Soldiers competed in the 55th annual Winston P. Wilson Championship
Eight North Dakota National Guard Soldiers competed in the 55th annual Winston P. Wilson Championship at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, held April 24–May 1, earning top individual and team honors among a field of 53 teams in total, equaling 211 competitors. North Dakota Alpha team won the team competition taking 1st out of 53 teams. This is North Dakota’s second time winning as a team, the last time was 2016. The team consisted of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Tyler Goldade, Joint Force Headquarters; U.S. Army Maj. John Kelly, JFHQ; U. S. Army 1st Sgt. Dan Wieland, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery; and U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Andrew Maley, Headquarters Support Company, 141 Maneuver Enhance Brigade. Alpha Team secured first place in the Rapid Pistol Close Quarter Battle and Covering Fire team matches, placed second in Know Your Limits and the National Guard Infantry Team match, and finished third in the Combat Rifleman match. Individually, Goldade finished first in the Overall Individual Rifle Aggregate, beating all 211 competitors. He also earned his 12th consecutive Chief’s 50 Badge in both rifle and pistol. Wieland earned the Chief’s 50 Badge in both rifle and pistol for the first time and picked up eight Excellence in Competition pistol points in the EIC Pistol match. Maley secured his third Chief’s 50 Badge in rifle. Chiefs 50 Marksmanship Badge is a prestigious award presented by the National Guard Bureau to the top 50 competitors; historically, the top rifle and pistol shooters at the annual Winston P. Wilson Rifle and Pistol Championships. It signifies exceptional marksmanship, which has evolved from target shooting to combat-focused, small-arms proficiency. Bravo Team finished 28th overall. The team included U.S. Army Master Sgt. Nick Milbrath, Headquarters Support Company, 141st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade; U.S. Army Master Sgt. Mark Stenberg, HSC 141 MEB; and U. S. Army Sgt. Jacob Hite, HSC, 141 MEB; along with U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Dustin Kirschenmann, Joint Force Headquarters. Milbrath earned six Excellence in Competition pistol points in the EIC Pistol match. Individual placing with both pistol and rifle: ALPHA: 1/53
- Goldade placed 3rd overall
- Wieland placed 11th
- Maley placed 15th
- Kelly placed 49th
Bravo: 28/53
- Milbrath placed 26th
- Hite placed 82nd
- Stenberg placed 114th
- Kirschenmann placed 121st
Memorial Day Event
Soldiers Showcase Careers, Equipment to Local Students
Soldiers spent the week of April 27 sharing real‑world experience, career opportunities and hands-on equipment with students at the Bismarck Public Schools Career Academy and Mandan High School. Guard members spoke with students about military career paths, training and educational benefits, while also demonstrating gear and equipment used in daily operations. The interactive visits allowed students to handle equipment, ask questions and learn about missions the Guard performs across the state and around the world. "The goal was to give students more than a routine classroom visit," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Sam Kroll, Recruiting and Retention Battalion. "This was a firsthand look at what service can provide, from technical skills to leadership experience." The outreach events were part of an ongoing effort by the North Dakota National Guard to engage with local communities and highlight opportunities available to young people interested in service.
U.S. Soldiers with the Nebraska and North Dakota National Guards, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, pose for a group photo at a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, April 28, 2026. About 2,500 National Guard members are supporting the mission, providing critical assistance to the Metropolitan Police Department to help ensure the safety of residents, commuters and visitors throughout the district. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Norris)
New Emergency Operations Center
Togolese Armed Forces Chief of Defense Staff, Brigadier General ALLAHARE and North Dakota National Guard adjutant general, U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Johnson, with support from U.S. Embassy Lome Chargé d’Affaires McClure led the first ever Country Coordination Meeting in Lomé, Togo, last week, co-hosted by the Togolese Armed Forces and United States Africa Command. This milestone engagement strengthened the security cooperation between the United States and Togo. This advances shared security priorities, enhancing regional stability, and reinforcing a joint commitment to peace, resilience, and collective security that contributes to a safer West Africa and the safety of Americans as well.
