Adjutant General Reflects on Busy Year for Missouri National Guard

By Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Danner
Adjutant General, Missouri National Guard

As I reflect on 2011, I am filled with pride at what your Missouri National Guard soldiers and airmen accomplished at home and abroad. They faced some of the toughest challenges in our organization's history, and bested them all.

Your Missouri National Guard soldiers and airmen maintained their integral role in overseas contingency operations. They flew the first sorties over Libya. They continued the fight in Afghanistan. They were among the last troops to leave Iraq. They supported peacekeeping operations in the Sinai peninsula and security operations in Qatar. More than 1,000 of our soldiers and airmen are currently deployed.

Their sacrifices are great, and their sense of service immense. In my nearly 40-year military career, I have seen no finer embodiment of those ideals than
in the Pharris family. In January, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Pharris was killed while deployed to Afghanistan. I had the honor to meet his son, Benjamin, a Marine who was also serving in Afghanistan but was able to return home for
his father's funeral. Ten months after the funeral, with his mother by his side, Benjamin further honored his father by enlisting in the Missouri National Guard.

This year, we've needed that strength more than ever. Our state has faced record flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, our worst blizzard in decades, and one of the deadliest tornados in American history. Under Gov. Jay Nixon's leadership, our soldiers and airmen guided our state through all these challenges.

We have shown the rest of the world how to face down major emergencies.

More than 2,100 Missouri National Guard soldiers and airmen mobilized to respond to state emergencies this year. They performed so well, Gov. Nixon gave the Missouri National Guard new responsibilities. We were the lead agency providing state oversight for the federal debris removal effort.

We also played an integral role in the Disaster Recovery Jobs Program, which employed local citizens after disasters.

For all our successes, we didn't do it alone.

In every community, local citizens became heroes, working tirelessly to save their communities. Our partners in SEMA, the Department of Public Safety, the Missouri Highway Patrol, the Department of Economic Development, and other state agencies worked tirelessly for our fellow Missourians.

Federal partners, also, came to the table with different missions and capabilities but with the same basic goal: to protect good people from bad things.

And that's what we did.

That's what we will always do.

The National Guard remains a dedicated, cost-effective, mission effective force. We've met every overseas mission, and proved this year that there is no challenge that we can't face at home. We appreciate the faith that Gov. Nixon has shown in us this year, as well as the support communities from the Bootheel to the Iowa border.

As we move into 2012, you can expect the same high level of service from your soldiers and airmen. They remain, locally and globally, always ready and always there. I thank them all for their service.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and safe new year.