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A U.S. senator who has long championed National Guard personnel and readiness tops the list of 2025 NGAUS individual awards approved July 19 by the board of directors.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., a member of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, is the recipient of the 2025 Harry S Truman Award, the association’s highest honor.
NGAUS bestows the Truman 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.
Past recipients include presidents, members of Congress, governors and senior general officers.
The Wisconsin National Guard Association nominated Baldwin for the award.
“She has consistently gone above and beyond typical congressional support, demonstrating a deep commitment to the Wisconsin National Guard, the military community and out nation’s veterans throughout her career in the House, and now in the Senate,” wrote Maj. Gen. Matthew J. Strub, the adjutant general of Wisconsin, in his endorsement.
Baldwin served seven two-year terms in the House before her election to the Senate in 2012.
The Truman Award is a very distinctive-looking award. It features 13 hand-painted pewter Minutemen (above), representing the 13 original colonies.
Baldwin is one of seven elected officials among the 100 recipients of 2025 NGAUS individual awards.
Govs. Wes Moore, D-Md., and Mark Gordon, R-Wyo., and Reps. French Hill, R-Ark., and John Moolenaar, R-Mich., are recipients of the Charles Dick Medal of Merit.
The award recognizes the contributions to the Guard by elected representatives in legislative bodies at the state and national levels.
It’s named for the NGAUS president from 1902 to 1909, an Ohio National Guard major general, a member of the House and later the Senate.
He was the driving force behind the Dick Acts of 1903 and 1908 that established the foundation of the modern Guard.
In addition, Georgia State Rep. Josh Bonner and Mississippi State Sen. Josh Harkins will receive the Patrick Henry Award, which recognizes outstanding and exceptional service to the U.S military, the Guard or NGAUS by local officials and civil leaders.
Retired Maj. Gen. Ondra L. Berry, the adjutant general of Nevada from 2019 to 2024, is the recipient of the association’s second highest award, the Montgomery Medal.
Named for Rep. Sonny Montgomery, who is renowned for his support of the Guard during his 30 years in Congress, the award recognizes an individual (or organization) who provides outstanding support in the pursuit of the NGAUS objectives.
While Berry was the adjutant general, Nevada hosted two NGAUS conferences (2021 and 2023). He is now the association’s vice chair-Air.
The 2025 honorees also include 32 recipients of the Theodore Roosevelt Leadership Award for Company Grade Officers and 19 who will receive the Eagle Rising Award for Warrant Officers.
There are also eight recipients of the Valley Forge Cross for Heroism. They include five New Mexico Army Guard Soldiers — specialist to staff sergeant — who risked their lives to rescue several fellow citizens during flash floods in the state in 2024.
The complete list of 2025 NGAUS individual awards is available here.
Association officials will present many of the awards at the 147th General Conference & Exhibition, Aug. 22-25 in Milwaukee.
—By John Goheen
