 Coming up on the Buckeye Guard, the final flight for the 179th Airlift Wing, soldiers improve infrastructure at Wayne National Forest, and service members and veterans are honored at the Memorial Tournament. Family, friends, and veterans of the 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield, Ohio, gathered on the flight line to witness the Finney flight of the C-138 Hercules in formation out of Mansfield. The Finney flight is kind of a tradition for those that don't know, but if an old guy like me finishes flying, they usually spray us down with water to celebrate. And sometimes when the airlines are here, we'll spray that water over the airplane, so that's what we're going to do today. We're going to go out and fly for about 40 minutes, come in and do an airdrop, it's called an L-C-L-A, low cost, low altitude. Then we'll come in for basically come over the crowd, break and land, and then come in. This is a celebration of the legacy of flight in Mansfield. The wing will no longer fly C-130s, but operations at Mansfield will continue, transitioning from flight operations to cyber operations. The National Defense Strategy was just published. The top three priorities are all about information and dominance through cyber. Now, not only are we not going to close, we're going to be the lead in the explosion of how we do things in the future. This wing is going to be the main guard for the entire Air Force, because that's Mansfield. Soldiers of the Ohio Army National Guard's 1137 Signal Company run cables to connect networks at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base as part of the Army's infrastructure modernization efforts. Our mission is to install Army networks, whether it be copper cable, your internet cable, fiber cable, anything from inside of armories or buildings to outside plant, which is running the fiber on aerial or underground in manholes. Right now we are on the Rickenbacker post. Currently we are doing infrastructure improvements in buildings for full-time users that are in there, just allowing them to have more access to network. A new unit stood up in 2019. The 10E company installs and maintains tactical and facility network infrastructure and is quickly becoming a valuable asset for Ohio's National Guard installations. We're basically building an infrastructure for the next 20 years for them to use, so they can move anywhere they want in the building and have network capabilities. We've done quite a few armory rewires that have added significant financial value and longevity to the buildings and the eyes of the government. It's a great opportunity for soldiers to get out and actually contribute to the Ohio National Guard and the Army as a whole. The company is a perfect place for the newest generation of technically savvy and motivated National Guard soldiers. I like to serve in Signal because I get to work with my hands. I work with my hands a lot. Pulling cables is kind of fun. You get to run them through really crazy pipes sometimes. We got pipes running through the ground and up and through a tunnel into another building. I mean, that's pretty cool. I think that's pretty cool. They're all hungry for work. They want to learn. A lot of these guys are fresh out of AIT, and instead of them sitting at home station working on a board inside a room, they love being out here drilling holes, making waves in places, and building their confidence to be around full-timers and kind of see how the Ohio Guard works. We're developing the next generation of soldiers in the Ohio National Guard, and we get to work with them day-to-day and bring in their experiences from the younger generation and start molding the next force that we have. Our mission for this week that we're at AIT is to mostly just repair this road. We're here at Wayne National Forest, and our mission is to smooth it out and to build some v-ditches so that the rain and all the water that's coming on the road flows out evenly and it doesn't sit on the road. This is our first project where we're partnering with the Wayne National Forest. My intent is to continue to do so. The 1191st Engineer Company is really less than an hour down the road, and so this affords them the opportunity to use the equipment on real projects even on a drill weekend and not have to wait to batch it in the middle of annual training. This partnership that we have now with the National Guard on the Wayne National Forest, specifically here on the Irton District, allows us to, one, achieve an important mission that I have as the district ranger here on the Wayne National Forest, and that's to increase and promote safety not only for my employees here on the district, but as well as all of our forest visitors that come to the Wayne National Forest. We're allowing less experienced soldiers to get on the equipment to build their proficiency, and they are completely supportive of that, and they're really excited to be able to see what we can do in the future in partnership with Wayne to help improve some roads and access stuff for the community so the community has better access as well as providing a local training area that we don't have access to in southern Ohio for heavy equipment operations. This type of training is huge because especially being a unit that's in Portsmouth, we don't have a lot of places that we can go and operate, so when we get opportunities like this, our younger soldiers get a lot of stick time while our NCOs get refreshed too. It just really helps out the whole unit in staying proficient in our MOS. Thousands gathered at the Muirfield Village Golf Club for the 2022 Memorial Tournament. The annual golf tournament honored past and present service members during a military appreciation day on June 1, 2022. Distinguished guests from the Ohio National Guard attended the event, and an invocation to kick off the tournament was given by Ohio National Guard chaplain Colonel Daniel Burris. We ask your comfort upon us as we remember our comrades who died in service, that we might experience freedom and the blessings that come with this freedom we know. May the peace that is described to surpass all understanding be given to those who mourn. The Memorial Tournament also featured an Ohio National Guard Color Guard and a Memorial Tournament Honorary Ceremony to recognize service members and those who have distinguished themselves in the game of golf. PGA legend Jack Nicklaus founded the tournament in 1976 and spoke about the significance of the tournament during the ceremony. None of us would be able to enjoy this tournament for any of the daily freedoms we enjoy in our lives and the men and women of our military. Many of whom have sadly made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. We are two days removed from Memorial Day, but it seems that one day just isn't enough to thank our military, including those intended. You put your service before self, we greatly appreciate you. The tournament ran from May 30th to June 5th, 2022. For photos from the military appreciation of the event, visit www.mg.ohio.gov In case you missed it, here's some highlights from the Ohio National Guard this past month. Airmen in the 178th Wing Medical Group took part in exercise Agile Rage 22. The exercise took place at the Alpina Combat Readiness Training Center in Michigan. The training allowed Ohio National Guard Airmen to practice joint intelligence operations, airspace control, search and rescue and more. Agile Rage 22 allows Airmen to practice Agile Combat Employment with training for combat Air Force operations and the ability to project combat power anytime and anywhere. The 179th Air Lift Wing hosted a Bring Your Child to Work Day. The event took place in Mansfield, Ohio. Airmen and their families got to enjoy a variety of different Air Force activities. Some of those activities included a tour of a C-130, a chance to check out the Base Fire Department, and took part in a flag folding ceremony. Happy birthday to the U.S. Army! This past June, the U.S. Army celebrated its 247th birthday. A celebration was held at the Beatler Armory with a ceremonial cake-cutting event. Some key speakers for the celebration included Ohio Army National Guard Chief of Staff, Colonel Matthew Woodruff, and an invocation from the state chaplain, Daniel Burris. The U.S. Army was established in 1775, more than one year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Brigadier General Thomas Moore, the Assistant Adjutant General for the Ohio Army National Guard, presented his military challenge coin to the Chief Officers and Owners of Dispatch Priority. This was part of an Employer Recognition Event for Colonel John Detling. They were recognized for their support of Detling while he served as a Joint Task Force Commander for the Ohio National Guard COVID-19 Response Mission.