Photo By Maj. Robert Taylor | Maj. Gen. Gary L. Sayler addresses the crowd during Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s...... read more read more
Prior to joining the Idaho National Guard in February of 1977, Maj. Gen. Gary Sayler had only visited Idaho once.
He grew up in North Dakota and graduated from North Dakota State University in 1971. After college, he drove through Idaho on his way to California to begin his career in the United States Air Force. He had no way of knowing he would return six years later or that he would retire as the state’s adjutant general and senior military officer four decades later.
GETTING TO IDAHO
Sayler earned his commission through North Dakota State University’s Air Force ROTC program. He enjoyed shooting so originally he joined the school’s Army ROTC program because it had an indoor firing range. He soon transferred to the Air Force because it provided him an opportunity to do something he truly loved: flying airplanes.
After graduation, Sayler earned his navigator wings and spent the next five years flying the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II for the U.S. Air Force, during which time he completed a tour to Vietnam. Following his combat tour, he decided to join the North Dakota Air National Guard.
He had already interviewed and accepted a position in a North Dakota unit before learning about the Idaho Air National Guard. Through a mutual friend, Sayler met Greg Sali, an Idaho Air National Guardsman, who told Sayler about the organization, which sparked the interest in the Idaho Air Guard. It was then Sayler decided to make his second visit to Idaho, this time to learn more about the unit and the area.
He ultimately accepted a position with the 190th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron of the Idaho Air National Guard and moved to Boise in 1976. He was a traditional Airman with no intentions of working full-time for the organization until 1978, when Sali told him about a federal technician position that was about to open in the unit.
Sali, who also applied for the flight instructor position, helped Sayler complete his application; however Sayler was selected, and he has worked full-time for the Idaho National Guard ever since. He will retire Oct. 31 after 40 years of service to the state.
Sayler was selected as the state’s 24th adjutant general in January 2010. As the adjutant general, he serves as commander of the Idaho National Guard while also overseeing the Idaho Military Division state employees to include the Idaho Office of Emergency Management.
During the past seven years, the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team and the 124th Fighter Wing, the state’s two largest combat units, have both deployed under Sayler’s command. The Idaho Army National Guard’s Orchard Combat Training Center is continuing to expand, and the Idaho Air National Guard is a strong contender for the Air Force’s newest and most advanced aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II.
In addition, several new programs were established under Sayler’s command that will continue to impact the Idaho National Guard and the community of Idaho for decades to come.
“I just built on what people before me have been working on,” Sayler said, describing his accomplishments as the state’s commanding general.
As Sayler enters his retirement, he looks back at six areas that have stood out the most to him during his tenure as the commander of the Idaho National Guard.
ORCHARD COMBAT TRAINING CENTER
The Orchard Combat Training Center has existed for decades. During Sayler’s career, he has seen the land located 25 miles outside of Boise grow from an open space to a defined training complex. The land used to be primarily used only by Idaho Army National Guard units. Today, Active Duty and National Guard units from across the country train at the site.
During Sayler’s command tour, the Idaho Army National Guard has continued to develop the facilities and increase the number of Soldiers who train and work on the training range. The OCTC’s infrastructure and facilities have both improved and expanded vastly during the past seven years and are expected to continue to do so over the next several years.
“I’m happy I was just able to help it take that next step toward the goal of becoming one of the top-notch Army training facilities in the United States,” Sayler said. “A lot of people have done a lot of work to make that happen, it’s just nice to be part of that evolution.”
The training site will continue to become more valuable to the Army National Guard as it continues to increase its operational tempo.
“There’s no way for units to go to war without it,” Sayler said. “We can’t afford the 180 days it takes to get a unit prepared and ready to go. The timing has to be quicker.”
Sayler compared the change in the Army National Guard’s operational tempo after 9/11 to the same change he went through as a member of the Air National Guard after the first Gulf War, which saw the Air National Guard go from a strategic reserve to an operational reserve of the U.S. Air Force.
“It makes it harder for a traditionalist,” he said. “We demand more than ever out of our traditional Guardsmen. The idea of one weekend a month, 15 days a year is no longer true, whatsoever. The challenge for leadership is to help a traditional service member balance families with civilian work schedules with their Guard commitment and other duties.”
