NGAUS Awards

Two National Guardsmen who risked their lives to save another person in separate incidents, a governor and a U.S. senator who is a former governor, top this year’s NGAUS individual awards.

The association board of directors approved a total of 102 awards for 2026 at its March meeting.

The board moved the awards process to earlier in the year to make it easier for recipients to plan to attend the annual NGAUS conference. Awards approval historically had been during the July meeting.

The 148th General Conference & Exhibition is set for Aug. 28-31, 2026, in Indianapolis.

Illinois Army Guard Maj. Peter Pogwizd and Nevada Air Guard Senior Master Sgt. Kraig J. Kimball earned the Valley Forge Cross for Heroism for pulling drivers from burning cars.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who was her state’s governor before her election to the Senate, received the association’s highest honor, the Harry S. Truman Award (photo above).

NGAUS presents the award for “sustained contributions of exceptional and far-reaching magnitude to the defense and security of the United States in a manner worthy of recognition at the national level.”

The Iowa National Guard Officers Association nominated Reynolds for the award. Army Maj. Gen. Stephen E. Osborn, the adjutant general of Iowa, endorsed the nomination. Reynolds has been Iowa governor since 2017.

Retired New Hampshire Air Guard Col. Steven F. Greco, a member of the NGAUS board, nominated Shaheen, a co-chair of the Senate National Guard Caucus.

She was governor of New Hampshire from 1997 to 2003. She is nearing the end of her third six-year term in the Senate.

New Hampshire Gov. Kelly A. Ayotte, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Army Maj. Gen. David J. Mikolaities, the adjutant general of New Hampshire, endorsed Shaheen.