African Lion 2026 MEDREX
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Josh Breding, general dentist, 119th Medical Group, gives remarks to the media on the medical readiness exercise at the 37th Military Hospital in Accra, Ghana, May 06. Part of African Lion 2026, this MEDREX is planned and executed by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, and prepares U.S. military health professionals for the challenges of providing care outside of traditional clinical settings. By working alongside African partners, U.S. medical professionals refine their ability to deliver rapid, adaptable, and resource efficient medical care, directly increasing medical readiness for large scale combat operations. AL26 is U.S. Africa Command's largest annual joint exercise, designed to strengthen collective security capabilities of the U.S., African nations and global allies. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa from April 20 to May 8, 2026, and hosted in Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, AL26 involves over 5,600 civilian and military personnel from more than 40 nations, using innovation to drive partner-led regional security. U.S. Army photos and story by Staff Sgt. Catessa Palone, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa
Do You Have a Brain? Then You Have Mental Health.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month IPPW-Caren Stewart
I noticed the above quote on a billboard while driving through Minnesota a couple of weeks ago. It felt appropriate, as I was heading back to Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin to participate in the pilot for the new Applied Resilience Training (ART), formerly known as the Master Resilience Training. I can’t say much about the new training as it is still going through a revision process, but I can say there are now 12 skills as opposed to 14-among many other changes-but much of the core material is still there just in a simpler, more user friendly workbook (think 143 pages as opposed to 540 pages in just ONE instructor manual! I wonder how many participants went over the baggage allowance limit when they returned home from the MRT course 😊). Anyway, seeing that billboard message turned into a “light bulb moment” for me (to turn an ART phrase). It was so logical to think of mental health this way as it normalizes into something we all innately have-much like our spiritual health, physical health, and social health-and reminds us that we should intentionally practice taking care of our mental health just as much as we do all the other domains of health. Also, the more practices we discover and engage in to take care of our health, the more we build up our reserve bank for times when we feel stressed or overwhelmed. But how do we know when we are struggling with our mental health? It can be hard to have awareness when life moves so fast, and we don’t know how we are feeling from one minute to the next. It’s a lot easier to know how we are doing physically, especially when we are not sleeping well, and we see the dark circles under our eyes and our energy is low. Or when we aren’t eating healthfully, and we see the digital numbers increase on the scale readout. But how we feel emotionally can sometimes be harder to gauge. This is why it is so important to establish a baseline for your mental health and the mental health of those around you. What I mean is, know your emotional signs for when things are going well, like feeling more energetic or calm, using more positive language, feeling grateful, or however this looks for you, and knowing the emotional signs for when things are more challenging, like feeling stressed, overwhelmed, irritable, or impatient. If we don’t take the time to figure out our baseline, we can miss the signs and then feel surprised when our emotions boil over. Making the intentional decision to check in with yourself and how you are feeling at any given moment is how you gain self-awareness. During ART, the importance of self-awareness was stressed over and over again. Self-awareness is really about knowing who you are, the thoughts you think, your values, beliefs, and ideals and where they come from. It’s not about judging or criticizing yourself but rather becoming curious about what’s going on. Kind of like a scientist of YOU, studying what makes you tick. When you have self-awareness, you are in better control of your thoughts, emotions, and responses. If you are thinking, “I have no idea how to even start this self-awareness process,” a feelings wheel, like the one below (also included in MRT and ART) could be helpful. Often, we might feel limited in the emotions we are allowed to express (think mad, sad, glad) due to our early childhood upbringing, including experiences at home, school, etc. Additionally, in our society, we tend to place more of a value on thoughts over emotions; logical thought is praised and only certain “safe” emotions are allowed. Because of this it might feel like we can’t trust ourselves to feel and express our emotions honestly. A feelings wheel can help you to identify the wider range of emotions you are capable of.
Sometimes this feels hard; awkward or invasive. For someone who doesn’t like talking about how they’re feeling, you might instead ask, “How are you sleeping?” Turns out how we are sleeping is the greatest indicator of what our mental health is like on any given day. There is a relationship between the amount of quality sleep and our levels of anxiety and depression: as sleep quality increases ~ anxiety and depression also increase. This relationship (~) is in part due to a natural process that happens during sleep, in which our brain is cleansed of harmful toxic build-up accumulated throughout the day. When we don’t regularly get the quality sleep we need, our brains cannot be “detoxified,” which can lead to brain fog, lack of focus, increased anxiety and depression, irritability, anger, and impulsivity, among other mental health challenges. Through gaining self-awareness, you can help the people around you gain their own awareness. Checking in, asking how they are doing and how they are sleeping could be the simple act for someone to realize they could be feeling better. It might also be the opening for them to share with you about the challenging things going on in their life. Sometimes just feeling heard can make all the difference in someone’s life.
Air Defense Integration
North Dakota Army National Guard Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, integrated into the Air Missile Defense Section, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota Army National Guard, April 28-30, Camp Ripley Training Center, Minnesota. Training included integration of the battalion staff into the division and Sentinel operations. The team produced an air picture with the Sentinel at the tactical command post and shared that air picture across the network to the division command post, producing a common operating picture. The training also helped test the G6 networks and produced opportunities to discuss airspace coordination and deconfliction. Several flyovers of MNARNG aircraft added to the realism and training value of the event.
