Individual Award Nominees Sought

NGAUS is seeking nominations for the 2025 NGAUS Individual Awards Program.

Nominees should have demonstrated superior performance, committed acts of heroism or contributed significantly to National Guard effectiveness. Recent honorees have included elected officials, senior military leaders and Guard soldiers and airmen.

There are 12 separate individual awards.

Program details have been provided to every state and territory joint force headquarters and Guard association. This information is also available at www.ngaus.org/awards.

May 15 is the deadline for nominations. Most nominees will need the endorsement of their adjutant general. The exception is nominations directly from state and territory associations.

A five-person awards committee will review the nominations in June and make recommendations to the NGAUS board of directors for final approval in July. Recipients will be announced by Aug. 1.

The association will present many of the awards during the 147th General Conference & Exhibition, Aug. 22-25, 2025, in Milwaukee.

Last year, 28 states and territories nominated individuals for association awards last year. The NGAUS board approved 93 recipients, the highest total since 2008, and 54 accepted their awards in person at the 146th General Conference & Exhibition in Detroit.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and retired Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, the 29th chief of the National Guard Bureau, headlined the list of 2024 recipients. They were co-recipients of the Harry S. Truman Award, the association’s highest honor.

Nominations for the Army Guard and Air Guard unit awards presented at the conference must be submitted through NGB. These awards have different submission procedures and deadlines.

TOP PHOTO: The Harry S. Truman Award, the association’s highest honor, recognizes civilian or military leaders who have made sustained contributions of exceptional and far-reaching magnitude to the defense and security of the United States in a manner worthy of national recognition. (Photo by Greg Dohler)