By Master Sgt. Bob Haskell
National Guard Bureau
ARLINGTON, Virginia -- National Guard members from Georgia, Massachusetts and New York were honored for their efforts to give people the chance to serve and advance as equals, regardless of their race, gender or religion, in Arlington, Va. on Jan. 31. National Guard Bureau officials presented the first Excellence in Diversity Awards to Air and Army Guard representatives from those states for their efforts to bring diversity to the force during 2002, which was the National Guard’s Year of Diversity. Georgia and Massachusetts each took home two of the five awards.
Christopher Gardner, director of the Guard Bureau’s Joint Staff, praised recently retired Lt. Gen. Russell Davis for proclaiming 2002 as the year that the National Guard would focus on that issue of equality to improve mission readiness. Davis retired as chief of the National Guard Bureau last September.
“All
who have the ability to serve should have the opportunity to lead. Diversity
will make that happen,” insisted Dr. Samuel Betances in his comments to Guard
people who are striving to shape their units so they reflect the cultural and
leadership mix of the communities where they are located.Betances, the senior consultant for the Chicago firm of Souder, Betances and Associates, which specializes in diversity training and helping organizations develop diversity programs, said that diversifying the force would help sustain this country’s all-volunteer armed services.
“I know that there has been talk about bringing back the draft,” he said. “But if we do diversity right, we won’t have to bring back the draft. People will be proud to enlist and re-enlist and continue to serve this country.”
The state of Georgia received the Guard Bureau’s Joint Service Excellence in Diversity Award for fostering a 30-member human relations team of traditional and full-time Army and Air Guard members and state employees. The team was credited with forging “an exceptional array of accomplishments” that will be featured in a Best Practice Book.
Massachusetts’ 1st Battalion of the 104th Infantry, 26th Infantry Brigade, in Springfield got the Army Guard award for Unit Excellence in Diversity for organizing veterans to mentor local high school students who are interested in joining the armed forces.
New York’s 105th Airlift Wing in Newburgh won the Air Guard’s unit excellence award for training diversity educators, for retaining members of under-represented groups, and for building partnerships with community organizations.
Major David Mikolaities from Massachusetts’ 26th Infantry Brigade won the Army Guard’s individual award for developing a relationship between students in the Springfield High School Junior ROTC program and the members of a local Puerto Rican veterans center.
Chief Master Sgt. Percy Freeman, the human resources advisor for the 116th Air Control Wing in Georgia, was the Air Guard’s individual winner. He was described as “a key contributor to the development of the Georgia Department of Defense State and Unit Diversity Strategic Plans.”