world operations of this system. The tour continued at the Kansas City “We are amazed and impressed with the Kan., Police Department, where they were high level of service that you are providing able to see the system operating within a for your population for managing disas- larger populated area. According to Capt. ters,” said Khangeldyan. Robert Angell, Kansas City, Kan., Police The delegation started their tour at Department, the 911 center handles approx- Shawnee County’s 911 center Sept. 12 to imately 30,000 calls a month. gain a better understanding of how the sys- “[The delegation] has explained the sys- tem worked. Capt. Lance Royer, deputy tem currently in place in Armenia,” said with Shawnee County Sheriff’s Depart- Angell, “and it sounds as though their sys- ment, gave the delegation a tour of the 911 tem is in an infancy and they are trying to center and the communication tower site. figure out ‘How could we improve? What He was able to demonstrate what technolo- plans and procedures do you have in place gies are in place to track not only calls from that can help us?’” Maj. Henry Horn of the Kansas City Police Department speaks to the Armenian del- land-line phones, but cell phones as well. The delegation gained as much informa- egates with two coworkers during their tour of the Kansas City, Kan., Police 911 call “They were interested in a lot of statis- tion as possible from the two different cen- centers Sept.