by SGT Katie Eggers, Wisconsin National Guard
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and first lady Tonette Walker hosted more than 750 Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers, Veterans and their Families at the executive residence in Madison last Oct. 1 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Wisconsin National Guard’s 32nd “Red Arrow” Division and the 70th anniversary of the Wisconsin Air National Guard.
The division’s heritage is carried on today by the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
“We live in the home of the free because of each and every one of you in uniform and all that you represent – not only in this State, but across this country,” Gov. Walker said, addressing the crowd.
He also recognized the service of National Guard Family members. “We know that our men and women in the Wisconsin National Guard wouldn’t be as spectacular as they were without the full support of Family and friends,” Gov. Walker said.
MG Don Dunbar, Wisconsin’s adjutant general, thanked the governor and first lady for opening their home and celebrating the Wisconsin National Guard before explaining the tradition of the National Guard and its meaning.
Invoking both the Soldier and Airman creeds, MG Dunbar made clear that while every member is 100 percent Soldier and 100 percent Airman, they are more.
“If you asked all of them, ‘What’s it all about?’ every one of them will tell you, ‘I am the Guard’,” MG Dunbar said. “The same Guard that was there in the earliest communities in 1636, that was there at Concord in 1775. … Fought to prevent the British [from burning] Washington, D.C., stood aligned in Baltimore, drove the Redcoats out of New Orleans. [Then] the Civil War, where Wisconsin made its first entry in defending the country and did magnificently. World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam.”
MG Dunbar emphasized the dual mission of the National Guard, highlighting recent instances where the Wisconsin National Guard responded to State emergencies. He cited the response to flooding in Burlington, Wis., in July 2017 and storm damage in northern Wisconsin over the past three years, as well as recent contributions to hurricane relief efforts in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
“It’s the same National Guard that’s on point tonight and will be on point next week, next year and for generations to come as long as we are blessed to have that flag flying over our country,” MG Dunbar said.
The first lady explained how the idea for the event came to her during a visit to Wisconsin Brewing Company, which collaborated with the University of Wisconsin to create a beer commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Red Arrow.
“It was at that moment when I looked back and thought we, Scott and I, really look up to all of [the National Guard members],” Mrs. Walker said. “We appreciate all the work you do, everything that you do for us, that you sacrifice, that you leave your Families.”
The day before the event, the 248th Aviation Support Battalion had a formal sendoff for its deployment to the Middle East. Another 150 Soldiers from the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation deployed to Kuwait last spring, and 35 Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation deployed to Afghanistan last winter.
Meanwhile, about 650 Wisconsin National Guard troops recently returned from Florida, where they provided humanitarian relief, security and traffic control support to communities after Hurricane Irma.
The Wisconsin National Guard is commemorating the centennial of the Red Arrow, which formed in 1917 as the 32nd Division as the United States entered World War I, with a two-year campaign called “Dawn of the Red Arrow.”
