az enlisted association newsletter - spring 2012
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I personally want to thank all
enlisted Airmen and Soldiers who
have or currently serve in the Ari-
zona National Guard. Your contin-
ued sworn pledge to preserve,
protect, and defend the Arizona
Constitution and United States
Constitution at home and abroad is
appreciated by the Arizona
Enlisted Association. Just as you
preserve and protect our Nation
and community, the Enlisted As-
sociation is hard at work to create,
maintain, and defend legislation
that provides adequate staffing,
pay, benefits, entitlements, equip-
ment and installations for the Na-
tional Guard. In early February I
had the opportunity to attend the
dual Enl is ted Associat ion
(EANGUS) and Officer Associa-
tion (NGAUS) Legislative Work-
shop in Arlington, VA. The pur-
pose of the workshop was to edu-
cate EANGUS and NGAUS chap-
ters throughout the US about cur-
rent legislation that impacts the
National Guard, show them how to
convey our message to individual
Congressional members, and actu-
ally meet with Congressional
members on Capitol Hill. I had the
privilege to meet with seven Ari-
zona Senate and House Legislative
Liaisons and two members of the
Arizona House of Representatives.
I advocated for their membershipon the National Guard Caucus, I
asked them to vote to support the
bill concerning granting Veteran
status to National Guard person-
nel, as well as support for a bill
concerning the pay disparity for
Veterans disability payments. We
discussed the value and cost sav-
ings the National Guard offers
versus use of Active Duty person-
nel for contingencies that may
arise in the future, and I asked fortheir continued support of the
Arizona National Guard.
As you know, the Department of
Defense budget for next year has
not been released yet; however,
cuts are expected to include force
reduction in personnel, cuts in
benefits, possible reductions in
operational systems, and possi-
ble base closures. EANGUS and
your local association (EANGA)
will keep you informed of pro-
posed recommendations tha
impact the National Guard as we
remain diligent in our support to
you and your family on Capitol
Hill. But, Legislators must hear
from you individually; you
should know who represents
your District in the House and
Senate, and I encourage you to
contact their offices with your
opinion. As an EANGUS mem-
ber, you should receive emails
regarding current legislation that
needs your attention. I encour-age all Citizen-Soldiers past and
present to become active in tell-
ing the story of how the National
Guard has answered the call for
our Nation for the last 375 years.
Check out the new EANGUS
website at www.eangus.org to
learn more! (Presidents message
is continued on pg 2)
Presidents Message
Announcing the 2012 AZ Enlisted Association State ConferenceIts time for the Annual AZNG
Enlisted Professional Develop-
ment Program and EANGA State
Conference! President Gary Jack,
along with the State Command
Sergeant Major Max Butler and
State Command Chief Master
Sergeant Daniel Irving invite all
enlisted personnel to attend. The
one day event will be held at the
Phoenix Marriott Hotel on 44th
Street just north of Loop 202.
Saturday will be filled with valu-
able training and activities for
both Army & Air NG personnel.
The Association hospitality suite
will be open on both Friday and
Saturday nights to provide lots of
fun, food, and music. Everything
is FREE to include the luncheon
on Saturday with a Professional
Development Guest Speaker. A
limited number of attendees will
be paid for attending the PD ses-
sion. If you are interested in
attending, please see your unit
First Sergeant or full-time staff
and complete and submit the
attached registration form NLT
Apr 15th. Hope to see you there!
SAVE THE
DATE!
April 27-28, 2012
Phoenix Marriott
HotelAZNG Prof Dev
Program and State
Conference
The Desert Chronicle
E N L I S T E D A S S O C I A T I O N N A T I O N A L G U A R D O F A R I Z O N A
Volume 3, Issue 1
Spring 2012
Legislative NewsHistoric NDAA signed
2
Its Election Time! 2
Member Spotlight
SSG Craig Wester
3
EANGUS National Conf
Long Beach, CA
3
Enlisted Association
rewards members...
4
State Conference
Registration Form
5
Inside this issue:
http://www.eangus.org/http://www.eangus.org/http://www.eangus.org/ -
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EANGA State Conference. If interested in
attending, contact your First Sergeant or unit
leadership to get on the attendee list. The
registration form MUST be completed by all
attendees and is attached to this newsletter.
I also encourage you to review the informa-
tion in this newsletter concerning the
EANGUS National Conference, which is being held in Long Beach, CA this year.
These are both great opportunities and I
hope you will consider attending!
