Book Review: 'National Guard 101'

There's an instruction manual for every job, weapon, and vehicle for those who enlist in the U.S. National Guard, but precious few published resources who marry into it. For the most part, everything has been passed down by word of mouth. It's all been tribal wisdom, gossip, and war stories. Until now.

Author Mary Corbett, a spouse with ties to the Minnesota and Georgia National Guards, has written "National Guard 101: A Handbook for Spouses". In 205 pages, Corbett cuts through acronyms and agencies, histories and traditions to deliver practical insights for National Guard families in a breezy, conversational manner.

"If your Soldier peruses this book, s/he may chuckle at my oversimplification in some areas," Corbett warns in her introduction. "That's fine because this book is for you. That's all a big fancy disclaimer that means consider this more of an essay than a research paper." [ix]

While she gets around to talking about brigades and big-wig party functions, Corbett aims squarely at the 150-person company level—the organizational building-block of the U.S. Army.

She briefly addresses Air National Guard concepts, because many social functions and stateside operations are neither "green" (ground/Army) nor "blue" (air/Air Guard) but "purple" (joint).

Families of new soldiers, as well as those of newly promoted non-commissioned officers and company-grade officers have the most to gain from Corbett's presentation. Even families who have weathered multiple deployments, however, may learn some useful tricks.

Corbett explains the basics with enough detail to be useful, but not intimidating. She applies liberal amounts of humor and word-play. (A field training exercise is "going to the woods." Annual Training is "going to camp.") Topics include:

• A quick history of the U.S. National Guard, why it matters, and why it's NOT the "state militia."

• How a National Guard soldier can be either part-time or full-time, on either state or federal duty, or work as a civilian federal technician.

• What your soldier does in his/her military job, and how to describe it to civilians.

• How to introduce yourself and find the right person when you walk into an armory.

• Survival skills and strategies for military events. ("Do NOT let your soldier tell you want to wear.")

Best of all, she offers spouses practical tips on how to build support systems that will work during deployments. As with most things military, there's an acronym involved.

There are five kinds of people, Corbett writes:

• Those who say they will help but really don't want to help ...

• Those who offer help but put the ball back in your court ...

• Those who offer help on their own terms ...

• Those who will help you, but make you feel guilty about it ...

• Those who are always there, ready and willing to help with anything.

Military spouses don't like to ask for help. No one does. But the ideal type of helpers who are "always there" are few and far-between.

Corbett's solution? Collect them all. Create a Personal Assistance League ("PAL")—a list of 10 or more people who are explicitly committed to helping out with small tasks, like babysitting, or leaf-raking, or cooking meals. She even recommends nominating a "mother hen" to help reach out to people, on the phone or in writing, asking for a concrete commitment.

In Army-speak, Corbett may have cracked the code on how to operationalize people's good-intentions. By establishing expectations and requirements up-front on a schedule, and sharing the load, everybody wins.

*****

One "Red Bull" connection of note: Corbett dedicates her book to the memory of U.S. Army First Lt. Nathan A. Nieber, 26, was killed in a 2002 boating accident while on stateside active-duty with the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment (2-135 Inf. Reg.), 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota National Guard.

Disclosure: The Red Bull Rising blog received a review copy of this book.

Who's Who in the Red Bull Zoo

Friends and family (and media) who are less familiar with military organizations are often puzzled as to how the various pieces and parts of the Red Bull fit together. With more than 3,000 soldiers, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) is a large, multi-faceted and multi-functional organization.

While I plan someday to discuss individual unit histories in more detail (to include the meanings behind all the pretty colored flags), what follows is a quick primer on each of the battalions comprising the brigade.

The 2-34th BCT is typically composed of three battalion-sized "maneuver" or "warfighting" units, and three supporting units. The maneuver units are:

1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment (1/133rd Inf.). Headquartered in Waterloo, Iowa, with subordinate units located throughout the eastern portions of the state.

1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment (1/168th Inf.). Headquartered in Council Bluffs, Iowa, with subordinate units located throughout the western portions of the state.

1st Squadron, 113 Cavalry Regiment (RSTA) (1/113th Cav.), Headquartered in Sioux City, Iowa, with company-level units in western and central portions of the state. Cavalry units, by the way, call their company-size units "troops," and their battalion-size units "squadrons."

In addition to its maneuver battalions normally assigned to the brigade, the Nebraska Army National Guard's 1st Squadron, 134th Cavalry Regiment (1/134 Cav.) has been attached to Task Force Red Bulls. This unit is headquartered in Hastings, Neb.

Under the modular brigade concept, a brigade combat team also controls units capable of providing the artillery, communications, logistics, and other functions required to keep maneuver units "shooting, moving, and communicating."

In the 2-34th B.C.T., these roles are fulfilled by:

1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery (1/194th F.A.), headquartered in Fort Dodge, Iowa. While the Field Artillery branch of the U.S. Army is considered a combat arms ("warfighting") function, its role on the battlefield is always in support. After all, one does not take and hold territory with artillery, one pulverizes it. Company-size artillery units are called "batteries," by the way.

While sufficient numbers of 1/194th FA soldiers are deploying to Afghanistan to consider much of the unit deployed, at least as far as Army historians are concerned, its officers and soldiers were spread throughout the remainder of the brigade task force.

2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 34th Infantry Division (2/34th B.S.T.B.). Headquartered in Cedar Rapids, this battalion is a collection of technically specialized companies, including engineering, intelligence, and communications. In a unique wrinkle, the 2-34th BCT headquarters company is also administratively and logistically supported by the 2/34th BSTB.

334th Brigade Support Battalion (334th B.S.B.). Headquartered in Johnston, Iowa, is a collection of units specializing in logistics, maintenance, and medical services.

BONUS ROUND: I often field questions from Red Bull families about how to "decode" their soldiers' mailing addresses. ("I thought my soldier was a member of X unit," for example, "what's all this other stuff mean?" Or "Is this the right Facebook page for Y unit? I thought my soldier was in the Red Bulls, but now I'm not sure.") Though multiple attempts at explanation, I've come across this as a helpful way of thinking out things:

A military organization is like a mailing address, starting with house number, and then on to street, town, state, country, etc.

Using this analogy, "A CO, 1/168 IN, 2-34 BCT" can be thought of (and decoded) as "Alpha Company [house], 1st Battalion [street], 168th Infantry Regiment [town], 2nd Brigade Combat Team [state], 34th Infantry Division [country]."

It also explains why saying "my soldier is in Charlie Company" might be a little like saying "I live at 123 Anystreet." People won't know where you live until they get more information--a more detailed "address."

All this military-address stuff might still look like gobbledegook, of course, but perhaps it makes it easier to understand?