Airmen and Soldiers from across the Commonwealth gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, June 24, 2022, to celebrate the 230th birthday of the Kentucky National Guard, one of the nation’s oldest state militias.

Mary S. Decker, chief of staff for Joint Force Headquarters—Air, Kentucky National Guard, was promoted to the rank of brigadier general during a ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky, June 11, 2022.

Have you ever been grocery shopping and found yourself jolting your hand away when your significant other goes to hold your hand out of fear of being seen?   If you pass all the military standards to qualify as a Soldier but had to hide who you are, would you leave or continue to serve?   These are just a few operational norms service members in our LGBTQ+ community have experienced in the past and, at times, are still confronted by today.   Eleven years after the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy has been redacted, now married Kentucky National Guard Soldier’s Staff Sgt. Claudia Rector and Jane Roth-Rothstein, KYNG prior service, discuss the many hardships they faced when they fell in love in Afghanistan in 2007.   Many of the habits they established early in their relationship still affect how they approach their lives today. The fear of unacceptance still lingers. This is their story.

The Chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB) released a letter to Soldiers and Airmen through email and social media recognizing Juneteenth signed and dated on June 8, 2022. In the letter, Gen. Daniel Hokanson and Chief Master Sgt. Tony L. Whitehead, senior enlisted adviser to the National Guard Bureau, gave a brief history of the significance of the date and the occasion it celebrated.

Kentucky Army National Guard instructors met with six Ecuadorian enlisted instructors at Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville, Ky. on June 27-30, 2022. Senior noncommissioned officer instructors from the 238th Regional Training Institute (RTI) met with senior noncommissioned officer instructors from Ecuador’s Army and Air Force in an engagement to share ideas on how to train their servicemembers.

For the fifth straight year, a Kentucky Army National Guard engineer unit was named the best in the Guard.

Airmen and Soldiers from across the Commonwealth gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, June 24, 2022, to celebrate the 230th birthday of the Kentucky National Guard, one of the nation’s oldest state militias.

Have you ever been grocery shopping and found yourself jolting your hand away when your significant other goes to hold your hand out of fear of being seen?   If you pass all the military standards to qualify as a Soldier but had to hide who you are, would you leave or continue to serve?   These are just a few operational norms service members in our LGBTQ+ community have experienced in the past and, at times, are still confronted by today.   Eleven years after the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy has been redacted, now married Kentucky National Guard Soldier’s Staff Sgt. Claudia Rector and Jane Roth-Rothstein, KYNG prior service, discuss the many hardships they faced when they fell in love in Afghanistan in 2007.   Many of the habits they established early in their relationship still affect how they approach their lives today. The fear of unacceptance still lingers. This is their story.

The Chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB) released a letter to Soldiers and Airmen through email and social media recognizing Juneteenth signed and dated on June 8, 2022. In the letter, Gen. Daniel Hokanson and Chief Master Sgt. Tony L. Whitehead, senior enlisted adviser to the National Guard Bureau, gave a brief history of the significance of the date and the occasion it celebrated.

Mary S. Decker, chief of staff for Joint Force Headquarters—Air, Kentucky National Guard, was promoted to the rank of brigadier general during a ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky, June 11, 2022.

Several hundred Gold Star Families were treated to fun, food and great views of the Ohio River as the Kentucky National Guard and Survivor Outreach Services hosted their annual Riverboat Ride on the Ohio with BB Riverboats June 12.

An all-women veteran group boarded an A320 Airbus out of the Blue Grass Airport for Washington, D.C., June 11, 2022, for an historic all-female veteran honor flight.