Hello My 3 Kids,

I understand your viewpoint. The "Weekend Warrior" thought process was a good way to conceptualize how the National Guard functioned, one weekend a month, two weeks per year. Then on one sunny September Morning in the year 2001, a few men decided that county fairs just do not offer enough excitement for the "Weekend Warrior."

I prefer to protect the borders in a foreign land and keep the citizens of America able to live a free and prosperous lifestyle; the quality of life that we protect everyday comes from the starting point of one weekend a month and two weeks per year. Since the increased operational tempo from September 11, 2001, I will proudly stand with my National Guard service members in any war zone in the world. My thought is the "regular Army" has one job, one mission, the "Weekend Warriors" have something else for the other 28 days per month, and we can adapt, change plans, and think outside of the box on complex problems in some of the most challenging situations.

I enjoy being called a "Weekend Warrior", before the op tempo change, I was training one weekend per month, two weeks per year, now I am home on the average one weekend per month two weeks per year, the only thing I can hope for is to catch the county fair.

Talk to a "Weekend Warrior" let them tell you their story, you will be amazed at what some of the young men and women from your community are doing to ensure a better future for all of us.

MSG Trelka
Iraq

"Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it."

JERAMIAH...first of all, thank you! Second, thank you...for being the person to be big enough to NOT take offense, and to explain the unknown. Misconception seems to be the common denominator in this war...and with people personally involved to expose their experience is most appreciated from our home anyway. Stay safe and THANK you agian.

My3 I am currently with an Army Reserve Unit, formerly with the WIARNG (1158th Trans, Beloit). I am currently deployed in Iraq. I am suprised to stumble across this post and for the record not offended in any way. Hopefully I can shed a little light on the process in comming here without saying to much. You are absolutely correct in your thinking that ARNG and ARRes spend less time training. The main difference I see back home and over here is that active army has a sloooow pace no matter what they are doing. The mindset of active army is they will always be there, there will always be work to be done, and there will always be tommorow. Reservists/Guard members are trained (stateside) to accomplish the tasks laid out before them in the quickest and most efficient way possible. (Because we are just waiting to get released from drill to go to the bar) This mentality absolutley carries over to deployment. As far as Iraq goes. No matter if you are an active Army soldier or Reservist/Guard member there are required training courses you will complete. Let me rephrase. Active, Guard, Reservists all complete the same predeployment training just at different locations. (Just like Basic training and advanced individual training, however these were all inclusive between components) There is a common misconception about National Guard members being in place to protect the borders. Guard members fight abroad to protect the borders back home. They are completing their mission. As far as Obama saying we are going to be out of here anytime soon. Wow. Do yourself a favor and sell you TV. Comming from me first hand there is absolutely no way we are leaving any time soon. We are here to support the contractors which outnumber us 4 to 1. No offense. It's just buisness.

Although I can see how most of you took MY3's comment to the extreme, I personally don't think MY 3 meant any disrespect, I think that their knowledge of a national guardsmen/women is less than fully understood. How I saw the comment, was that they were fearful that the national guards would not have enough experience, therefore, they would be in a higher state of danger, which of course isn't true, but I can see how that could be thought. Let's not all be so quick to judge, I don't believe anyone intentionally would ever put down the capabilities of our armed forces......there are way too many privledges that we have everyday that remind us of what they do for us as a nation. My prayers are with all of you men and women and your families. Stay safe.

That comment by my_3_kids is by far the most ignorant comment I have EVER read on this site. It angered me so much that I had to send an email to express just how I felt, as the gazettestaff would surely have deleted it. And it is a true tragedy that someone that ignorant has brought 3 children into this world.

Call this family "weekend warriors" - this is one of the best pieces I have ever read - FYI its a website created & operated by kids in IL
http://www.proviso.k12.il.us/bataan%20we...

my_3, my husband is a so called weekend warrior as you call it, he is in Iraq right now serving our country. The National Guard not only has a state mission but they also have a federal mission which means where ever our president needs or wants to send them they are ready to go. So please do not call them weekend warriors they are much more than that!

