Public Accountability Report

This past year has been truly remarkable. The Illinois National Guard celebrated its 300th birthday in 2023. We also celebrated the 30th anniversary of our State Partnership Program with Poland and the 30th anniversary of the Lincoln’s ChalleNGe program.  

These two programs illustrate how the Illinois National Guard and the Illinois Department of Military Affairs have made contributions to our state and nation from the international level to local communities. 

The State Partnership Program is as active as ever. In these past three decades we have seen Poland emerge from behind the Iron Curtain to become one of our nation’s staunchest NATO allies and a critical partner to the free world’s response to Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. Illinois has also played an important role in National Guard Bureau’s cooperative relationship with Israel’s Home Front Command. Illinois is the lead state for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear consequence management in the relationship with Israel. 

In addition to these ongoing partnerships, our Soldiers and Airmen continue to deploy around the world. In federal fiscal year 2023, the Illinois National Guard deployed almost 1,200 service members to places like Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, East Africa, Peru, Niger, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Germany, Antarctica, Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, the Philippines, Kosovo, Romania, and Poland. We also deployed about 200 Soldiers in a federal status to the U.S. Southwest Border to assist the U.S. Border Patrol.

Lincoln’s ChalleNGe Academy surpassed its 16,000th graduate this year – that’s thousands of local youths put on a positive track in life and given a hopeful and promising future. The academy continues to expand its offerings helping these young people recover high school credits and graduate high school, pass the GED, move on to higher education, or obtain marketable skills and employment within Illinois’ diverse communities.

The Illinois National Guard remains ‘Always Ready, Always There’ to support the state’s emergency needs just as we were there in 2020 and 2021 with COVID-19 and civil disturbance responses. This past federal fiscal year the Illinois National Guard contributed 511 man-days helping the City of Chicago with thousands of legal asylum seekers bussed from the nation’s Southwest Border. 

We also contributed more than 40 man-days to shoring up the state’s cyber defenses prior to and during the midterm elections. In addition, we responded to a call from Hawaii for public information assistance following the deadly Lahaina fire in Maui. A public affairs officer assisted with these efforts for three weeks.   

Your Illinois National Guard Soldiers and Airmen continue to do great things. The Illinois Army National Guard is ranked first nationally in medical readiness and in the top seven in the Strength Health Index. The Illinois Air National Guard’s 126th Air Refueling Wing ranked first in the entire Air Force for its KC-135 Mission Capability Rate (86.8 percent) and Aircraft Availability Rate (70.7 percent.) The 182nd Airlift Wing was the recipient of the 2023 Stanley F.H. Newman Award for best Air National Guard Unit in Air Mobility Command. This past year, Soldiers from the 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment placed first among U.S. Army units in the Gainey Cup competition. The grueling 5-day Gainey Cup pits the best scout squads against each other. The Illinois team was barely edged out from the top spot by a team from the Netherlands. The Illinois Army National Guard has won multiple logistics awards. It’s 1644th Transportation Company was named the U.S. Army Transportation Corps’ Unit of the Year. The Illinois Air National Guard’s 183rd Air Operations Group’s 183rd Air Mobility Operations Squadron received the Air Mobility Command Theater Command and Control Officer Performer of the Year and the Theater Command and Control Enlisted Performer of the Year Awards. The Illinois Army National Guard’s Capt. Anna Zamora of the 34th Division Sustainment Brigade received the 2023 LATINA Style Distinguished Military Service Award. It was the second year in a row that an Illinois Army National Guard Soldier received the LATINA Style award.

These awards and accolades continued to pile up even as the Illinois National Guard supported multiple training exercises around the world, continued to execute several multi-million-dollar construction plans and projects, provided more than $21 million worth of equipment to the war fight in Ukraine, and supported Illinois law enforcement in seizing more than $306 million worth of illegal drugs. The reach and scope of Illinois National Guard operations is amazing especially considering that more than 80 percent of our Soldiers and Airmen are part-time traditional Guard members. It has been 300 years, but the spirit of those militia members who first mustered in Kaskaskia on May 9, 1723, is still very much alive in today’s Illinois National Guard. To this day we have nearly 13,000 men and women willing to set aside their civilian lives at a moment’s notice to protect and defend our communities, state and nation.