Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised the National Guard during his address at the 147th National Guard Association of the United States General Conference in Milwaukee, Aug. 23.
Speaking to guard officers from across the country, Caine expressed deep gratitude and outlined his priorities for the joint force.
"When you mobilize the guard, you mobilize the nation," he said. "Rooted in all of our history is the guard. From 1636 to 2036 and beyond, the guard will always be there."
With over 40,000 guardsmen currently serving domestically and abroad — including 2,000 supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, Joint Task Force District of Columbia — the guard's impact is undeniable, the chairman said.
Drawing from his National Guard service during which he spent a significant portion of his career, Caine shared a personal perspective: "The guard has given me far more than I could ever give back. I'm gifted to have this incredible vantage point of seeing what the guard does for the nation, not only overseas but right here at home."
Caine highlighted the guard's recent achievements, notably its contributions to Operation Midnight Hammer in June. Guardsmen from the Missouri National Guard's 131st Bomb Wing worked in tandem with their Whiteman Air Force Base 509th Bomb Wing counterparts to execute this mission — the largest B-2 Spirit strike in history.
"It was weapons builders from the guard that created those bombs that did our nation's business, and guardsmen who went and got after it in the darkness of night to do the things that our nation calls upon us to do," he said.
The chairman commended the Texas National Guard for its heroic response to the July Fourth central Texas flooding, where Texas guard aviators, and search and rescue crews worked with interagency partners to save more than 525 people.
"[They] went out into the flood zones to do something that is so incredibly hard — to take care of their neighbors in a time of such incredible pain and suffering and did so in such a caring and thoughtful way."
Addressing global challenges, Caine described the security environment as delicate, dynamic and extraordinarily complex.
He likened today's threats to a Tom Clancy novel, citing the ongoing war in Europe, the Middle East crisis from Gaza to Tehran, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and an increasingly assertive China aligned with other adversaries.
"Our global risk score really has never been higher," Caine said, "but I'm comforted by the fact that you are there. You are essential to how we reestablish deterrence, rebuild our military and achieve peace through strength."
The general outlined his four priorities for the joint force to address these challenges, emphasizing the guard's critical role:
- Proper Arming: Equipping the force, including the guard, with cutting-edge technology and modernized equipment to meet evolving threats.
- Global Integration: Building trust and collaboration across the joint force, allies and partners. Caine applauded the Defense Department's National Guard State Partnership Program as a cornerstone of U.S. security cooperation, which he called "one of the great force multipliers inside the joint force."
- Readiness: Ensuring the force is organized, trained and equipped with a combat-ready mindset. "It's about being clear-eyed about the challenges ahead," he said.
- People: Caine called the more than 2 million joint force personnel the heart of every mission, adding that humans are more important than hardware. "You do this because you care about something greater than yourselves. You do this because you love our great nation. You do it because you love each other," he told the audience.
The National Guard, a joint component of 433,000 soldiers and airmen across every state, territory and the District of Columbia, consists of almost 80% enlisted personnel.
"It is the joint enlisted force that brings us the true exclusivity that America's combat power has," he said. "Oftentimes I contend that no one in the world is better than the enlisted force in the National Guard because you bring your civilian experience together with your military experience. You deliver exponential returns for the United States of America."