Department of Defense

NGAUS has been busy since the federal government shutdown began Oct. 1 informing Congress and the press on the harm the lapse in appropriations is doing to National Guard readiness and Guard Soldiers and Airmen and their families.

With a potential conflict on the horizon, the Department of War is prioritizing preserving its key military advantage over China — U.S. command and control, or C2.

The continuing government shutdown is uniquely hard on the Soldiers and Airmen of the National Guard. We have thousands of full-time Guardsmen nationwide who wear their uniform and rank every workday but, unlike their active-duty brothers and sisters, they have yet to be paid in October.

The National Guard Bureau today operates with two of its four senior positions filled by leaders in an “acting” capacity with less than the correct rank. In fact, NGB has not had all four posts filled by Senate-confirmed officers of the appropriate rank in 16 months.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that active-duty service members would get paid today, despite the government shutdown that is now in its third week.

National Guard Bureau leaders traveled to Finland, Sweden and Norway late last month to strengthen the Guard’s security cooperation in Northern Europe.

Since Congress failed to pass normal appropriations or a stopgap budget before the start of the fiscal year on Tuesday, the federal government is officially shut down.

Physical fitness and combat training standards will be raised and scrutinized, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Tuesday told hundreds of generals, admirals and senior enlisted personnel from across the services and components.

The Air National Guard lost a fighter unit Sept. 23 when the Maryland National Guard formally ended the A-10C Thunderbolt II mission at Warfield Air National Guard Base outside of Baltimore.

The Air Force last week unveiled changes to its Physical Fitness Assessment and a new fitness program that will soon apply to all Airmen across the total Air Force.

In his most high-profile speech since becoming Air Force secretary in May, Troy Meink emphasized familiar themes — the necessity to modernize, the need to perfect readiness, and remaining focused on “taking care of our people.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Friday paid tribute to the U.S. military’s prisoners of war and personnel missing in action during a ceremony commemorating National POW/MIA Recognition Day.