Gary Jack, MSgt, AZ ANG
On 31 Dec 2011, the President signedthe Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA), a law thatincludes historic changes for theNational Guard. With its signing, theChief of the National Guard Bureau isnow a statutory member of the JointChiefs of Staff, one of the most signifi-cant changes to occur since the Militia
Act (otherwise known as the Dick Act)was signed in 1903 creating theNational Guard.
The law includes numerous provisionsthat demonstrate continued Congres-sional support for the National Guard'stransition to an operational force. The
law places the Chief of the NationalGuard Bureau on the Joint Chiefs ofStaff with the specific responsibility of
addressing matters related to the non-Federalized National Guard role in
homeland defense and civil supportmissions. The law also re-establishesthe Vice Chief of the National GuardBureau position at the three star level,authorizes certain activities of the StatePartnership Program, and requires acomprehensive report on intra-theatreairlift including both Title 10 and Title 32requirements. The law also includes animportant provision that modifies thecall-up authority of the Reserve Compo-nents to allow up to 60,000 membersordered to active duty other than duringtimes of war or national emergency.For further analysis of the NDAA go to:
http://www.ng.mil/ll/analysisdocs/FY2012/NGB-LL%20Analysis%20-%20FY12%20NDAA.pdf
FYI EANGUS continues to watch theprogress of HR1025/S491, Veteran
Status for Title 32 Guardsmen, which isstill in committee and has been sinceOctober 2011. The bill would extendhonorary Veteran status to NG/RCmembers who qualify for retirementafter 20 years but were never activatedlong enough to meet the current statu-tory requirement to attain Veteranstatus. Please contact your Congress-men and Senators to stop the delay andmove forward approval of these bills.
No, its not the Presidential Primaries.
were talking about the elections that
will be held on April 28th at the EANGA
State Conference. The AZ Enlisted As-
sociation is seeking candidates to run
for the following offices:
Vice-President, Air
VP, Junior Enlisted Affairs (E1-E6)
Secretary
Army Director
Director-At-Large (Army or Air)
Three Delegates to the EANGUS Conf
There are minimal requirements that
must be met to run for office; if inter-
ested, please contact TSgt EJ Causbie
at ejcause@hotmailcom for a copy of the By-
Laws and more info. All nominations must
be submitted to TSgt Causbie and VP Ben
Acosta ([email protected])
NLT April 24th.
In addition to holding elections for EANGA,
our Auxiliary will also be holding elections
for their offices of President, Vice-President
and Secretary/Treasurer. They will hold
their meeting at 10am on April 28th, room
TBA. We encourage spouses of our EANGUS
members to get involved in the Auxiliary
and run for office. The Auxiliary stand side-
by-side with EANGUS and are involved in
grassroots legislative letter writing as well
as support to our communities; i.e., Ronald
McDonald House, Family Readiness, etc.
Presidents message (continued from pg 1)
Historic NDAA Becomes Law
ITS ELECTION TIME !
You can make a difference by contacting
your Legislators; however there is also
power in numbers. Thats why its impor-
tant to belong to professional military
associations like EANGUS. Congressmen
react quickly on legislation that has a large
representation of support from their district.
Your Arizona Enlisted Association hasincreased its membership, but currently,
only 9% of enlisted Airman and Soldiers
belongwe have a total of 566 members
out of a potential of 6,600. Our goal is to
increase membership to 1,000 by the end of
this year. EANGUS/EANGA offers Associ-
ate, Corporate, and Auxiliary memberships
so everyone you know can join. Increasing
our membership is critical to sending the
message to our elected officials that Ari-
zona is behind the preservation of the Na-
tional Guard as an operational force.
Although our main focus is legislative,
EANGUS/EANGA also promotes profes-
sional development for its Airmen and
Soldiers. Your Arizona association is pro-
viding an opportunity on April 28 th as we
host 300 Soldiers and Airmen who are
authorized to attend the AZNG Professional
Development Program on a paid status.
This program is being conducted at the
Phoenix Marriott in conjunction with the
View the testimony by Senator Lindsey
Graham (SC) regarding the National Guard
Empowerment Act and his support of giving
the Chief, NGB a seat on the Joint Chiefs of
Staff: Go to: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=N2cy7q4CExk
Page 2 The Desert Chronicle
http://www.ng.mil/ll/analysisdocs/FY2012/NGB-LL%20Analysis%20-%20FY12%20NDAA.pdfhttp://www.ng.mil/ll/analysisdocs/FY2012/NGB-LL%20Analysis%20-%20FY12%20NDAA.pdfhttp://www.ng.mil/ll/analysisdocs/FY2012/NGB-LL%20Analysis%20-%20FY12%20NDAA.pdfhttp://www.ng.mil/ll/analysisdocs/FY2012/NGB-LL%20Analysis%20-%20FY12%20NDAA.pdfhttp://www.ng.mil/ll/analysisdocs/FY2012/NGB-LL%20Analysis%20-%20FY12%20NDAA.pdfhttp://www.ng.mil/ll/analysisdocs/FY2012/NGB-LL%20Analysis%20-%20FY12%20NDAA.pdfhttp://www.ng.mil/ll/analysisdocs/FY2012/NGB-LL%20Analysis%20-%20FY12%20NDAA.pdf -
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P.S. Conference lodging rates will be honoredthru the Labor Day weekend !
