SPRINGFIELD, IL (07/16/2014)(readMedia)-- SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - This week's National Guard Bureau qualification scorecard found the Illinois Army National Guard moved to first place among the states and territories for duty military occupational specialty qualified (DMOSQ) Soldiers. Of the available 8,983 Soldiers assigned, 8,713 are military occupational specialty (MOS) qualified, which is a success rate of 97.5 percent.

A Soldier is DMOSQ when he or she graduates from a school required to qualify for the job specialty.

"The importance of this is about being a ready and relevant force," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Mark Hebenstreit of Springfield, Illinois, human resources specialist for the personnel branch. "Units need to be able to perform missions, not only for deployments, but federal and state missions. It is important to have trained and competent Soldiers in the units to perform homeland security and combat missions."

The training branch (G3) and the personnel branch (G1) are responsible for identifying Soldiers who need to qualify in their occupational specialty and processing school applications in a timely manner.

"There is a 30-day window when we are allowed to obtain seats from other states," said Staff Sgt. Christopher Melton of Springfield, Illinois, training technician in the Individual Training Branch (G3/7). "We have to stay on top of the packets and process applications."

Melton called multiple states to use allocated school seats. Other states gave unused seats to Illinois, allowing Illinois to send more Soldiers to school.

"This is a team effort between the G3, G1 and the major subordinate command's," said Master Sgt. Christopher Anderson of Dixon, Illinois, the quota source manager for the G3. "It's challenging to get to number one in the state; it is a committed effort in proper manning."

While Illinois is currently number one, the numbers can fluctuate easily, as Soldiers move units and change jobs.

"We try to get the Solders trained as soon as possible," said Melton.

To be effective it is important the Soldiers know their jobs and are DMOSQ.

"We must be committed to ensuring our Soldiers are highly trained," said Lt. Col. Stanely Manes of Springfield, Illinois, chief training division.

Regional Soldiers share camaraderie during competition

SPRINGFIELD, IL (07/02/2014)(readMedia)-- Illinois and Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers sweep the MAC IV RegionalsCAMP PERRY, Ohio. - National Guard soldiers from five states gathered at Camp Perry, Ohio this weekend to compete in the Marksmanship Advisory Council Region Four-Small Arms Championship.

Illinois teams took first and second place overall, while the Wisconsin team placed in third. Both states also claim an individual champion. The individual pistol champion hails from Illinois and the individual rifle champion calls Wisconsin home.

The first place team consists of Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Mix, Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade; Staff Sgt. Gabriel Cullers, HHC, 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment; Sgt. 1st Class John Stockton, HHC, 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team; and Spc. Joseph Miller, 232nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion; all of the Illinois National Guard. Stockton was also the individual pistol champion.

Sgt. Brandon Swanson, of the 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Brigade Combat Team, Wisconsin National Guard, not only took the top individual spot, but was part of the third place team.

Swanson is also a member of the All Guard Service Rifle Team, which means he represents the National Guard at military and civilian marksmanship competitions across the U.S.

Competitions aren't just about winning awards though. The ability to shoot accurately is a basic soldier skill. "I think fundamentally, it's the most important thing in the entire military," said Swanson.

Swanson uses his marksmanship skills to positively affect his fellow soldiers. He works with other units in his state to pass along those skills. He will soon be attending the Small Arms Master Gunner course in his efforts to become a marksmanship instructor.

Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Glover, of the Master Weapons Training Team, Ohio National Guard, also knows a little bit about training marksmanship skills. He has personally been shooting competitively since 2002, but has been part of the MWTT for the last six years.

Glover has spent a lot of time on the range training soldiers how to be an effective shooter. "We have done a lot of support for the pre- and post-mobilization training for deploying units," said Glover. "They bring us in to help them out on the live fire portion of their training."

The primary mission of Glover's team is to provide primary marksmanship instruction for all Ohio units. As the Assistant Noncommissioned-Officer-In-Charge of the team, it is something that he takes a lot of pride in, but he isn't too proud to learn some new tips at the competitions though.

"One of our guys has a different hold on his standing position where he gets his arm fully extended on the front hand guard," said Glover. "I think it has promise."

The Marksmanship Advisory Council Small Arms Championships occur each year around the nation. There are seven MAC regions in the U.S. that include all 54 states and territories. Ideally, each state conducts their own state matches to find the best teams to send to the MAC regional matches.

The matches are sponsored by the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center in North Little Rock, Ark. Col. Franklin D. Powell, commander of the NGMTC, feels competition is another training tool to strengthen our core of service members.

"These shooters need to take what they learn at these competitions back to their units," said Powell. "If they work hard out here and learn from other shooters, they can bring back a wealth of knowledge that can be invaluable to their units."

First time shooter, Sgt. 1st Class Dustin Zabinski, Alpha Company, Recruiting and Retention Battalion, Wisconsin National Guard, seems to agree.

"The shooting community is awesome," said Zabinski. "I can talk to anybody from any state and they're willing to give up any information whatsoever. We're all on the same team."

Approximately 10 Soldiers mobilize July 3 as part of airlift support mission

DECATUR, IL (07/01/2014)(readMedia)-- DECATUR, Ill. - A deployment ceremony is scheduled for approximately 10 Soldiers who will deploy to Djibouti, Africa. The ceremony for Detachment 36, Operational Support Airlift in Decatur will be July 3 at 9 a.m. at Camp Lincoln, 1301 N. MacArthur Blvd. in Springfield, Ill.

The unit will train for a brief time in Fort Bliss, Texas before deploying to Africa for nine months. Det. 36 will fly Beechcraft C-12 Huron aircraft and conduct operational airlift support and VIP transport in the region.

The unit last mobilized in October 2010 and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

CHAMPAIGN, IL (06/20/2014)(readMedia)-- The Illinois National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion recognized Illinois Broadcasters Association (IBA) stations that stood out above their peers with a minuteman statue at the IBA 2014 Silver Dome Awards in Champaign, Illinois, June 18.

- WRHL, 102.3 "The Coyote" in Rochelle, Illinois was recognized as the National Guard Station of the Year for small market radio.

- WYMG, 100.5 "Springfield's Classic Rock" in Springfield, Illinois was recognized as the National Guard Station of the Year for medium market radio.

- WUSN, US99.5 in Chicago, Illinois was recognized as the National Guard Station of the Year for large market radio.

- WREX, NBC Channel 13 in Rockford, Illinois was recognized as the National Guard Station of the Year for medium market television.

- WMAQ, NBC Channel 5 in Chicago Illinois was recognized as the National Guard Station of the Year for large market television.

- Dana Communications was recognized as the Ownership Group Award winner.