 My name is Brigadier General Dean A. Preston, Commander, Main Army National Guard. This weekend I'm over here in Fort Drum, New York checking in on a few of our soldiers with the 3rd Battalion 142nd Aviation Regiment who are conducting their annual training. Let's get after it. Mobilizations to support the active army are not slowing down, as shown by our recent support to the southwest border and maintaining a presence in Europe and Africa. The 142 is next in the chute and is slated to support operations in the U.S. Central Command starting this winter. When I talk to soldiers the first thing I like to do is thank them for their service because our soldiers are the most valuable resource we have. I'm a traditional Guardsman myself and I know how difficult it can be to balance a family, a civilian career, and our military service. That's number one. The second thing is to ask them about their experience. We know that dynamic, well-resourced, and well-led training is the key to building cohesive teams that are ready to fight tonight. We need soldier and unit level input to make our organization a team of teams even better. Visiting the 142 Air Assault at annual training, I saw exactly what I see in all of our soldiers. I saw a tight-knit group of main warriors from all walks of life dedicated to each other as well as their team and grinding out their mission. I cannot be more proud of all of our men and women as they continue to place service above self and choose to wear our nation's cloth. Hey, still proud to serve in the main Army National Guard? Bayness Forward, what did you do this weekend?