N.C. Guard Celebrates Guard's 374th Birthday

RALEIGH, NC (12/15/2010)(readMedia)-- The North Carolina National Guard celebrated the National Guard's 374th birthday Monday at the Joint Forces Headquarters building here.

The NCNG celebrated by having a small ceremony that included a cake cutting by Air Force Brig. Gen. Iwan B. Clontz, the assistant adjutant general for Air, North Carolina National Guard.

The National Guard can trace its roots back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony founded in 1630. More than 5,000 men, women and children made the two-month voyage to the New World, leaving the relative comfort and safety of England behind in an effort to break free of religious intolerance and to manage their communities the way they saw fit, read Army Maj. Christopher Marchese, the Master of Ceremonies for the event.

"The military organization we know today as the National Guard is generally accepted to have come into existence on December 13, 1636," said Marchese. "On this date, the Massachusetts General Court in Salem, for the first time in the history of the North American continent, established that all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to join the militia."

Before the cake cutting, Sgt. 1st Class Stewart Smith of the 440th Army Band sang the National Anthem. Attendees then watched a video birthday message from Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley, Chief of the National Guard Bureau.

"Thousands of Guardsmen and women continue to build on this proud heritage," said McKinley, "as they serve overseas and perform missions that their predecessors in the Massachusetts colony could never have envisioned."

After the video, Marchese presented the audience with a proclamation signed by North Carolina Governor Bev E. Perdue. The proclamation announced the week of December 12 to 18 as "National Guard Week" in North Carolina.

Other military leaders congratulated the National Guard on the service's special day.

"Throughout your long and distinguished history, you have been a unique yet vital part of our Total Force, continually embodying your motto: 'Always Ready, Always There,'" said Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his blog. "From the front lines of the American Revolution to the shadow of the Hindu Kush, you have come from every state and territory, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and flying wingtip-to-wingtip with your brothers and sisters in arms."