funding for this program was provided by friends the Iowa PBS Foundation as well as generations of families and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS as elected officials Gather in Iowa's capital city of Des Moines Major General Benjamin Corral adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard speaks to a joint session of the Iowa legislature this is the 2023 condition of the Guard address [Music] foreign [Music] page okay foreign arms Mr Speaker the house committee has returned and is ready to report chair recognize the gentleman from Carroll representative best Mr Speaker the Senate the house is ready to receive it in joint convention has completed its Duty thank you the reporters received and the committee is discharged the chair recognizes the sergeant arms Mr Speaker the president of the Senate the secretary of the Senate and The Honorable members of the Senate have arrived in the house chamber you'll escort the president of the Senate to the speakers well the secretary the chief clerk station and the Senators will be seated amongst the respective Representatives [Applause] foreign The Joint convention will be in order the chair recognizes the senator from Polk Senator Whitmer thank you madam president Madam president I move the roll call be dispensed with and that the president be authorized to declare a quorum present you heard the motion you've heard the motion from the senator from Polk Senator Whitford all those in favor say aye those opposed say no the motion prevails the chair declares a quorum present in the joint convention duly organized the chair recognizes the senator from Polk Senator Whitford thank you madam president Madam president I move that a committee of six three members from the Senate and three members from the house be appointed to escort Governor Kim Reynolds to the house chamber you have heard the motion from the senator from Polk Senator Whitmer all those in favor will say aye opposed say no the motion prevails and the chair announces the appointment of the senator from Marshall Senator Edler the senator from Mills Senator Costello and the senator from Scott Senator Winkler on the part of the Senate and the representative from Fayette representative Ingles the representative from Woodbury representative Bossman and the representative from Polk representative Buck on the part of the house will the committee retire in perform its duties the chair recognizes the senator from Polk Senator Whitford thank you madam president Madam president I moved at a committee of six three members from the Senate and three members from the house be appointed to notify the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard Major General Benjamin Corral that the joint convention is ready to receive him you have heard the motion from the senator from Polk Senator Whitford all those in favor will say aye those opposed no the motion prevails and the chair announces the appointment of the senator from Lee Senator reichmann the senator from Bremer Senator salmon and the senator from Johnson Senator weiner on the part of the Senate the representative from Des Moines representative Rinker the representative from Lee representative Graber and the representative from Johnson representative Levin on the part of the house will the committee retire in performance duties something acceptance next Tuesday at five ways thank you this morning I said that's right the chair recognizes the sergeant-at-arms Madam president the executive Council has arrived in the house chamber [Applause] foreign the chair recognizes the Sergeant at Arms Madam president lieutenant governor Adam Gregg has arrived in the house chamber [Applause] the chair recognizes the sergeant-at-arms Madam president major general carrell's family has arrived in the house chamber Pharrell's family to the seats foreign recognizes The sergeant-at-arms Madam president you're committee to escort Governor Kim Reynolds has arrived the committee will escort The Honorable Kim Reynolds to the Rostrum [Applause] the chair recognizes the sergeant-at-arms Madam president you're committee to notify and escort Major General Benjamin Carell has arrived the committee will escort Major General Benjamin Carell adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard to the Rostrum thank you it is my pleasure to introduce Major General Benjamin Carell adjunct general of the Iowa National Guard Major General Carrell is here to present the condition of the Iowa National Guard address foreign good morning everyone thank you speaker Grassley and president Sinclair for the invitation to be here and speak with each of you today Governor Reynolds lieutenant governor Greg distinguished members of the Iowa General Assembly State officials and my fellow Iowans it is truly a privilege for me to address this dignified body and to once again share the story of our Iowa National Guard I stand before you today representing over 9 000 dedicated men and women of the Iowa National Guard on their behalf I want to thank each of you for all you have done to assist us in building a world-class organization we are very thankful for the strong support we received from the members of this General Assembly from our Iowa Congressional Delegation and above all from Iowans all across this great state I want to publicly thank Governor Reynolds and lieutenant governor Greg for their continued support of Iowans who serve have served our nation or our state in military service it is simply our people the service members of the Iowa National Guard our families and our civilian employers who continue to sacrifice their time talents and resources that allows us to be always ready to respond whenever and wherever we're needed I want to begin today by reminding you exactly Who We Are the Iowa National Guard we are islands serving Iowans from all across this great state in many ways the Iowa National Guard is a microcosm of Iowa we're made up of over 9 000 full-time and part-time service members along with our civilian employees Our Roots come from each of Iowa's 99 counties of those nine thousand members more than 6500 serve part-time with the Iowa National Guard as they attend school or work full-time for other employers across the state our full-time Workforce includes more than 2 200 service members and civilians who work at one of our 36 armories our three Army Aviation facilities our 13 army field maintenance facilities our three Air National Guard facilities or on