This mission in particular has been meaningful to the soldiers as they see the impact of their work on their state and their own communities.

We can quickly get soldiers on duty and then throw them whatever, and they're going to make the adjustments. F. Army Component Equipment Modernization 2-6 II. During the activation, soldiers of Task Force Assurance completed 2,604 missions, distributing more than 46 million pieces of personal protective equipment to all 36 Oregon counties, nine tribal nations and two tribal health agencies, covering aout 140,000 miles throughout the state. The best way the United States can avoid war is for everyone to know it would win, which means having the most lethal combat force on the planet. In all, the Guard involuntarily provided more than $1 billion of the $3.8 billion in this latest Pentagon reprogramming.In addition to setting up a potential showdown between the president and Democrats, who have introduced legislation to prevent future reprogramming, the action has put an unusual spotlight on NGREA.Lawmakers created the account nearly four decades ago largely to help Guard equipment keep pace with the better-funded active components.In 1981, the House Appropriations Committee noted a “tremendous shortage of equipment available to the ... Guard and Reserve both for training for and for deployment under virtually any scenario.”The committee’s answer was to add NGREA as another line to the annual defense appropriations bill. The Defense Department is always reforming the way it does business to maintain a lethal, combat-ready force as efficiently as possible.

Flying and maintaining aircraft often requires airmen to work close together, so members of the 507th Operations Group found ways to adapt their procedures to ensure a safe environment for crews to perform their mission during the COVID-19 pandemic. They allow no new programs, effectively halting new NGREA spending.Fortunately, officials say, Congress hasn’t closely scrutinized first-year obligation rates. The National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account (NGREA) is vital to ensuring the readiness and lethality of National Guard equipment and weapons systems through innovation and servicemember-driven requirements. About 200 Oregon National Guard soldiers and airmen were activated in response to various missions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Soldiers from Fort Jackson supported pandemic response efforts by hosting drive-thru COVID-19 testing just outside of the post's Palmetto Falls Water Park in Columbia, South Carolina. He says the reprogramming earlier this year has changed how some lawmakers view NGREA, adding that there is sympathy for the Guard on both sides of the political aisle but little appetite to directly address the missing funds.Some on Capitol Hill, Hadley says, fear that replacing the funds would only invite further reprogramming. In tactical logistics, the brigade support battalion supplies the forward support companies, which distribute supplies to forces on the front lines.In Task Force Assurance, orders distributed from the Wilsonville central hub were transported throughout the seven regional county assistance teams that consisted of about 12 soldiers at armories located in key locations across the state. Additionally, the guard assisted in shipping 140 ventilators to New York, as well as providing nearly 1 million masks to agricultural workers throughout Oregon.The guard's COVID-19 response mission also included the setup and security of the Oregon Medical Station, outdoor tent space for testing at several hospitals and communications support at the unemployment office, as well as other state and county emergency operations centersDespite the ever-evolving situation, Army Col. Philip DeMontigny, the commander  of Task Force Assurance, praised the work of the task force. Below are the top five planned Army and Air National Guard purchases with funds from the fiscal 2019 National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account. The PPE was then allocated to counties, tribes and medical facilities throughout Oregon. ''Regardless of military occupational specialty, the dual status of the National Guard and reserves allows that opportunity for the civilian skill sets to be utilized within emergency situations,'' DeMontigny said.These skills, paired with military training in logistics, enabled the task force to adapt quickly, effectively creating a force structure to achieve the mission.

Juan Denmark, who joined the Oregon Army National Guard after seven years of active duty service. Modern Facilities ARNG 4.0 focuses efforts to modernize and update ARNG training facilities. Soldiers with the Oregon Army National Guard prepare shipments of personal protective equipment for delivery throughout the state, June 8, 2020. Originally called on for a two-week mission, the Oregon National Guard ultimately expanded from 14 to 183 soldiers working to support COVID-19 response efforts over a period of 79 days. ''This is nothing that was planned,'' DeMontigny said. Soldiers with the Oregon Army National Guard prepare shipments of personal protective equipment for delivery throughout the state, June 8, 2020. ''We did what was required of the state at the time. It further modernized its F-16s with NGREA funds, making oldest Vipers in the sky were also the most advanced.

BALTIMORE, Md. Soldiers with the Oregon Army National Guard check their trucks and load of personal protective equipment before departing for deliveries throughout the state, June 8, 2020. The Guard has received the bulk of it.The funds pay for some new major systems, such as Humvee ambulances, trucks and other vehicles, and training aids, but most of it goes for off-the-shelf solutions to modernize or increase the capability of existing systems, like aircraft.NGREA dollars in the late 1990s enabled the Air Guard to develop an advanced targeting pod.