Photo By Lt. Col. Christian Patterson | LTC Christian Patterson, APR+M Director of Public Affairs, Mississippi Military...... read more read more
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One of the best things about taking a long drive is that it allows you to clear your mind, plot your next move and place issues into perspective. They almost seem to serve as an operational pause and, in some cases, a reset. As much of a challenge as life is for us all, occasional journeys up Highway 49 to the Delta or down the Natchez Trace often serve as good ideas.
During a recent trip to Vicksburg with my family, we crossed the Mississippi River Bridge into Louisiana and quickly returned to the Magnolia State. It’s always a great feeling to come home and see “Welcome to Mississippi: Birthplace of America’s Music.” But on this occasion, it meant much more.
It reminded me of when I joined the Mississippi National Guard in 1994 and when the late Governor Kirk Fordice was our force’s commander-in-chief. In the early 1990s, he ordered that each welcome sign coming into Mississippi have an additional sign that said “Only Positive Mississippi Spoken Here.” I reflected on it immediately as we passed the welcome sign coming into Vicksburg. Fordice’s intent was mostly to put outsiders on notice, but his plea also took aim to native Mississippians. It is still relevant and must be practiced by all, especially by the MSNG in 2018.
For the first time since 2010, our force will have thousands of Soldiers and Airmen serving forward across the globe. Great focus will be applied to guarantee mission accomplishment, but our team must also use these opportunities to showcase our organizational accolades and our state.
As we continued on down Interstate 20, I asked “What would I tell an outsider about the Mississippi National Guard and how special we are?”
It didn’t take long for me to remember that our 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team is about to be the first National Guard ABCT to replace an active component brigade during Operation Spartan Shield in Kuwait; our Brig. Gen. John “Trent” Kelly is one of three guard general officers currently serving in the U.S. Congress; our 172d Airlift Wing was the first Air National Guard unit to receive the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft; the birthplace of aerial refueling is in Meridian with our 186th Air Refueling Wing; Camp Shelby is the largest state-owned National Guard training site in the nation; and, one of our former Soldiers, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Roy Robinson, is now the president of the National Guard As- sociation of the United States. By the time we reached our home in Clinton, I realized that our list of “positives” is endless.
Whether you’re preparing to serve forward or here at home, be an ambassador. Reveal our guard success and the best of Mississippi. We continue to face challenges, but we have a lot to be proud of that others must know about. Our future depends on it!
We hope that you enjoy this issue!
Lt. Col. Christian Patterson, APR+M
Editor-in Chief
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2018 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 275176 |
| Location: | JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 154 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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