A Georgia Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk from
the Marietta-based 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment,
lifted off rapidly after inserting Georgian special forces
during an urban operations exercise at the Vaziani
Training Area on August 5, 2018, during Noble Partner
18. (U.S Army photo by Staff Sgt. R. J. Lannom, Jr.)
Georgia National Guard:
“Always Ready, Always There”
20 | August 2018 | Real Hero Report
The Georgia National Guard had its origin with the
establishment of the Georgia Militia by Lord James
Oglethorpe upon his arrival in Savannah in 1733. What
began as the Georgia Militia grew into the proud organization that
fought on the forefront and saw many heroic service members
the War of 1812, the Seminole Wars, the American Civil War,
World Wars I and II, Desert Shield, and Desert Storm. Since
September 11, 2001, 42 of Georgia’s Citizen Soldiers have fallen
in support of the war on terrorism.
Organization
Today, the Georgia National Guard is a component of the Georgia
Department of Defense (DoD), which includes the state’s Army
and Air National Guard, the State Defense Force, and state and
federal employees. The 15,000 members of the Georgia DoD
delivered an $853 million dollar impact into the Georgia economy
in 2017, while conducting operations at a cost of less than $12
million to the overall state budget.
The Georgia Army National Guard (ARNG) is comprised of
based 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) is the largest
with 4,300 Guardsmen, and provides combined arms formations
with infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineer, and support capabilities.
The Marietta-based 78th Aviation Troop Command (ATC)
provides rotary wing air assets to include UH-60 Black Hawks,
CH-47 Chinooks, and UH-72 Lakotas. The Columbus-based
648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) lives up to its
name by supporting operations with engineer, transportation, and
artillery capabilities. The Marietta-based 201st Regional Support
Group (RSG) provides military police, chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear teams, transportation equipment, and an
explosive ordnance detachment. The 201st RSG also provides
regional support in the form of the 4th Civil Support Team (CST).
The 4th CST is one of 10 civil support teams in the U.S., and
provides full-time personnel to support emergency response, large
event sweeps and screening operations, and direct partnership