Camp Dodge we are Diversified Force our service members range in age anywhere from 17 to 61 years of age and our formations are comprised of multiple races ethnic backgrounds national orange Origins and religions we are your employers your employees your neighbors your friends your loved ones with the one common goal of choosing to work and live in Iowa while serving our nation and our state we love to tell the story of our soldiers and Airmen the people who make a difference people that want to serve and do more for their community and their country because we value each individual in what they bring to the guard today I want to share with you a true story of an Iowa soldier in hopes to give you a better idea of who we are and what the opportunities in the Iowa National Guard can do for our citizens and for the future of Iowa now this particular story is going to start off by sounding quite ordinary it highlights a young man in Iowa native one of three siblings his values and upbringing instilled by his grandparents in a small rural community in Northeast Iowa and despite some hardships and obstacles this young man graduates high school but he doesn't have a clear path of how to make his path in the world like many Iowans he follows in his family's footsteps and begins working on the Family Farm but after a few years he realizes this is not the future that he desires this young man now has a wife and children and without a Clear Vision of what comes next he pursues a manufacturing job as a forklift driver for better paying and benefits a common tale until he makes a pivotal decision still needing extra income to make ends meet for his young family this young man is encouraged by his wife to answer a local advertisement promoting the Iowa National Guard with some hesitancy he meets with a recruiter and he ultimately enlists so now this traditional member of our military Reserve component married with three kids no college education working full-time is looking to see if a membership in the Iowa National Guard can be an answer to a better future he learns the closest unit for him to train at was an infantry unit located in an Armory in Oelwein Iowa a 30-minute drive from his Northeast Iowa home today most of our guard men and women travel more than an hour to get to their respective Duty location as demographics change across the state a longer Drive is becoming more common as we continue to assess our currently our current facility stationing locations across the state an example of this is our investment into a new Armory partnering together with the city of West Des Moines we're expected toward the contract of this project soon and we will begin building this project yet this year this is a 20 million dollar project the Iowa National Guard was able to secure 75 percent of construction costs with federal dollars and match it with 25 percent of the cost coming from the state we look forward to the advancements of this project and we will report back to you on this at a future date we also understand the importance of maintaining our presence in the smaller communities across the state where our soldiers and Airmen currently perform Duty much of our strength as an organization comes from the hard-working dedicated people from our smaller Iowa communities as we move forward we must carefully balance the need to station and build and growing communities with the need to maintain and reinvest in our rural communities where we have historically established our Iowa National Guard facilities and where we are long-time members of these communities as an organization we are proud that the great majority of our soldiers and Airmen live work and raise their families in an Iowa Community the communities that we serve they are our communities in order to sustain this our future success requires that we recognize these demographic changes and ensure our facilities remain in locations that allow our soldiers and Airmen to work and live where they serve now back to where Northeast Iowa Soldier in order to meet ends with first family he's working 60 hours a week at his full-time job he's a volunteer EMT with a local Ambulance Service and serving one weekend a month two weeks a year as a traditional Iowa National Guard Soldier it's not uncommon for our traditional soldiers to have a full-time job serve their community and serve in the Iowa National Guard these are choices that not only impact our service members but it also affects our families this is the reason that the Iowa National Guard instituted the warrior Family Services branch this talented part of our Workforce is focused on our families remaining connected to our organization in helping families during times of challenge we must continue to recognize and value the dedication and support from our families they play a critical role in allowing our guard men and women to continue to serve our success is tied to taking care of our families please join me in applauding the dedication and sacrifices given by many of our families thank you foreign thank you for our soldier had it not been for his family support and a willing employer the soldier in today's story would not have been able to consider opportunities to advance in the Iowa National Guard in order for him to reach his full potential he needed a college degree never deterred from serving he finds a way for two nights a week for three years straight he drives over an hour to a satellite school to get a college education through Upper Iowa University he graduates with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management and he becomes a commissioned officer in the Iowa National Guard this was possible because of the scholarship opportunities provided by the Iowa National Guard that this legislative body has graciously continued to support today there's a growing need a growing demand for the Iowa National Guard service scholarship this program has been an outstanding recruiting and retention tool since its inception for the Iowa National Guard in 2022 more Iowa National Guard soldiers and Airmen used the Iowa National Guard service scholarship to help pay for college than ever before in years past we averaged around 700 service members requesting scholarship funds each Academic Year this Academic Year the number has increased over 900 Iowa National Guard service members taking advantage of this great program that's Iowa's that's serving Islands going to an Iowa school investing in Iowa's future