Photo By Sgt. Brian Johnson | Sgt. 1st Class Todd Farrar, a National Guard Recruiter, discusses the benefit of the...... read more read more
CAMP SHERMAN READINESS CENTER, Ohio - Many things make up a soldier’s experience in the National Guard. Not only are there the professions that a soldiers can choose; such as engineering, working with artillery, or be part of search and rescue groups; but there is also the equipment and the people that make that experience what it is. Very rarely does an opportunity come along to experience some of those military specialties all under one roof. On Dec. 9, the Chillicothe area had a chance to experience such a thing when the National Guard hosted its second annual Guard Experience (GX) night.
A GX night is a chance for the National Guard to showcase what they are all about. Company C of the Recruiting and Retention Battalion based in Chillicothe at Camp Sherman hosted the GX night. There were displays and equipment and participation from many local National Guard units to include the 1194th Engineer Company in Chillicothe, the 1191st Engineer Company in Portsmouth, the 811th Engineer Company in Tarlton, and the Chillicothe based Search and Extraction element of the Ohio National Guard’s CERF team.
The GX night also had non-military offerings that included cornhole games, Call to Duty tournaments, a night vision obstacle course and free food. Interested participants in the GX night were also given an opportunity to hear about what the National Guard has to offer.
Sgt. 1st Class Mark Campbell of Athens said that there was a lot of coordination that was involved to make the GX night happen.
“We originally had to get approval from the National Guard Bureau. Once that approval was received, we approached the command staff of the 216th Engineer Battalion since we are in the same armory as one of their subordinate companies (the 1194th Engineers). It took one month of heavy planning and coordination to help everything come together. The 216th Engineer Battalion was extremely helpful to us and wanted to see this night be as much of a success as we did.”
Campbell said that the GX nights had changed a lot from when they were first held around the state.
“The original GX nights were held on a college campus with no support from the local National Guard units. The plan at the time was for only 20-25 people to be in attendance. Based on what we learned from those early GX nights, we were able to evolve it into what happened tonight; support from many National Guard units and over 50 people in attendance. Tonight was a success.”
Sergeant First Class J. Todd Farrar who is a recruiter for Company C said that many people were interested in what the National Guard had to offer.
“We had over 50 people in attendance. We received great support from the local radio stations and news media to help advertise the evening. Of the 50 in attendance, over 30 went through briefings to hear about what the military had to offer and 16 had signed up to take the military’s ASVAB test. From there, most of them eventually make the decision to join the military.”
Private Erin Murray of Chillicothe was a participant in the evening. She felt that an event like this was good.
“The people in this area don’t always get to see a lot of what the National Guard does on a regular basis, especially the younger kids. Even if no one wanted to hear about what the military had to offer, we were able to reach out to the community and were able to show them what the National Guard was about.”
| Date Taken: | 12.09.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2015 18:02 |
| Story ID: | 159350 |
| Location: | CAMP SHERMAN READINESS CENTER, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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