New York National Guard Office of the Adjutant General

Your Missions are Essential at Home and Overseas

Command Message By Major General Michel Natali,
Assistant Adjutant General, Army

The New York Military Forces continue to be always ready and always there to respond to the calls of our State and Nation. More than ever, our missions in 2024 validate that sentiment.

Global and domestic deployments, state active-duty missions, training and readiness partnerships as well as building and sustaining personnel strength all featured prominently among the year’s successes.

It has been a year of significant milestones which could not have happened without our people who are at the heart of all we do.

Our recruiting and retention efforts in the New York Army and Air National Guard continue to exceed national standards.

As of October 1st, the Army Guard stood at 11,168 fully qualified assigned Soldiers, or 108% above authorization, while our Air Guard is at 5,772 qualified assigned, or 103% above authorization.

I want to thank our recruiting and retention professionals, battalion career counselors and command teams throughout the force for building and sustaining our personnel levels setting the standard for the National Guard.

Thanks for this accomplishment, also our currently serving Soldiers and Airmen, who refer their friends, peers or relatives to join our formations. Your personal endorsement of a military career informed by your own experiences in the New York National Guard is as important as a supportive network of friends and family to a new servicemember and reinforces trust within the organization.

Your referrals illustrate that we are all part of the recruiting and retention effort. Thank you for inspiring others to serve.

Globally, our National Guard remains a vital contributor of forces instrumental to national defense and force projection overseas.

In 2024, the Soldiers of the 222nd Military Police company returned from an Eastern Europe deployment supporting US European Command elements deployed in the Baltic states.

The 101st Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 642nd Aviation Support Battalion, and detachments of the 1st Battalion,126th Aviation and the 4th Finance Detachment completed deployments to the Middle East while the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the 105th Airlift Wing supported Exercise African Lion in Tunisia and Marocco in support of US Africa Command.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 224th Aviation, and the 1569th and 1427th Transportation companies completed Southwest Border deployments supporting US Northern Command. The joint New York and New Jersey, 173rd Cyber Protection Team also mobilized in support of U.S. Cyber Command.

The 109th Airlift Wing continued its support to the National Science Foundation in Antarctica and Greenland, while reinforcing partner capacity with Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command. This is vital to the national Arctic Strategy.

New York’s newly forged partnership with the Kingdom of Sweden, signifies the confidence that the Department of Defense has in the New York National Guard’s reputation. This endorsement illustrates national leaders trust in our capacity and future potential to collaborate with one of NATO’s newest members.

The future will see the 42nd Infantry Division deploy to the Middle East and 206th MP Company go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as the New York National Guard continues to contribute to the needs of the theater combatant commanders.

Here at home, our state active duty missions continue to provide ready, reliable and flexible capability to civil authorities across New York.

The year 2024 began with a snowstorm in western New York, in which members from across New York Military Forces provided assistance.

As I write this column New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have deployed to North Carolina and Florida to assist with recovery efforts in areas devastated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Enduring federal and state active-duty missions here in New York provide enabling capability to law enforcement and community-based organizations confronting illicit drugs in our communities, conduct vulnerability studies of critical key facilities and cyber infrastructure and provide capabilities in the event of a response to a chemical biological, radiologic or nuclear disaster.

Our servicemembers continue to be a deterrent and responsive presence in the New York City transportation system as fully integrated public safety partners.

And in New York City, Buffalo and Rochester our servicemembers remain instrumental in providing relief to stressed public service providers on the asylum seeker resource mission.

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