Information about the conference, registration,hotels and transportation is posted on theEANGUS website at www.eangus.org or atwww.visitlongbeach.com/EANGUS, or con-
tact us and well send you more information!
This month, EANGA is proud to highlight
one of the top Soldiers in the Arizona Army
National GuardSSG Craig Wester.
SSG Wester joined the Army as an 11B In-
fantryman in 1989 and served with the 82ndAirborne during Operation Desert Shield/
Desert Storm. Upon reenlisting, he reclassi-
fied and became a 68D Operating Room Spec
at Fort Lewis, WA, and in 1995, he volun-
teered for a tour as a Recruiter receiving
many awards to include the Top Active Army
Recruiter of the Year in 1997.
In 1999 he left the Army to pursue a civilian
career, but having always missed the Army,
he joined the Arizona Army National Guard
in July 2009. With a goal to lead, mentor and
develop Soldiers, he became a Recruiting and
Retention NCO for the AZARNG. Those
goals and his hard work, dedication, and dis-
ciplined work ethic led him to be selected as
the AZ RRNCO of the Year for FY11. He
recruited and shipped 38 individuals, exceed-
ing the recruiter standard of 24 recruits per
year. After also winning a Regional Competi-
tion, he was ultimately selected (out of a field
of over 3,000 NG Recruiters) as the 2011 Top
Recruiting and Retention NCO for the entire
Army National Guard. Congrats!
SSG Wester and his wife Chantal live in Gil-
bert, AZ where he supports his community,
often volunteering for Habitat for Humanity
and at the State Veterans Home.
SSG Wester is also a member of EANGUS,
and says he heard about the Association
during a unit AT. He likes the fact that
theres an organization thats run by current
and former enlisted personnel, and feels its
important for the Enlisted Corp to have
someone on our side that knows the ins and
outs of what we do and to fight for our
rights and benefits.
The EANGUS CSM Virgil Williams
Scholarship program offers at least
10, $2,000 scholarships.
The AZ Enlisted Association offers
3, $500 scholarships.
Application forms, eligibility criteria,
and instructions for each program may
be downloaded from the EANGA web
The Enlisted Association offers its
members and eligible dependents a
National and State Scholarship pro-
gram, as follows:
Grantham University: 1, $36,000
4yr full-ride scholarship. NLT
June 1st, apply on their website
at www.grantham.edu/
alliances/eangus-scholarship/
Long Beach, CAhere we come! EANGUS National Conference
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLEDeadline: 1 May
Another great opportunity to learn aboutEANGUS, attend military professionaldevelopment, hear from National Guardsenior leaders as well as Congressional rep-resentatives, network with other Soldiers andAirmen, (and a lot of fun).is the upcoming
EANGUS National Conference in Long
Beach CA, August 26-29, 2012.
The conference, to be attended by over 1800enlisted Army & Air NG personnel fromacross the US, will be held at the LongBeach Convention Center. Attendees fromAZ and Area VI have been allotted rooms atthe beautiful Renaissance Hotel; with a spe-
cial $123 a night conference lodging rate.
Roll with California is this years theme,
and with the conference location so close toArizona this is a perfect time to attend
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: SSG Craig Wester
Page 3
Your EANGUS POCs:
Area VI Chair:CSM-R Craig,[email protected]
Area VI Director:CMSgt-Ret Miller,[email protected]
site at www.eanga.org or contact State
Scholarship Chair, CSM Michael Sojourner
Completed applications must be post-
marked or hand-carried to CSM Sojourner
NLT May 1, 2012.
Winners will be announced in early August
with checks made payable to the college
of your choice.
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The Enlisted Association National Guard of the United States
(EANGUS) and the Enlisted Association National Guard of Arizona
(EANGA), exist to promote the status, welfare, and professional-
ism of the enlisted members of the National Guard and to
promote adequate National Security. The Association lobbies to
provide adequate full-time staffing, adequate pay and allowances,
adequate health, medical, family and death entitlements, incen-
tive benefits, first line equipment, resources, and weapons sys-
tems, and military construction.
