For Release: Immediate  Date: December 12, 2002

For additional information contact: Captain Robert N. Carver North Carolina National Guard 4105 Reedy Creek Road Raleigh, NC 27607-6410 Phone:(919) 664-6244

RALEIGH -- With a proclamation signed today at the Executive Mansion, Gov. Mike Easley proclaimed Dec. 13, 2002 as "National Guard Day" in North Carolina in honor of the Guard's 366th birthday. "The North Carolina National Guard stands ready to aid and protect our citizens in times of local and state disasters and to preserve peace on domestic soil," Easley said. "I urge our citizens to recognize, commend and thank these men and women for their faithful guardianship of our state." Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Guard has played a large and increasing role in homeland defense and the ongoing war on terror. Shortly after the attacks, 140 soldiers and airmen volunteered to stand watch at the state's 12 commercial airports. In addition, some 2,000 Guard members have deployed to locations in Southwest Asia such as Kuwait, Afghanistan and Pakistan. There they performed a variety of missions including guarding Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees to medical and civil engineering support and the airlift of troops and supplies throughout the combat zone. North Carolina soldiers also deployed to Bosnia where they served as part of the United Nations peacekeeping effort in the former Yugoslavia. The North Carolina National Guard also supports anti-terrorism training for law enforcement across the state as well as operating a vital anti-drug program involving everything from spotting marijuana plants from the air to seizing drugs being passed through the mail. The Guard is unique in that it has both state and federal missions. Easley called the Guard to state active duty last week in response to the ice storm while Pres. George W. Bush authorized a federal callup of Guard soldiers and airmen to fight the war on terror. "Honoring our soldiers and airmen is especially important this year with the steady stream of missions that we've performed both at home and around the world," said Maj. Gen. William E. Ingram, Jr., adjutant general of the North Carolina National Guard. "We've contributed to the nation's defense longer than any other component of the American military." The National Guard traces its origins to the Massachusetts Bay Colony Militia formed in 1636. The Guard is the only component of the nation's military that is specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. A division of the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, the North Carolina National Guard has 95 armories in 74 counties as well as Air National Guard facilities in Mecklenburg and Stanly counties.

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