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Media Advisories

May 2, 2024: Nebraska National Guard supports multiple agencies with storm response efforts
April 26, 2024: Nebraska Air National Guard to host Open Hangar event
February 1, 2024: Nebraska Army National Guard Aircraft Makes Emergency Landing
October 13, 2023: Nebraska Air National Guard's 155th Air Refueling Wing to Welcome New Commander, Receive Unit Honors
May 5, 2023: National Guard Marathon runners return to Lincoln Marathon
March 16, 2023: Nebraska National Guard Soldiers to deploy in support of U.S. European Command
March 14, 2023: Ribbon-cutting planned for Camp Ashland military construction project
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News Archives

Echoes of Valor: Nebraska National Guard Returns to Bastogne 80 Years Later
January 2, 2025 — BASTOGNE, Belgium -- The Battle of Bastogne, a pivotal World War II clash that took place in the frigid Ardennes Forest in December 1944, is etched into military history lore. In a historic battle of wills, German forces fought for control of the strategic city of Bastogne, which was defended by U.S. Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who had been cutoff and surrounded during Germany’s final major offensive. It was a battle that captured the attention of the entire world. Far less known, however, is the role that Soldiers from the Nebraska National Guard’s 134th Infantry Regiment played during the critical days of the battle. Battling against deep snow, frigid temperatures and near-constant German counterattacks, the efforts of the 134th Infantry Regiment Soldiers helped raise the siege of Bastogne, allowing relief to flow into the devastated city and its airborne defenders. Eighty years later and a few degrees warmer, a new generation of Nebraska National Guard troops returned to Bastogne to honor the legacy of their predecessors and commemorate the anniversary of this hard-fought victory. ... MORE

Five members of the Nebraska National Guard travelled to Bastogne, Belgium, Jan. 9-14, 2025, where they helped commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the city by Soldiers of Nebraska National Guard’s 134th Infantry Regiment under the 35th Infantry Division, during World War II.

The service members participated in a wreath laying ceremony at a memorial honoring those who liberated the region from Nazi Germany. Joining them in the ceremony were local residents and officials from the city of Lutremange as well as the Timberwolves Remembrance Group Belgium, a reenactment group in Belgium.

The Nebraska Soldiers and Airmen also travelled to the Luxembourg American Cemetery Memorial where they visited the graves of service members laid to rest there while also placing a wreath at the grave marker for Technical Sergeant John Cantoni, a Nebraska National Guardsman from Omaha, Nebraska. Cantoni was killed in action on Jan. 4, 1944, when his foxhole was struck by German fire as he and other members of his unit were defending Bastogne. He had been with the company for less than a week after recovering from wounds he received during the Battle of St. Lo in July 1944.

Nebraska National Guard sniper team wins national championship at Winston P Wilson Matches
January 2, 2025 — A two-person Nebraska Army National Guard sniper team shot their way to a national title, Dec. 13, when they placed first at the 54th Winston P. Wilson Sniper Championship, held Dec. 6-13 at the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center in Barling Arkansas. In winning the title, Nebraska’s Staff Sgt. Marc Cruz and Sgt. Chance Baumann – infantrymen who serve in the sniper section of the Lincoln-based Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-134th Infantry (Airborne) – outshot similar teams from the Michigan and Iowa National Guard enroute to the championship... MORE

A two-person Nebraska Army National Guard sniper team shot their way to a national title, Dec. 13, when they placed first at the 54th Winston P. Wilson Sniper Championship, held Dec. 6-13 at the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center in Barling Arkansas.

In winning the title, Nebraska’s Staff Sgt. Marc Cruz and Sgt. Chance Baumann – infantrymen who serve in the sniper section of the Lincoln-based Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-134th Infantry (Airborne) – outshot similar teams from the Michigan and Iowa National Guard enroute to the championship.

Former Nebraska National Guard Soldier donates Olympic Gold Medal winning rifle to Nebraska National Guard Museum
January 2, 2025 — Like an aged warrior, Gary Anderson’s famed rifle is showing its age; the rifle stock, barrel and accompanying sights still bear the scars and marks of countless competitive battles, including a very historic one in Tokyo more than 60 years ago. Masking tape holds bent cardboard in place on the rear of the wooden stock. Similar tape clings to a silver front palm-rest where its “owner” steadied the rifle during its last competition with an athlete representing the U.S.S.R. In its totality, the rifle is understated, both gangly and elegant in appearance. Yet, despite its looks, the rifle holds an honored place amongst American Olympic lore. And now it’s part of the growing collection of artifacts at the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward, Nebraska. “This rifle served me well during the years that I used it,” former Nebraska Army National Guard Lieutenant Gary Anderson wrote recently about the Remington 300-meter free rifle he donated to the Nebraska Guard Museum on Dec. 27. Did it ever. In 1962, Anderson used the rifle to lead the U.S.A. marksmanship team to two 300-meter World Championship Gold Medals. He also used it to win a gold medal in the 1963 Pan American Games in the 300-Meter (3x40) free rifle event with a score of 1,146, just one point shy of the world record at the time... MORE