“It’s a delicate balance and we can’t over commit them because the strength of the National Guard is its traditional members, but we don’t want to send them on deployments underprepared. It’s a lot tougher than it used to be to make all that work.”
ARMY AVIATION
The Idaho Army National Guard’s 1-183d Aviation Battalion (Attack) is in the process of transitioning the AH-64D Apache Longbow to the UH60 A/L Black Hawk.
The loss of the Apache aircraft in the Idaho Army National Guard was due to the Army’s decision to consolidate all Apaches to Active duty units. However, the National Guard was able to convince Congress to start a commission to study the future of the Army. As a result of that, the Army National Guard was able to keep four Apache battalions. Idaho was not selected as one of those four battalions and is in the process of transitioning to an all-Black Hawk battalion.
“It was a bitter pill to swallow, but the end results are very positive for Idaho,” Sayler said.
The battalion will receive more Black Hawks than the number of Apaches it lost. In addition, Sayler said the Black Hawks will integrate more with the National Guard’s state mission: responding to state and local emergencies.
BEYOND THE A-10
The 124th Fighter Wing was one of only three Air National Guard units with two flying missions from 1995-2009 when it flew both the A-10 Thunderbolt II and C-130 Hercules. Sayler was the wing commander for the majority of that time, from 1995-2004.
The decision to remove the C-130s from the wing’s fleet was made by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process but didn’t go into effect until 2009, leaving the Idaho Air Guard with only A-10s.
The A-10s were originally scheduled to be removed from the Air Force’s inventory before their use during the first Gulf War, which prolonged their service life. However, the aircraft were built in the 1970s and can only fly so many more hours until they are permanently grounded. The looming deadline means that the Idaho Air National Guard must continue to look for new flying missions to remain a relevant flying force.
Gowen Field is one of five bases currently under consideration by the Air Force to base its newest fighter aircraft, the F-35.
“This is a very critical time in the Air Guard,” Sayler said. “The F-35 will give the Idaho Air National Guard a mission for the next 40 – 50 years.”
Securing the mission for the future of the Idaho Air National Guard has been one of Sayler’s top priorities the past several years. The Air Force is expected to select two National Guard F-35 bases soon. If Idaho is not selected, Sayler said the Air Guard will fly A-10s until they go out of the Air Force’s inventory, hoping to convert to the F-35s at that time.
The C-130 was one of the four aircraft that Sayler flew in his career. He also flew the F-4C and the F-4G. An F-4 with his name on it sits next to the 124th Fighter Wing headquarters on Gowen Field alongside the many aircraft that have flown on the base since the early 1940s.
The Idaho Air National Guard added a cyber squadron in 2015. The squadron is still in the process of standing up and will be another important mission to the state and nation, Sayler said.
IDAHO YOUTH ChalleNGe ACADEMY
Sayler worked with Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and the state legislature to establish the Idaho Youth ChalleNGe Academy in 2013.
The Youth ChalleNGe Academy is a volunteer program for 16-18-year-old students who are at risk of dropping out or have dropped out of high school. The 17 and-a-half-month program, located in Pierce, Idaho, gives those students the chance to get caught up academically to either graduate with their high school class, graduate with a degree from the program itself or to test for the General Education Development credential.
Students can earn a year’s worth of credits in five months while participating in various services to the community, learning about vocational trades and potential careers, and helping with the maintenance and cleanup of the school’s campus.
More than 600 students have graduated from the Idaho Youth ChalleNGe Academy. The program tracks students for a year after they complete the academic requirements. Students are considered a success if they return to high school and graduate; are employed; join the military; or continue to perform services in their community. Idaho’s graduates have a 90 percent success rate based on this criteria.
“It’s been very gratifying to see the program continue to grow,” Sayler said. “Gov. Otter gets letters monthly from parents who have seen major changes in their children when they complete the academy. They talk about saving their children’s lives and transforming them.”
Across the country, 28 states and Puerto Rico participate in the National Guard program.
When Sayler was the assistant adjutant general, Idaho Air National Guard, a position he held from 2004-2010, he worked with the state’s former adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Larry Lafrenz, to add Idaho to the National Guard’s waiting list to receive a program.
