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Mississippi Army National Guard 2nd Lt. Sawyer Walters came to Washington, D.C., last week “with a positive attitude” for the second NGAUS Capitol Summit of 2025.
Walters, who once worked full-time in the district office of former Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., said he was eager to learn more about the legislative process from the Capitol Hill perspective.
The two-day event, part of the association’s professional development program for company-grade officers, did not disappoint the member of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team.
Capitol Summit enabled him to spend an afternoon with staffers for Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Trent Kelly, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
He also got to hear from and pose questions to NGAUS leaders, Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, the Army Guard director, and Maj. Gen. Duke Pirak, the acting Air Guard director.
“I got to ask General Stubbs what can I do for my soldiers? How can I make sure that as we grow as an Army, that the National Guard is going to be there to grow?” said Walters.
“After his speech and telling me that he’s fighting for us and what he's doing … I was ready to run through a wall,” Walters added.
He was one of 42 company-grade officers at last week’s Capitol Summit. State and territory Guard associations can send one attendee each. NGAUS covers all the expenses.
One of the event’s goals is to inform future Guard leaders of the role the association plays in the legislative process.
“Every issue that we had, NGAUS showed us, ‘Hey, this is on the priority chart. We're already working on this,’” Walters said.
Other attendees gave similar feedback.
“I learned a lot about the legislative process,” said Capt. Matt Murray, a member of the New York Air Guard’s 174th Attack Wing. “I learned a lot about what NGAUS does on behalf of the Guardsmen across the 54. And I learned how accessible our government leaders are.”
Murray said he was able to meet with a staffer for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“We talked about how the Guard needs to catch up and needs to be on par with our active-duty counterparts in order to be ready to fight the fight for tomorrow,” Murray explained.
“We need the same equipment,” he said. “We can’t fight the war tomorrow today with yesterday’s equipment. We need the funding. We’re 40% of the fight, but we’re only a minimal percentage of the budget.”
NGAUS plans to hold two Capitol Summits next year. The association will announce the dates early next year.
“Reach out to your executive director, get your name on the list,” Murray advised to interested company-grades. “You get a strategic outlook at the tactical level. Normally, you have to wait until you are a field-grade officer to get this level of perspective.
“I’m sad I only get to do this once.”
—By John Goheen
