New York National Guard celebrates Army's 250th Birthday with June 13 ceremony

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Col. Richard Goldenberg, left, and Pvt. Charles Adams cut the Army Birthday Cake during the New York National Guard Army Birthday celebration in 2024.

LATHAM, NY (06/12/2025) (readMedia)-- The New York Army National Guard's top warrant officer, and a 17-year-old recruit from Ecuador who wants to be an Army cook, will help the New York Army National Guard celebrate the Army's 250 years during a Friday, June 13 ceremony at New York National Guard headquarters.

Chief Warrant Officer 5 William J. Solmo, and Pvt. John Steven Palacios Diaz will cut a birthday cake marking the creation of the U.S. Army on June 14, 1775.

Members of the press are invited to cover the ceremony.

WHO: Chief Warrant Officer 5 William Solmo, a 59-year-old Brooklyn resident who enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 1986; Pvt. John Steven Palacios Diaz, age 17, from Lagrange, and Brig. Gen. Isabel Smith, the commander of the 53rd Troop Command, who will preside over the ceremony.

WHAT: A traditional cake-cutting ceremony commemorating June 14, 1775, which the United States Army considers its birthday. Traditionally, the oldest Soldier present joins the youngest Soldier in cutting the Army Birthday cake. The older Soldier represents the history and traditions of the Army, while the young Soldier represents its future. The Capital Region Chapter of the Association of the United States Army is providing the cake. The two will cut the cake with a ceremonial saber.

WHERE: New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs Headquarters, 330 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham, N.Y., 12110.

WHEN: 1 p.m., Friday, June 13, 2024

Coverage opportunities:

Reporters can interview New York Army National Guard Officers and Soldiers and obtain imagery of the cake-cutting ceremony.

For access to this secure military facility, please contact the Division of Military and Naval Affairs public affairs office at 786-4581.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Chief Warrant Officer 5 William Solmo

Chief Warrant Officer 5 William J. Solmo enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1986 as a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic.

He currently serves as the Command Chief Warrant Officer for the New York Army National Guard and is responsible for recruiting and retaining Warrant Officers.

After initial entry training, Solmo was assigned to Headquarters Company of the 71st Infantry Regiment. In 1988, Solmo was assigned to Alpha Troop, 101st Cavalry Squadron, serving as a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic. In 1990, Solmo was transferred to Alpha Company, 107th Infantry Regiment.

In 1992, Solmo was promoted to Sergeant and assigned as a senior mechanic with 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment. In 1996, Solmo was assigned to the 133rd Maintenance Company and deployed to Germany in support of Operation Joint Endeavor. After deployment, Solmo was once again assigned to 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, as a senior mechanic.

In 2001, Solmo received his appointment as a warrant officer. Following the attacks on September 11th, 2001, Solmo was activated and served at ground zero, assisting with recovery efforts.

Following his service at ground zero, Solmo remained with the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, and was promoted to chief warrant officer two in 2003. In 2005, Solmo deployed to Iraq with 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

After returning from deployment, Solmo was assigned to Fox Company, 427th Brigade Support Battalion, as a unit maintenance officer. In 2010, Solmo was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer three.

The following year, Solmo was transferred to the 369th Sustainment Brigade and served as a senior ordnance ground maintenance warrant officer branch chief.

In 2019 Solmo was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer four. In 2020, Solmo returned to 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment. In 2022, Solmo deployed with the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, to Djibouti as part of Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa.

Solmo is a graduate of many military schools, including the Warrant Officer Senior Service Education Course.

His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Combat Action Badge, Iraq Campaign, NYS Defense of Liberty Medal with World Trade Center device.

Solmo is also the recipient of the Order of Saint Maurice, and the Ordnance Order of Samuel-Sharp awards.

Solmo graduated with an associate degree in business administration from the Dominican College of Blauvelt in 1985.

He resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife of 27 years, and they have two adult children.

Private John Steven Palacios Diaz

Pvt. John Steven Palacios Diaz enlisted at age 17 to be a culinary specialist. He attends Arlington High School in Lagrange. He and his mother immigrated to the United States from Ecuador when he was ten years old, and the New York Army National Guard is assisting him in his naturalization process to become a U.S. citizen.

He has not yet attended training but is a member of Detachment 1 of the 1501 Quartermaster Company, which is a field feeding unit and is based at the Glenmore Road Armory in Troy.

The Army Birthday

On July 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress took the first steps toward creating a national Army.

There was no United States yet, but now there was a Continental Army.

Since the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, New English militia companies had been keeping 4000 British Soldiers under siege in Boston.

But this wasn't one Army. It was a collection of militia units – the National Guard of their day --that reported back to their home colonies.

If the "United Colonies" were to win in this confrontation with the British Empire, then a united Army was needed.

That day, Congress voted to recognize the New English militias as an army representing all thirteen colonies.

More importantly, it laid the groundwork for a truly Continental Army, by voting to enlist ten companies of riflemen-six from Pennsylvania, two from Virginia, and two from Maryland--and send them to Boston.

These units consisted of only 84 men each, but they were the first Soldiers recruited to serve the entire country, not just their colony.

George Washington received his appointment as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army the next day and formally took command at Boston on July 3, 1775.

Historians estimate that 231,000 men, out of a population of three million people, served in the Continental Army between 1775 and 1783. But no more than 48,000 were in uniform at any one time, and no force was ever larger than 13,000 men.

Today, The Army numbers almost a million men and women in the Active Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve.

Over the last 250 years, the Soldiers of the United States Army protected the frontier of a growing nation, saved the Union and ended slavery, liberated Europe and Asia from tyranny during World War II, and held the line for freedom during the Cold War.

The New York Army National Guard is part of this proud legacy of service at home and overseas.

Today, more than700 members of the 42nd Infantry Division are preparing to deploy to the Middle East, while 2,400 members of the Army National Guard are supporting the Department of Corrections and Community Service in the state prisons.