When he became the adjutant general in 2010, he worked with the Department of Defense to establish the program in Idaho and then spent three years working with the state legislature to receive the necessary funding. The state contributes 25 percent of the funding and the federal government provides the remaining 75 percent. Students do not pay to attend the academy.
There are 115 students in the current class, which is about the most the program can accommodate without expanding its classrooms and student dormitories. The campus is located at a former elementary school in Pierce and provides a number of full-time jobs to Pierce residents. Sayler worked with city officials to acquire use of the property at no cost to the state or the Idaho National Guard.
When the program first started, Guard officials had to travel to schools across the state to inform them about the program. Sayler said they were met with skepticism, but now the program has a waiting list.
“We’ve gone from a program no one knew about to now having to turn kids away,” Sayler said. “It’s been remarkable to see that growth.”
STARBASE
Following the success of the Youth ChalleNGe Academy, Idaho will stand up STARBASE in early 2018. Though Sayler will be retired by then, he’s worked the past few months to bring the program to the state.
Unlike the Youth ChalleNGe Academy, which focuses on high school students and is located in Northern Idaho, STARBASE will work with fifth grade students and be located on Gowen Field. For five weeks, students will come to Gowen Field once a week to complete the science, technology, engineering and mathematics-based program.
“We’re citizen Soldiers and Airmen and our primary function is to war fight, but we’re citizens and we live here,” Sayler said. “We have friends and neighbors that have kids that drop out of school and who don’t have access to STEM. This is a way for us to give back to our citizens and neighbors.”
The education program is sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs and is located in 42 states and territories on bases and posts from all branches of the military.
Students will participate in “hands-on, mind-on” STEM activities while receiving 25 hours of simulating experiences. The program’s focus is on reaching students that go to schools without strong STEM programs, bussing them to Gowen Field throughout the school year.
“There’s a need and we bring a lot to the table,” Sayler said. “The community helps us when we deploy. So we want to help our community when and where we can.”
Sayler said it’s important to let students come visit the Idaho National Guard to see how STEM is integrated into what the Guard does on a daily basis.
He said the program isn’t a recruiting campaign but a campaign to expose students to a career field by exposing them to things they might not otherwise be aware.
“It’s another way to give back to the state and country,” he said. “We’re all about service, whether it’s internationally or domestically.”
STATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
Like the Idaho Youth ChalleNGe Academy, Idaho’s involvement in the National Guard’s State Partnership Program started during a conversation between Sayler and Lafrenz when Sayler was the assistant adjutant general. That conversation led to Idaho’s partnership with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.
Sayler was part of Idaho’s first delegation to Cambodia to finalize the partnership between the two countries in August 2009. It was the first time he had been to Cambodia since flying combat missions with the Air Force over the country during the Vietnam conflict.
Since then, Idaho Soldiers and Airmen have made several trips a year to Cambodia to facilitate the exchange of ideas, capabilities, training and experience between the Idaho National Guard and the RCAF.
“Our Soldiers and Airmen helping out in the international community has been as extremely rewarding experience for our organization as a whole,” Sayler said. “Learning to work with and being prepared to operate with our foreign partners is critical to the way we do business in the military today. Our personnel, to include myself, have benefited personally and professionally from this exposure to Cambodian culture.”
Currently, the Idaho National Guard SPP missions are the only U.S. military missions the Cambodian government allows to happen within its borders, which is evidence of the value the partnership provides each country.
“These partnerships are long lasting,” Sayler said. “As long as we continue down this road, it will serve the nation well. I hope that we continue a strong relationship.”
Idaho is currently seeking a second partner nation to expand the Idaho National Guard’s involvement in the State Partnership program.
BEYOND THE BLUE
Sayler and his wife, Shari, live in Kuna. Sayler plans to spend his retirement traveling, spending time with his friends and family and staying active.
“I can’t imagine not doing something,” Sayler said. “I see myself doing more farming and I might even consider a part time job; but, I mostly look forward to spending more time with my wife and family.”
Maj. Gen. Sayler will hand the reins over in an official change of command ceremony Sunday, Nov. 5 to Col. Michael Garshak.
| Date Taken: | 10.30.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 10.30.2017 18:43 |
| Story ID: | 253493 |
| Location: | BOISE, ID, US |
| Hometown: | KUNA, ID, US |
| Web Views: | 875 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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