 When it comes to effective air defense, one shot is usually all you have. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment forward of the North Dakota Army National Guard came to Fort Bliss last month to take that shot. The shooters came to the borderland to fire their Stinger missiles as part of their pre-deployment live-fire exercise on the Fort Bliss training complex in New Mexico, June 22nd. As the DOD's premier joint mobilization force generation installation, Fort Bliss supports the deployment, redeployment, and training of total force troops hailing from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four of five U.S. territories. After their ramp-up, the 1st of 188th will deploy to the National Capital Region to collaborate with DOD agencies as part of the integrated air defense system designed to protect capital airspace. The North Dakota Guard's most deployed unit, the shooters have been tracking targets throughout the global war on terrorism and contingency operations with 12 deployments since 2004. With all their training and tracking, the value of the opportunity to take that shot in a training environment and make it count, wasn't lost on the North Dakota troops. The weather has been pretty warm, way warmer than I'm used to up north. It's been a great experience. The training paid off for sure, made me more confident in engaging the actual aircraft if I needed to. Reporting from the Fort Bliss training complex in New Mexico, for the Garrison, I'm David Poe.