On Sunday, September 7, 2003 the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard will be conducting their Annual Military Review and Awards Ceremony at the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt, New Jersey. The festivities will begin at 10:00 a.m. and include personnel from virtually every unit of the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard. The featured speaker will be Commander-in-Chief, Governor James E. McGreevey who will be escorted by Brigadier General Glenn K. Rieth, The Adjutant General of New Jersey. Governor Mc Greevey will also be receiving the prestigious Major General Charles Dick Medal of Merit from the National Guard Association of the United States for his outstanding support of the state’s citizen-soldiers.

Brigadier General Eugene Chojnacki, Assistant Adjutant General (Air), Commander of Troops for the event, will be joined by two very special guests: Major General (retired) Francis R. Gerard, World War II fighter ace and a former Adjutant General during the Kean Administration; and Robert E. Wallace, Deputy Adjutant and Executive Director of the VFW’s Washington D.C. Office, former National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the first Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Affairs in the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs while reviewing the troops. The 63rd Army Band will lead the traditional pass-in-review as color guards and marching units follow in procession; the traditional 19-gun artillery salute will provide honors to the Governor; fly-overs will be provided by Army Aviation helicopters and F-16 aircraft from the 177th Fighter Wing.

Additional entertainment will be provided by the Metro New York Area USO.

Family Day activities will follow immediately after the conclusion of the Review.

Static Equipment displays will feature tanks, armored personnel carriers, self-propelled howitzers, other Army combat equipment, and informational exhibits from both Army and Air Guard Recruiting and Retention. The National Guard Militia Museum will also be open.

More than 1,700 Guard troops were mobilized for active duty to provide additional security at the Hudson River Bridges and tunnels, major airports, and the state’s nuclear facilities following the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Guard personnel were again placed on alert for the first anniversary of September 11th. Following the start of “Operation Iraqi Freedom”, citizen-soldiers of the New Jersey National Guard, or as General Rieth prefers to call them, New Jersey’s Home Town Team, were again deployed to protect key infrastructure throughout the state.

The Guard’s 253rd Transportation Company is attached to the 101st Airborne Division and still serving in Iraq. Both Army and Air National Guard personnel are serving on the front lines of the ongoing war against terrorism, supporting Homeland Security missions, adding value to New Jersey’s communities, and serving the people of our great state and nation.

The public and media are invited.

In the event of inclement weather, the event will be moved into the Armory.

For directions please call (732) 974-5900.