From left to right, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Spicer, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kubat, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Riggs, Maj. Arnold, Staff Sgt. Simmer, Maj. Peterson, Sgt. Johnsen, Staff Sgt. Bryson, Capt. Kindelspire, Sgt. Schuldheisz, Maj. Lowden, Lt. Col. Bester.
231st Field Feeding Team Annual Training
Story by U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bradley Bergeron, 164th Engineer Battalion. Photos provided by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Amanda Erdmann, 231st Field Feeding Team, 164th Engineer Battalion. The 231st Field Feeding Team of the 164th Engineer Battalion had 12 of their Soldiers conduct their Annual Training at the Sustainment Training Center at the Joint Maneuver Training Center in Camp Dodge in Johnston, IA. While there they completed their ServSafe certifications, this is a 16-hour block of instruction on how to handle and store food products safely. This gives them a certificate from the National Restaurant Association for a five-year period. The Instructors for the FFT were Chief Warrant Officer 4 Shawn Kiene, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Chris Unrath and Staff Sgt. Gabe Saighman. They worked on technical skills with Containerized Kitchen, Field Trailer Mounted, Assault Kitchen, Food Sanitation Center, and Multi-Temperature Refrigerated Container System along with a detailed operator level maintenance and troubleshooting of the Modern Burner Unit. These are perishable skills and this training created an opportunity to refine their standard operation procedures and build more confidence within their military occupation specialties and build section cohesion. During the last few days, they had three field exercises in which they cooked three field meals, conducted two convoys. Something the unit needed to work on was the refinement of the unit SOP and building confidence with tactical skills that they have not worked on for a few years. They are looking forward to sending another set of 12 Soldiers to the STC in the next year.
KVRR Signs Statement of Support
Information from Kristy Wangler, ESGR Public Affairs North Dakota Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve is pleased to announce that KVRR has officially signed a Statement of Support. During the signing, KVRR sales manager Ron Westrick reaffirmed the station’s ongoing commitment to supporting employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve, while general manager Tom Baker officially signed the Statement of Support on behalf of the station. “We are strong supporters of our U.S. military and all ND & MN National Guard men and women who keep us safe,” said Westrick.
Delta Hotels by Marriott Signs Statement of Support
Information from Kristy Wangler, ESGR Public Affairs North Dakota Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve is proud to announce that Delta Hotels by Marriott Fargo has officially signed a Statement of Support. Ben Volberding, general manager of Delta Hotels, emphasized the organization's dedication to those who serve. “We proudly support ESGR,” Volberding stated, noting the importance of publicly committing to the military community.
S&S Promotional Group Signs Statement Support
Information from Kristy Wangler, ESGR Public Affairs S&S Promotional Group is proud to stand behind the men and women who serve our nation. President Brad Ness signed an Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Statement of Support in Fargo, formalizing the company's commitment to employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve. "We are proud to support ESGR and all the military," Ness shared during the signing.
By signing the Statement of Support, Borsheim Crane Service reaffirms its commitment to standing behind the men and women who serve in the National Guard and Reserve, recognizing the unique demands placed on them and their families, and ensuring they have the support they need both on and off the job. “Employers like Borsheim Crane Service make a real difference,” said Roy Martinez. “Their support allows our Guard and Reserve members to serve with confidence, knowing their civilian careers are valued and protected. This is what strong community partnership looks like.”
Katherine Kiernan, owner and broker of Aspire Realty has been honored with the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Patriot Award. U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Chase Akers, nominated Katherine in recognition of the outstanding support and understanding she provides for Chase’s military service. This prestigious award, presented by ESGR volunteer Dave Johnston, recognizes Katherine’s dedication to employees who are serving in the Guard and Reserve.
North Dakota ESGR is honored to deliver a Statement of Support to Baker Boy in Dickinson, North Dakota, long‑standing supporters of our Guard and Reserve members. Under the leadership of Guy Moos, Baker Boy continues to demonstrate what it means to truly support the military community. We also want to recognize and thank Clayton Baxter, a former Marine, and team leader at Baker Boy, who ensures his team members - like Thomas Lewton, who currently serves in the National Guard - receive the benefits and support they need to be successful both at work and in uniform.
North Dakota ESGR is honored to deliver a Statement of Support to Basin Safety. Nathan Navarro, Sales Lead, with Basin Safety ensured an ESGR Statement of Support is being displayed at both the Williston and Dickinson locations after visiting the North Dakota ESGR booth at the North Dakota Safety Council Annual Conference.
This information includes elements of AI-generated content, which were reviewed and edited by relevant DoD personnel to verify appropriateness and compliance with DoD policies and guidance.