Enlisted Association National Guard of Arizona5636 E. McDowell Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85008-3495
The real gifts afforded by EANGA go well
beyond home electronics and extend outside
its roster of current chapter members.Ac-cording to Master Sgt. Gary Jack, chapter
president and member of the 162nd, a larger
membership could translate to more bene-
fits for Arizona Guardsmen.
"The number of delegates we can send to
the national conference increases our voice
as a state," said Jack. "There may be issues
in the future that we as Arizona Guardsmen
want to push forward, and to have influence
we'll need that voting strength. It will mean
more to our elected state and federal leaders
if our association goes to them with propos-
als that have the backing of a large number
of Guardsmen."
Tech. Sgt. Pete Smith, from the 162nd
Fighter Wing's maintenance plans, schedul-
ing and documentation office, was surprised
Jan. 6 when members of the EANGA Ex-
ecutive Council presented him with a new
DVD player in his office at Tucson Interna-
tional Airport.
As a reward for participation in the associa-
tion, each month the Executive Council willrandomly draw a name from its pool of
chapter members to receive a prize.
"This is a new initiative at every unit in the
state to say 'thank you' to our current mem-
bership, and we hope it will draw attention
to the association among non-members and
perhaps encourage more people to join,"
said Staff Sgt. Christie Card, EANGA
Membership Chair.
"Essentially we are building a stronger Guard
for the younger people coming up behind us
who will one day take over, and to do it the
right way we're going to need their member-
ship," said Jack. "The association will never
fully know what's important to the junior
enlisted member unless those members join
and use their voices. What was important to
me as a junior enlisted member isn't the same
as what's important to our young troops today.
It's a whole new world."
"The Enlisted Association is your associa-
tion," said the chapter president. "What we do
and how we do it is based on the input we get
from our members. We're here so that when
the time comes, when members are called to
duty, there's a framework there to support
them and their families."
To read the entire story, go to: http://
www.162fw.ang.af.mil/news/story.asp?
id=123285447
Enlisted association rewards members, securesbenefits for allExcerpt of story by Maj. Gabe Johnson, 162nd FW PAO
Were on the Web at:
www.eangus.org
President: MSgt Gary Jack
Vice-President Air: CMSgt-Ret Dean [email protected]
Vice-President Army: SFC Bernardo M. Acosta
Vice-President Junior Enlisted: VACANT
Secretary: MSgt Heidi Estes
Treasurer: SMSgt Timothy Garrity
Membership Chair:
MSgt Joseph Duyck/SSgt Christie Card
Past President: MSgt David Morgan
Director Air: TSgt Earl Causbie
Director Army: SFC Tonya Gonzales
Director At Large: MSG DonCarlos Pagan
Director Retiree: CSM-R David Austin
Auxiliary President: Mary Hensell
Legislative First,Membership Always.
Win two 4-day general
admission tickets to Country
Thunder, 12-15 April in Florence, AZ!!
Raffle tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10. Drawing will
be April 5thContact SMSgt Teresa Denogean at
[email protected] for info on how to get
your raffle tickets. Proceeds support EANGA activities.
MSgt Richard Moore, EANGA Resolu-
tions Chair, presents DVD player to
TSgt Pete Smith, winner of an EANGA
membership drawing.
The winner of our latest
EANGA raffle for the
AR-15 Rifle is:
PFC Greyson Morley,
819th Engineer Company,
253rd Engr Bn, AZARNG
The next EANGA Executive Board
Meeting is scheduled for 1730 hrs,
Thurs, Apr 5th, at the Phoenix Marriott
Hotel restaurant. All enlisted personnel
are invited to attend.
https://webmail.west.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.162fw.ang.af.mil%252Fnews%252Fstory.asp%253Fid%253D123285447https://webmail.west.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.162fw.ang.af.mil%252Fnews%252Fstory.asp%253Fid%253D123285447https://webmail.west.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.162fw.ang.af.mil%252Fnews%252Fstory.asp%253Fid%253D123285447https://webmail.west.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.162fw.ang.af.mil%252Fnews%252Fstory.asp%253Fid%253D123285447https://webmail.west.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.162fw.ang.af.mil%252Fnews%252Fstory.asp%253Fid%253D123285447https://webmail.west.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.162fw.ang.af.mil%252Fnews%252Fstory.asp%253Fid%253D123285447https://webmail.west.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.162fw.ang.af.mil%252Fnews%252Fstory.asp%253Fid%253D123285447 -
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