A public-television documentary, "In Their Boots," which begins airing at 12:30 a.m. Friday on KCTS, will feature the story of one Tacoma woman.

The Seattle Times has more on the series here. 

CAMP MURRAY - The Washington Army National Guard's 133rd Army Band will perform a series of free community summer concerts through July 8.  Concert venues range from Tacoma and Olympia areas to the peninsula.

The 133rd Band will be performing works by contemporary composers Julie Giroux and Leonard Bernstein, and many patriotic favorites during the course of their concert schedule:

June 30 - Huntamer Park in Lacey at noon.

June 30 - Pioneer Park in Steilacoom at 6:30 p.m.

July 1 - Capital Campus Lawn in Olympia at 7:00 p.m.

July 2 - James Center of the Performing Arts in Sequim at 6:00 p.m.

July 3 - McCurdy Pavilion at Fort Warden Park in Port Townsend at 6:30 p.m.

July 4 - City of Port Angeles 4th of July Celebration at 6:00 and 8:30

p.m.

July 6 - Skansie Park in Gig Harbor at 7:00 p.m.

July 7 - VA Hospital in Lakewood at 1:00 pm and 6:30 p.m.

July 8 - Curran Apple Orchard in University Place at 6:30 p.m.

The 133rd Band is comprised of 41 citizen-soldiers who serve as musical ambassadors to our communities, in addition to providing music throughout the full spectrum of military operations.   

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -  JBLM & I Corps will host a press

conference at 2 p.m. today, May 18, with Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Vice

Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, Surgeon

General, Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby, Jr., commanding general, I Corps,

Maj. Gen. Philip Volpe, commanding general, Western Regional Medical

Command and Brig. Gen. Jeff Mathis, National Guard officer who served as

Acting CG of I Corps and Ft. Lewis while I Corps was deployed.   Please

see below for details.

During the demobilization of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team

(IBCT) from the Oregon National Guard after a one-year deployment to

Iraq, some Soldiers voiced concerns about the quality of their medical

processing.  The Soldiers specifically expressed concerns to as to

whether Reserve Component Soldiers were being processed differently than

their fellow Active Duty Soldiers.   Oregon's Senator Ron Wyden and

Congressman Kurt Schrader helped bring the Soldiers' concerns to the

attention of Army officials.

As a result of these concerns, JBLM's senior mission commander and I

Corps commanding general, Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby, Jr., launched a

commander's inquiry to investigate the complaints, and later met with

Senator Wyden to address concerns and discuss the issues.

"This past year, I Corps was deployed to Iraq and fought side by side

with the 41st IBCT," said Jacoby. "We have a shared combat experience

and consider the 41st one of our own. It's simply not reflective of our

culture to treat one unit differently from another-Active or Reserve.

Anything we find during our inquiry, we will fix.  We will keep faith

with our fellow Soldiers."

In the last two years, almost nine thousand Guardsmen and Reservists in

109 units have been mobilized or demobilized at JBLM. 

"We take great pride in how we have supported the units who have come

through JBLM," said Col. Jerry Penner, commander, Madigan Healthcare

System.  "When Soldiers from the 41st IBCT voiced concerns about the

medical processing they received, we took it very seriously. The history

of this base and the history of this war have been built on the

contributions and teamwork of all the components of the military.  All

Soldiers deserve to be treated the same, and we won't stand for anything

less," he said.

Leaders at JBLM and the Western Regional Medical Command and the office

of the Surgeon General are working closely with the Oregon State

Deployment Medical Officer and the leadership of the 41st IBCT to

address each of the issues that Soldiers have identified.  The results

of these efforts will be used to further improve medical processing for

all Soldiers who deploy or redeploy through JBLM and other sites across

the Army.

CAMP MURRAY, Wash. — The Washington National Guard hosts a career expo and resource fair for veterans and family members from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Building 33 on Camp Murray on Tuesday, April 13.

The Washington National Guard is partnering with Military.com and the Non-Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) to host this free event.  The goal is to put veterans and family members in contact with employers seeking applicants with military training and experience.

The career expo and resource fair will feature an Apprentice Corner, resume reviews and tips and a chance to brush up on interviewing skills with experts.  Attendees without military identification and tabs will need to show the Camp Murray gate guard their driver's license, proof of insurance and registration.  

The Washington National Guard strives to bring a broad range of services and support to our service members and their families.  Our "J9" Directorate is responsible for Deployment Cycle Support and Reintegration (Yellow Ribbon)Programs, Veterans Transition Assistance, the Family Programs Office, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Coordinator, Suicide Prevention,Chaplain, the Employer Support to the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) office, and the Director of Psychological Health.

