From being one of the first three women in the state of Michigan to complete the Soldier of the Year competition in its entirety, to running marathons in her spare time, it seems there’s nothing Spc. Anna Shutes can’t do.
Spc. Shutes enlisted into the Michigan Army National Guard in August of 2013 and has spent her career as a Human Resources Specialist with the 246th Transportation Battalion impressing everyone she’s worked with. 2nd Lt. Alex Kraft says “As a brand new 2nd Lt. coming into a totally new branch, it's really reassuring for me to have Soldiers like Spc. Shutes on my team. She’s always looking for things to do, things that she can accomplish as well as ways to improve herself both as a leader and a Soldier and she’s done great things for this organization so far.”
In 2015 Spc. Shutes participated in the Governor’s 20 and she says, “It is what sparked my interest in being involved in the Guard.” Governor’s 20 was Shutes’ first experience outside of drill and was her first real opportunity to spend any amount of time at Grayling or with people in the Guard and her unit.
Spc. Shutes has gone above and beyond the standard in every aspect of her career, and is being rewarded for her hard work. This year Spc. Shutes was awarded the Rasmus Hanson Award on June 12, 2017. The award is given once a year to the most outstanding Soldier in the Michigan Army National Guard who holds the rank of Specialist/Corporal up to Staff Sgt. Mr. Rasmus Hanson donated the original piece of land that is now known as Camp Grayling and in tribute the Michigan Army National Guard selects a Soldier to receive the award every year. Each nominee is reviewed by a board of senior NCOs and Officers for the contributions to the Guard and their communities in the true spirit of the Hanson family.
During Northern Strike 17, Spc. Shutes is supporting the subordinate units of the 246th with their Human Resources needs while also putting together storyboards and taking pictures of the units to show off all of the amazing things the units are doing here in support of Northern Strike.
When Spc. Shutes isn’t doing outstanding things with the Guard she works at PNC Bank in Kalamazoo, and is a Nursing student at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. She spends most of her free time either running or at the gym, and just completed her first full marathon in May.