I support the troops 100%, but I also loath our government for starting these wars. Make sense?

Woody, Have you always been of this opinion from the beginning of the Iraq war? There was overwhelming support for an invasion at the beginning but now there's many Monday morning quarterbacks that now are opposed. I want the US out of there as much as anyone, but it's sure easy to second guess now.

my3: I have 2 cousins who are as you call them weekend warriors. They both spent time in Iraq and put their lives on the line just like any other soldier that has been to war. I have friends who are in the National Guards who would take great offense with your comments. One friend has been to Afghanistan and Iraq. Did you serve your country?

By the way, nobody from Janesville should doubt the valor of National Guard troops, especially not today when the last of the Janesville 99 died. They were 99 National Guardsmen deployed to forward combat in the Philippines, and many of them died defending Corregidor, on the Bataan death march, or in sunken Japanese troop ships evacuating them to Japan. They were undermanned, without air support, and given World War I tanks, but they and other Americans and Filipinos held off the Japanese for three months.

We are actually winding down operations in Iraq, though not as quickly as some would hope. The goal is reportedly a reduction of 60% to 50,000 troops by September 2010, with remaining forces dedicated to training and support of the Iraqi government.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/world/...

my_3_kids - that is one of the most ignorant, misinformed and completely idiotic comments I have heard in a while on this website in a while. Every member of our armed forces, whether active duty, reserve, or National Guard, are fully qualified. Every member has been through basic training as well as further training beyond basic depending on what their military specialty is.

Want to talk about how much training they receive each year? Yes, there's the standard one weekend a month/2 weeks a year. That's the baseline. Many National Guard soldiers put in much more training each year than just the once a month/two weeks a year. Our nation's National Guard and Reserve component force are as fully qualified to serve overseas and as highly trained as any active duty soldier or Marine you will find out there. They take their jobs seriously and do them well.

Your comments are disrespectful to all of our fighting men and women who are in the Reserves or National Guard. Many brave soldiers and Marines who were in the National Guard and Reserves have fought and died for this country. You should be ashamed.

I could have said a lot more to my_3_kids but ignorant people are a waste of my precious time.....I did want to say one thing if these Men and Woman see this who are on alert. THANK YOU!!! I WILL KEEP YOU AND YOUR FAMILY IN MY PRAYERS!!!

my_3_kids; I cant believe you just said that! I was on active duty & take serious offense to what you said - I can only wait until DiGriz see's what you wrote. Get ready cuz this is going to be good!!!

Excuse me my_3_kids! These wonderful Men and Woman went through basic training just like regular Army and Reserves. How about saying Thank you to them instead of bashing them? They need support, not negativity!

These "Patriot's" they are putting on alert are are week-end warriors.. not FULL time trained military persons... they are suppose to be ready to protect the borders and show up at county fairs.. How much training can you get 1 week-end a month and 2 wks in the summer...

woody; why all the Bush bashing - get over it, Just how long can you blame the previous administration for today. Last time I checked Obama ran on a platform we were ending the war in Iraq. Maybe we should all start calling him the liar - but we wont because like I've said many times - you dont know what they know!!! & rightfully so might I add.

Politics aside, these patriots have agreed to defend the US against all enemies and obey the orders of their superiors. Let us pray for their safe return.

Bush made the train wreck...now we expect Obama to clean it up over night? Think about it...isn't much harder to clean up a mess than what it took to make it? I just HOPE this mess will be fixed with this administration. If they can't...we're screwed.

Then Bush turns around and makes a deal to build the second largest embassy in Beijing China. That was completed and dedicated during the olympics last year. That is the only reason Bush showed up there. What kind of deal did we do to get that built? Maybe to get more china goods shipped here?

Iraq? Bush built the worlds largest embassy on 104 acres there in Bagdad. It even has a giant swimming pool and housing for hundreds. Cool eh? It takes 1200 troops just to protect it. He managed to build that thing without using american contractors too. We paid for it with money and blood and can't hardly even find a picture of it on the net. Nice.

Just what are we doing in Iraq? What is the mission? Just keep sending more and more troops there for what?