Photo By Staff Sgt. Melissa Wood | Director of the Army National Guard, Lt. Gen. William E. Ingram Jr., listens to the...... read more read more
Subscribe
HEIDELBERG, Germany – Lt. Gen. William E. Ingram Jr., returned to D.C. this weekend after an eight-day overseas tour, during which he visited Army National Guard soldiers under his command.
After being sworn in last November, the Army National Guard’s newly anointed director has traveled the world, thanking his troops for their tireless service during times of crisis. He also shared his vision for the Army National Guard, or ARNG, reassuring soldiers that the Guard will continue to play a vital role in our nation’s defense well into the future.
“George Washington said we need a small standing Army and a ready standing militia,” Ingram explained during his visit here last Tuesday. “We are the reversibility and standing insurance policy for this nation.”
During back-to-back trips spanning from Indiana, to across the Atlantic in Kuwait and Germany, the general touted the Guard’s mobility and quick response time, which he said active duty units find difficult to match.
“We have an experienced, competent and ready force who are willing to participate in whatever way they can,” Ingram said.
During a speech commemorating the Guard’s 375th anniversary, Gen. Craig McKinley, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, also made note of the 40,000-plus National Guard soldiers who are currently deployed to over eighty countries, playing a critical role in both domestic and international operations.
“Throughout our history, the Guard has often been an invisible but vital force,” McKinley said. “When a domestic crisis hits or the call to arms is declared, the National Guard transforms, emerging from the general population to serve as citizen soldiers and airmen.”
Ingram said the nation’s return on investment in ARNG mobilizations is the highest of any other organization, especially among those critical to national defense.
“That’s the beauty of the Guard and Reserve,” he said. “We’re like temps, only we don’t cost as much.”
With deductions in funding for national defense looming over today’s armed forces, Ingram is dedicated to securing a position of stability for the ARNG, attempting to insulate it from immanent government cut backs.
“As the active Army gets smaller, maybe it’s time to invest a little more in the Guard and Reserve,” he said. “The capital that you put into the Guard gives enormous returns. It couldn’t be
Ingram spoke of repositioning the ARNG in order to withstand the many challenges that may lie ahead.
“With the draw down of Iraq and Afghanistan, resources are going to diminish at a very rapid rate,” he said. “We need to go back a decade and model after what our force looked like back then.”
Above all else, Ingram was adamant that strong leadership will make the difference between the success or eventual disappearance of the Army National Guard.
“We’re better than ever,” he said Tuesday to a group of ARNG commissioned and non-commissioned officers, or NCOs. “Our NCO corps is stronger than it’s ever been. Just give us a job, and we’ll get it done.”
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2012 09:58 |
| Story ID: | 92685 |
| Location: | HEIDELBERG, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, DE |
| Web Views: | 142 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Director of the Army National Guard, Lt. Gen. William E. Ingram, Jr., tours Germany to assess, encourage National Guard soldiers, by SSG Melissa Wood, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