A Washington State guardsman died from non-combat related injuries after staying in Iraq while his unit returned home.  The story is here.

CAMP MURRAY, Wash. - A Washington National Guardsman serving with the Mississippi National Guard in Iraq passed away on Thursday, February 25. 

Sergeant William Spencer, age 40 from Tacoma, sustained an injury in Iraq and was evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany where he later passed away. 

The cause of his injury was not combat related and is currently under investigation.

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of Sergeant Spencer.  The entire state stands with me in expressing our gratitude for his service and our condolences to his family," said Governor Chris Gregoire.

Sergeant Spencer served with the Washington Army National Guard's 81st Brigade Combat Team in Iraq through August 2009, and opted to stay in Iraq with the Mississippi Army National Guard when the 81st returned home.  He previously served in the U.S. Air Force before joining the WAARNG.  Details for a memorial service are not yet available as arrangements are still being made.

Approximately 300 members of The Washington National Guard are currently serving in locations around the world.

(Courtesy Washington National Guard press release)

CAMP MURRAY, Wash. — The Washington National Guard will welcome home from Afghanistan approximately 25 citizen soldiers on Saturday.

The soldiers belong to the Washington Army National Guard's Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 741st Ordinance Battalion (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) based in Tacoma. They are returning home after a year-long deployment serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.  

"The members of the 741st provided critical support to our forces in Afghanistan and we congratulate them on a job well done," said Major General Timothy J. Lowenberg, the Adjutant General and Commander of the Washington National Guard.

Their missions in Afghanistan primarily focused on providing command and control to assigned forces, coordinating tactical support and conducting assessments and analysis to determine EOD priorities of support. 

(Courtesy Camp Murray Public Affairs)

Here's the story from Iraq.

KATU TV reports that Washington Guard soldiers would like to come home for the holidays before deploying to Afghanistan, but they may be stuck at Fort McCoy due to a lack of funds. Meanwhile, one Oregon vet is trying to raise the funds.

J.M. SIMPSON: WASHINGTON GUARD AND THAILAND WORK TOGETHER >>>

The Washington National Guard is busy.

Dedicated to the mission of safeguarding lives and property in Washington state, the Guard also ably serves overseas.

"Citizen soldiers offer a wealth of experience and knowledge," said Maj. Wil Johnston, director, State Partnership Program (SPP).

Created in 2002, the SPP maintains a long-term relationship designed to share the military's "best practices" with civilian authorities, emergency management, disaster planning, port security, hazardous materials/weapons of mass destruction (HAZMAT/WMD) response initiatives and airport security.

Specific to Washington, the Kingdom of Thailand is the other half of the partnership program.

The State Partnership Program began in 1821 when American envoy Edmund Roberts oversaw the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the two countries.

Since then, the relationship between the two countries has grown.

Of vital interest to both countries is the protection of the ports of Bangkok and Leam Chabang.

"Helping the Thais to protect their ports from a terrorist attack or natural disaster is of vital concern to us," said Col. Scott Elder, a ranking member of the Joint United States Military Advising Group – Thailand (JUSMAGTHAI).

Over 90 percent of the country's gross national product (GNP) comes through the ports.

The SPP facilitates economic, commercial, social and cultural government interactions in addition to military-to-military exchanges.

For the visiting 16 civilian (firefighters and medical personnel) and government officials (national security council) from Thailand, the program offers an opportunity to share information specific to disaster and terrorist response.

"Thailand and the United States help each other," continued Elder.

"They've been very cooperative in helping us with humanitarian aid efforts and in fighting terrorism."

As for the present, the Thai delegation recently traveled to the HAMMER (Hazardous Materials Management And Emergency Response) training facility at Hanford.

"This experience has been good for us," commented Mr. "Bobby," an emergency medical service officer.

"In Thailand we make a lot of assumptions when we train; here in America you make it real."

He had hit the nail on the head.

Opened in 1997, the 586 square mile HAMMER center is utilized by law enforcement, members of the first responder community and other agencies that require specific training.

"We accomplish a lot of very important and good training here," pointed out Brad Jackson, a program manager for civil support team training, as he showed the Thai delegation around the facility.

Everything from radioactive detection training and fire suppression to decontamination procedures, weapons training and rescue from confined quarters was viewed.

The cooperation between the Washington National Guard and the Kingdom of Thailand has benefited both entities.

As the Thai delegation boarded a Chinook to make the trip back to Fort Lewis, one Thai delegate turned and said, "This has been very good for us, and we are honored to have been here."

Photo: Members of a civilian and governmental delegation from the Kingdom of Thailand board a Washington Army National Guard Chinook after a visit to the HAMMER (Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response) training facility at Hanford. Photography by J.M. Simpson