Gary Anderson, former Nebraska Guardsman, donates his 1964 Olympic gold medal winning rifle to the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward, Nebraska, Dec. 27, 2024. Anderson used the rifle to lead the U.S.A. marksmanship team to two 300-meter World Championship Gold Medals. He also used it to win a gold medal in the 1963 Pan American Games in the 300-Meter (3x40) free rifle event with a score of 1,146, just one point shy of the world record at the time.

It was the same rifle that Anderson used to win a Gold Medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo on Oct. 15, 1964., the first of two consecutive Olympic Golds the Axtell, Nebraska, native earned in the 1960s while also serving as a Nebraska Army Guard engineering officer In Hastings and Grand Island.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Gauret Stearns)

Tontegode Assumes Reponsibility as Nebraska Air National Guard’s Ninth State Command Chief Master Sergeant
January 2, 2025 — Chief Master Sgt. Scott Tontegode became the Nebraska Air National Guard’s state’s ninth state command chief master sergeant, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, when he assumed the role from Chief Master Sgt. Jeffrey Horne during a change of responsibility at the Joint Force Headquarters... MORE

Chief Master Sgt. Scott Tontegode assumes the position of State Command Chief Master Sergeant at Joint Force Headquarters Jan. 12, 2025, at the Nebraska National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters building, Lincoln, Nebraska. Tontegode served as the 155th Air Refueling Wing command chief master sergeant for five years.

(U.S. Air National Guard photo taken by Staff Sgt. Jamie Syniy)

Nebraska leaders celebrate National Guard’s 388th Birthday
December 17, 2024 — Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Joe Kelly, Maj. Gen. Craig Strong, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army Richard Burch, and many others helped the National Guard celebrate its 388th birthday, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, during a ceremony at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska. The ceremony included speeches, a state rollcall of Nebraska National Guard communities, the awarding of the Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award to a Capt. Grant Hewitt, Soldier and Airmen of the Year recognitions, and the ceremonial cutting of the National Guard birthday cake... MORE

Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Joe Kelly, Maj. Gen. Craig Strong, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army Richard Burch, and many others helped the National Guard celebrate its 388th birthday, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, during a ceremony at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The ceremony included speeches, a state rollcall of Nebraska National Guard communities, the awarding of the Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award to a Capt. Grant Hewitt, Soldier and Airmen of the Year recognitions, and the ceremonial cutting of the National Guard birthday cake.

Nebraska Air Guard CERFP Participates in Joint Exercise
November 15, 2024 — The 155th Air Refueling Wing’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Enhanced Response Force Package Detachment-1 participated in a full-scale exercise conducted by the National Disaster Medical System. ... MORE

Airmen with the Nebraska Air National Guard’s Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Enhanced Response Force Package Detachment-1 and 55th Wing role play as injured patients Nov. 13, 2024, during a joint National Disaster Medical System Exercise at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

National Guard athletes finish strong at Lincoln Marathon
May 6, 2024 — Twenty-one of the National Guard’s best athletes from the All Guard Marathon Team, representing 17 states and territories, competed in the 47th annual Lincoln Marathon May 5. ... MORE

Nebraska National Guard runner Maj. Amanda Schmid crosses the finish line of the 47th annual Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon May 5, 2024, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Nebraska Air National Guard hosts Open Hangar recruiting event
May 3, 2024 — The Nebraska Air National Guard’s 155th Air Refueling Wing hosted an Open Hangar event at the National Guard Air Base on May 1, 2024. ... MORE

Nebraska National Guard supports multiple agencies with storm response efforts
May 2, 2024 — The Nebraska National Guard is assisting state and local first responders after a tornado caused widespread damage... MORE

On May 1, 2024, a Nebraska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew flew Nebraska Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly and FEMA and Nebraska Emergency Management Agency officials over the area damaged by a tornado to assess the extent of the damage.

Nebraska Guard Infantry trains with Air Force on survival tactics
March 1, 2024 — Soldiers with the Nebraska Army National Guard’s Company B, 2-134th Infantry (Airborne) conducted survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) training, Feb. 3-4, 2024, at the Mead Training Site near Yutan, Nebraska. ... MORE