by David Chapman
Staff Writer
On the day before Veterans Day, a Meninak Club crowd largely comprised of veterans themselves heard from Brig. Gen. Michael Fleming of the Florida Army National Guard on the organization’s many missions.
As he’s come to learn in his travels, Fleming said he’s found many listeners only tend to have a partial understanding of just what the organization does.
“What we find is that people usually have an idea of what we (Florida Army National Guard) do, but not exactly everything,” said Fleming before talking to the crowd. “The goal is to just go over some of the things we do and let people have a comprehensive look.”
Fleming said he travels to 15–20 civic organizations a year to discuss the Florida Army National Guard and believes it’s a “tremendous opportunity” to get the word out about the organization and to meet veterans.
Monday’s meeting fulfilled both, as well over half the club members raised their hands when Meninak President Harrison Conyers asked them to do so to be recognized for their service.
“It wasn’t a coincidence ... we arranged this for a while,” said Conyers, when asked about the timeliness of Fleming’s program. “We have so many members who have served and we wanted to have something to help recognize them.”
Fleming discussed how the Florida Army National Guard uses trained units to address its three-pronged effort of supporting national security objectives, responding to emergencies and disasters within the state and supporting programs that add value to Florida and the U.S.
“We’re trying to build on a legacy,” said Fleming. “Build on the legacy of those who came before us and build on it a little more.”
With headquarters in St. Augustine, the Florida Army National Guard, according to Fleming, is “literally all throughout the state.” There are 118 units and 10,000 personnel with the Florida Army National Guard, while the Florida Air National Guard is composed of 10 units and 1,900 personnel – including the 125th Fighter Wing at Jacksonville International Airport.
Over time, the Florida faction has been called on for missions in Iraq, Pakistan, Djibouti, Israel and Pakistan among other countries.
Homeland security is also a large part of what the organization does, added Fleming, but regardless of the mission, he feels its members accomplish their goals by exceeding standards.
“We feel like we have excellence in everything we do,” said Fleming.
According to Fleming, the Florida Army National Guard is doing well on multiple fronts – both at 99.7 percent personnel capacity and as a state economic driver of around $1 billion annually – and he receives one question in particular when he travels statewide for speaking engagements.
“Probably the most frequent question .... is ‘How can I help?’” said Fleming. “People can support in a lot of ways ... financially, they can support their local USOs, or they can do something as easy as pray.”
Tuesday’s Veterans Day parade and meaning is one such way people can show their support, said Conyers.
“It’s important to consider Florida (Army) National Guard like all military members,” said Conyers. “Events like this (Tuesday’s parade) are really important to them.”
Next week’s Meninak speaker will be University of North Florida President and former mayor John Delaney. For more information go to www.meninak.org.
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