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Missouri National Guard Headquarters hosts Retiree Appreciation Day


By: Silas Allen
Missouri National Guard Public Affairs

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri National Guard hosted more than 600 guests at an event at the Guard’s state headquarters to honor the organization’s retirees on March 27.

The Missouri National Guard Retiree Appreciation Day was the first event of its kind at Ike Skelton Training Site in more than eight years. During the event, guests heard a number of update briefings on Guard programs, participated in workshops regarding social security and health insurance benefits, and had the opportunity to tour Ike Skelton Training Site.

Brig. Gen. Stephen Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard, briefed guests on a number of Missouri National Guard programs, initiatives and missions, including the Agribusiness Development Team program.

Missouri pioneered the Agribusiness Development Team concept in 2007 when it sent its first team to Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province. The teams work to rebuild the region’s agriculture and livestock infrastructure, which has been in shambles since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Part of the team’s goal is to help Afghan farmers earn a living growing crops other than opium poppies, which have been used to finance terrorist activities.

“The program is starting to catch hold,” Danner said. “In Nangarhar Province, where we have been for three years, the poppy crop has been eliminated.”

Danner asked retirees to continue their relationships with Guard units by providing their experience to Guard units.

“We need the retirees to step up and come to the armories on weekends and mentor these Soldiers,” Danner said.

State Command Sgt. Maj. James Schulte said he would like to see retiree groups working more closely with units’ Family Readiness Groups. In many cases, he said, this cooperation is already happening. Schulte said the presence of retirees could help reestablish communities’ pride in the Missouri National Guard.

“This could be a rebirth of our retirees,” Schulte said.

Master Sgt. Bill Johnson, one of the attendees, came to the event hoping to have questions answered about how recent healthcare overhaul legislation would affect his Tricare benefits. Johnson, who retired from the Guard in June of 1992, said he had attended similar events at Fort Leonard Wood in the past, but had not done so recently. He said having a retiree event in mid-Missouri was a lot more convenient.

“There are a lot of retired military around this part of the state,” Johnson said.

Retired Col. Bill Stucker, of Columbia, also had questions about his Tricare health insurance coverage. Stucker, an armored cavalry veteran from the Vietnam era, retired from the Missouri Guard’s headquarters in 2001, just weeks before 9/11. He said he appreciated the opportunity to have his questions answered, and also listened with particular interest to updates on Guard programs.

“That’s of interest to most of us, because we have a lot of years invested in this,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll go away from here with some updates and with some questions answered.”

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please call 1-800-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.

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For more information about this release, please contact Silas Allen at (573) 638-0236 or e-mail him at silas.w.allen@us.army.mil.
 


Posted: 3/27/2010 11:44:19 AM