About this episode
The citizen soldiers of the Army's National Guard component often lead different lives from their active duty counterparts. Geographically tied to their state units, they often live out their entire career in their home states spared of the constant moves the rest of the military endures. Guard units in years past have been overlooked for equipment modernization and training. But the wars that the United States has been involved in since 2001 have changed a great deal of those historic missteps. What once was a strategic reserve has now found itself with a much larger operational role. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Mike Flaherty and Pete Helzer, two graduates of the AY20 Resident Class of the Army War College, and guardsmen form Ohio and Oregon respectively. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to discuss their experiences throughout their careers and during their time in Carlisle. Mike and Pete share what they learned during their academic year and what they hope their active duty counterparts may have learned about the National Guard. This was our first podcast episode conducted remotely during the pandemic as you'll hear noted in the intro. We greatly appreciate Mike and Pete's patience as we worked through the process to utilize this capability. I know folks who are self-employed, own their own companies and well, they certainly have the flexibility to deal with themself as their employer, their business suffers, and in many cases, that can be unrecoverable. Pete Helzer is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Oregon Army National Guard. Mike Flaherty is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Ohio Army National Guard. Both of them are graduates of the AY20 Resident Class of the U.S. War College. Ron Granieri is an Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor of A BETTER PEACE. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Photo Description: (Top Left) Roughly 400 troops with the Winder-based 1st Battalion of the 121st Infantry Regiment advised and assisted Afghan security forces in 2019. (Top Right) Maj. Brent R. Taylor, 39, who was killed during an insider attack in Kabul on 3 Nov 18, was the mayor of North Ogden, a husband, and a father to seven young children. He epitomized the citizen soldier as a Utah National Guardsmen. (Bottom Right) Maj. Timothy A. Doherty of the 148th Medical Company, Georgia Army National Guard, helps a man up from a school building near downtown New Orleans after being stranded by the flood waters that ravished the city. The Army National Guard was mobilized to take part in Joint Task Force Katrina, a humanitarian assistance operation in an effort led by the Department of Defense in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Bottom Left) The First Muster by Don Troiani for the state of Massachusetts, 1637. First Muster, Spring 1637, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The birth of the United States National Guard Photo Credit:(Top Left) U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Casey Nelsen (Top Right) Unknown (Bottom Right) U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate First Class (AW) Brien Aho, Fleet Combat Camera, Atlantic (Bottom Left) Don Troiani