The
Vermont National Guard is composed of the
Vermont Army National Guard and the
Vermont Air National Guard. Together, they are collectively known as the
Green Mountain BoysThe Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...
, despite the inclusion of women in both branches since the mid-twentieth century. Both units use the original flag of the
Vermont RepublicThe term Vermont Republic has been used by 20th and 21st century writers to describe the period of the U.S. state of Vermont from July 1777, when delegates met and declared independence from jurisdictions and land claims of British colonies in New Hampshire and New York, until its admission to the...
as their banner. Their strength in 2009 was 2,660.
The modern Vermont National Guard was formed in the 1920s.
The
Vermont National Guard is composed of the
Vermont Army National Guard and the
Vermont Air National Guard. Together, they are collectively known as the
Green Mountain BoysThe Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...
, despite the inclusion of women in both branches since the mid-twentieth century. Both units use the original flag of the
Vermont RepublicThe term Vermont Republic has been used by 20th and 21st century writers to describe the period of the U.S. state of Vermont from July 1777, when delegates met and declared independence from jurisdictions and land claims of British colonies in New Hampshire and New York, until its admission to the...
as their banner. Their strength in 2009 was 2,660.
Vermont Army National Guard
The modern Vermont National Guard was formed in the 1920s. Prior to that state militia units were mustered in wartime, and deactivated in peacetime, going back to the 1760s.
Units
- 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team
The 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is a Vermont National Guard light infantry brigade. It was reorganized from an armored brigade into a light infantry brigade as part of the United States Army's transformation for the 21st century...
(Mountain)
(formerly the 86th Troop Command (1925-03-21—2007, motto "Ready to Go"))
-
- 3rd Battalion - 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain) (1982-09-01—)
- HHC
In United States Army units, a headquarters and headquarters company is a company sized military unit, found at the battalion level and higher. In identifying a specific headquarters unit, it is usually referred to by its abbreviation as an HHC...
, U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School, Ethan AllenEthan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician....
Firing Range, Jericho, VT
- HHD 2, Camp Fogarty, East Greenwich, RI
East Greenwich is a town in and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 12,948 at the 2000 census. It is the wealthiest municipality in Rhode Island and was named for Greenwich, England....
- A Company (VT
The State of Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd by land area, , and 45th by total area. It has a population of 621,270, making it the second least-populated state...
), B Company (METhe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
), C Company (NHNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
)
- 1st Battalion - 103rd Aviation Regiment
- 131st Engineer Company (HO)
- 40th Army Band
- U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School
- 114th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
- 124th Regional Support Command
- 86th Medical Company (Air Ambulance)
- Detachment 27, Operational Support Airlift Command
- Detachment 1, 42nd MP Company
- 206th MLRS Ordnance Detachment
- 15th Civil Support Team (WMD)
- 172nd Armor Regiment (M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is a main battle tank produced in the United States. The M1 is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. It is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for modern armored...
tanks)
- 1st Battalion – In 1998, this unit mastered Tank Table 12, which measures how well a four-tank platoon operates as a team. (National Guard armor units are only required to qualify on Tank Table 8, which measures individual tank operation)
- 2nd Battalion – This unit mastered Tank Table 12 in 1997.
- 1st Battalion, 86th Field Artillery
Military Operations
Vermont militia units were mustered for the
War of 1812The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
, the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, and the
Spanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the United States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the liberation of Cuba. The war began after American demands for the resolution of the Cuban fight for independence were rejected by Spain...
(1898).
During the Civil War, the Vermont militia was formed into the
1st Vermont BrigadeThe First Vermont Brigade, or "Old Brigade" was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. It suffered the highest casualty count of any brigade in the history of the United States Army, with some 1,172 killed in action...
and
2nd Vermont BrigadeThe 2nd Vermont Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.- Composition and commanders :...
and served most notably in the battles of
GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of...
(July 1863),
WildernessThe Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
(May 1864), and
Cedar CreekThe Battle of Cedar Creek, or The Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A...
(October 1864).
During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
(1917–1918), Vermont State Guard units served with the
26th Infantry DivisionThe 26th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army. As a major formation of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, it was based in Boston, Massachussetts for most of its history...
(a.k.a. the "Yankee" Division).
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1941–1945), Vermont State Guard units served with the 43rd Infantry Division (a.k.a. the "Winged Victory" Division). The 2nd Battalion of the 172nd Infantry Regiment earned a Presidential Unit Citation.
The modern
Vermont National Guard served in:
- Germany during the Korean War
The Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
(early 1950s).
- The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
from 1968 to 1969.
- The first Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , known also as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War,or often as the Second Gulf War and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles, or commonly as Desert Storm, for the military response...
from January to May 1991.
- The War in Afghanistan
The War in Afghanistan is an ongoing coalition conflict which began on October 7, 2001, as the British military participated in the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom that was launched in response to the September 11 attacks...
(2001—), two deployments.
- The War in Iraq
The Iraq War, also known as the Occupation of Iraq or Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States and the United Kingdom.Prior to the war, the governments of the United...
(2003—), three deployments.
Vermont Air National Guard
The
158th Fighter WingThe United States Air Force's 158th Fighter Wing is a fighter unit located at Burlington International Airport, in Burlington, Vermont.-Mission:...
was formed in 1946. From 1989 to 1997, the wing was an
Air Defense Unit, with aircraft on 5-minute alert, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
Other components of the Vermont Air Guard include:
- 134th Fighter Squadron (Burlington International Airport
Burlington International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport in South Burlington, Vermont. The airport is three miles east of the central business district of Burlington, Vermont's largest city. BTV is owned by the City of Burlington....
)
- 158th Operations Support Flight
F-16 Use
The Vermont Air Guard has used F-16s since the the late 1980s (or early 1990s). On Friday November 14, 2008, they retired the longest flying F-16C in the United States, which will go on display in Vermont before eventually being moved to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.
External links