it is only with the continued support of this legislative body and your commitment to fund the Iowa National Guard service scholarship that we are able to continue to provide this important program to our members thank you this scholarship is about investing in people which not only benefits our men and women but also the Iowa National Guard our communities and our employers across the state where they live and work our young soldier with his new degree continues to progress through his military career and earns multiple leadership opportunities with increasing levels of responsibility he begins to make a larger impact on the organization now leading in both his community and the Iowa National Guard because of his training work ethic his family support from his community he is successful in leading Iowa National Guard formations and six overseas deployments over the course of the next 19 years if you were to ask this Soldier about his proudest moment he would share a time of a returning home after a deployment to Iraq two weeks short of being away from home for two years his Convoy of buses crosses the Mississippi River into Dubuque bringing Iowa soldiers back into the state of Iowa along the way every overpass on Highway 20 is filled with Iowans waving flags cheering and welcoming this group of soldiers back home as they pulled into the ballpark in Waterloo Iowa it was completely filled with family friends and community members there was a moment of reflection for our soldier as he looked upon the many Iowa soldiers that he had been responsible for these many long months so far from home each of them had grown during their time away they had all honorably done their Duty they had all experienced so very much serving in a war that they were called upon by our nation to serve in he realized it's not about him as an individual but it's about us it's about we as the Iowa National Guard we are always ready we are prepared to respond on a state level at the direction of our governor we are prepared to respond to the needs of our nation to face foreign threats we must always be ready for both missions we are Iowans that have stepped up and answered the call to serve both home and abroad this past year we welcomed home 40 soldiers from 376 Aviation Detachment returning from a 12-month Mission supporting the ongoing operations at the Southwest border they deployed in October 21 and returned home in October of 22. in 2022 we sent off 80 soldiers from the 209th medical company of Iowa City to Poland in support of operation European assure deter and reinforce they are currently providing medical support and training to U.S forces our allies and our partners we anticipate them returning home sometime later this spring this past fall we sent off 160 soldiers from the 11 33rd transportation company from Mason City who also deployed to Poland supporting the same mission this unit is providing necessary logistical and transportation support to our allies and partners in Eastern Europe we anticipate these soldiers to return home this fall this past year the Iowa Air National Guard's 132nd Air Wing deployed 195 Airmen and home and abroad to 13 locations in nine different countries these Airmen reinforced combatant commands supporting various operations the 124th attack squadron's home station mobilization through flu 364 combat sorties totaling more than 6819 flight hours in four different areas of responsibility in a first the 132nd Air Wing flew to the MQ-9 out of the Des Moines Air Base this exercise appropriately named Hawkeye Fury culminating by flying 42 hours over two weeks and expended 20 Precision guide training Munitions at ranges in Wisconsin and Kansas the 185th air refueling Wing deployed more than 290 Airmen to over 17 locations around the globe the 185th continues to be prepared for All Mission sets that the air mobility and strategic command expects of them including nuclear and Global deployment readiness all while their Runway was closed for repairs and they operated out of a different facility in another state for the majority of this past year throughout the 180 years since our founding we have witnessed constant change we have faced numerous challenges but we have always been ready when called as we look ahead we anticipate continued demand for our soldiers and Airmen as they deploy to support operations wherever Nation or state needs us we will continue to rely on young men and women to stand and join us and help us to face these future challenges the soldiers and Airmen we are recruiting today are high quality young men and women Iowans who join knowing they could be called upon a serve our nation and state at any given time these recruitment efforts are the result of the hard work of our members coming together as a team to build a community-based organization that the people of Iowa can trust and depend on today and into the future like others our soldiers in the story today decided that the guard was his calling in life it not only gave him fulfillment and Direction but also stability for his family it provided education leadership opportunities Global experiences camaraderie in a sense of belonging all while being a citizen of Iowa living and working in an Iowa Community while the soldier in today's story could be very similar to the story of other men and women in the Iowa National Guard this particular story if you haven't guessed happens to be my own with now almost four Decades of service in the Iowa National Guard coming from a financially challenged rural Iowa kid with no college education no real Direction in my life I stand before you today as a general officer in our military the holder of a master's degree selected by our governor to serve as the 27th adjun general of the Iowa National Guard I'm also so very proud that my three sons have followed me have followed in my footsteps as they carry on the tradition of military service in my family each of them serving today as members of the Iowa National Guard we celebrate all our service members who are inspired to follow in their family's footsteps and serve in our organization I appreciate the trust they have in the Iowa National Guard to make it their military service of choice and while we are proud of this strong family tradition it has become increasingly difficult to attract those who don't have a family connection to the military less than one percent of the population this nation serves in our Armed Forces of this population that serves 80 percent have family ties with those who have previously served in military uniform I am also fully aware that the Iowa National Guard is not the answer for everyone but I do want to make sure that it remains a point of consideration for the young men and women of Iowa my goal is that it continues to be discussed among households and within the walls of this chamber this is why I'm here to share my story our story of the Iowa National Guard and remind everyone of Who We Are we want to reconnect with Iowans and open our doors we want that interaction with our communities and we are committed to being more invested with each of you across this great state we need your help to keep our membership strong of you have already seen my senior leaders out at our facilities across the state doing visits and outward engagement with our communities and local community leaders the future and the overall strength of our organization is dependent upon reaching out and connecting with those who want to be a bigger part of their Community to serve their state and be a part of something greater than themselves the motto of the Iowa National Guard is always ready as an organization we Face increased pressure and challenges over Readiness both at home and abroad here at home the number one challenge to Readiness has become strength in our ability to recruit and retain quality soldiers and Airmen as we exit the covid-19 era National Economic educational societal Trends have increased competition for talent which has decreased the incentive to serve in our military according to recent studies 2022 was the worst year for military recruiting since 1973 at the beginning of our all-volunteer Force we have seen the propensity of young people to serve in the military fall to its lowest level since 2007. today less than 30 percent of Young Americans even meet the physical and medical requirements for entry into military service globally the environment in which we operate continues to increase in complexity and competition in this past year we witnessed as Russia invaded Ukraine Russia has demonstrated a willingness to disregard International laws and Norms its actions threaten both Regional and global stability we have also watched as China has sought to broaden its influence and control of the indo-pacific region China continues to make large investments in modernizing its military into increasing its capabilities while simultaneously it works to erode U.S alliances in influence around the world in addition to Russia and China non-state actors and terrorist groups remain a continued Global threat terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and Isis continue to operate throughout the world and across much of the Middle East into Africa and Southeast Asia the Iowa National Guard remains engaged in deterring threats like these through our state partnership program for over 11 years we have built and maintain a strong relationship with Kosovo our Airmen soldiers and civilian Personnel have assisted the Kosovo Security Forces through our knowledge experience and our resources my stated goals for our state partnership program with the Kosovo security Force are focused on non-commissioned officer professional development increasing the Kosovo security Force capabilities in cyber security sustainment and maintenance activities in improving their military medical proficiency its Partnerships like these that align with our strategic goal of being the most trusted organization in the state ready to mobilize deploy and execute any given mission the Iowa National Guard remains on glide path with our within our campaign plan which helps us focus on what is important and assess our performance along the way this plan steers us with Clarity in a Unity of Purpose with her core of dedicated leaders Guided by this plan the future remains bright for the Iowa National Guard since our initial formation in 1838 the Iowa National Guard has benefited from the unwavering support of this body and the citizens of Iowa you have trusted us to remain an organization filled with proud Iowans who are dedicated to the service in the defense of this great nation in our state we know it's our people the service members of the Iowa National Guard who serve our families and our employers who continue to sacrifice their time and talent that allows us to be always ready to respond when needed speaking of employers I want to say thank you to the many men and women across the state who volunteer to fill the roles of employer support of the garden Reserve or esgr the esdr program is a key element in working with and educating our many employers on the rights of our Reserve component members these esdr volunteers make a difference every day in keeping our traditional guard members serving and employed across the state while building trust with our civilian employers we are very thankful for the strong support we received from the members of this general assembly and from the governor's office the resources and support that you provide make it possible for the Iowa National Guard to be prepared to respond to the needs of our state and Nation we have developed something new this year it's a visual summary of our annual report and it details our units our activities who we are and the economic impact we have across the state this is another opportunity to tell a story of the Iowa National Guard we provided a copy of this for you at your desk I truly thank each one of you for placing your trust and confidence in me to serve as Iowa's agent in general I'm extremely honored to lead and represent the soldiers in the Airmen of the Iowa National Guard my job is to ensure that the Iowa National Guard is always ready when you need it and that we remain postured for future success again let me express my gratitude for your continued support and for this opportunity to provide you with this update on your Iowa National Guard I can confirm to each of you the condition of the Iowa National Guard is strong today and we will remain always ready God bless our men and women uniform God bless the great state of Iowa thank you all very much thank you will the committee to escort the major general please come forward and escort Major General Carrell from the house chamber foreign [Applause] thank you funding for this program was provided by friends the Iowa PBS Foundation as well as generations of families and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS [Music]