Delaware Air National Guard's 100 percent unit manning milestone to be celebrated on anniversary of unit founding Friday
NEW CASTLE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Delaware -- This Friday Sept. 6 will mark a recruiting milestone for the Delaware Air National Guard as the unit reaches the 100 percent unit manning level.
The Delaware Air Guard has not been at the 100 percent manning level since the Vietnam War era, and while manning has gone above 95 percent a few times in the last several years, it has never reached the level of our authorized strength, now at 1,107 personnel.
By coincidence, this Friday marks the 67th anniversary year of the Delaware Air Guard's founding on Sept. 6, 1946.
To celebrate this recruiting milestone and as a representative symbol of the achievement, a new recruit will take the oath of enlistment during a ceremony at 1:45 p.m. Friday at Delaware Air Guard headquarters in New Castle.
The recruit, 17-year-old Dominique DiMatteo, a senior at the Delaware Military Academy in Wilmington, will be enlisted by Brig. Gen. Carol Timmons, the assistant adjutant general for air, Delaware National Guard. The new recruit's parents, as well as two representatives from the Delaware Military Academy, will be present for the enlistment.
Ms. DiMatteo will enlist into the 142nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, and after she graduates from high school will start Air Force Basic Military Training and her follow-on technical training.
The Delaware Air Guard recruiting team will be on hand for the enlistment and will be honored for recruiting excellence. The team will receive the Air National Guard's 2012 National Patriot Team Award that recognizes the best recruiting team in a 10-state region, and the 2012 Golden Eagle Award that recognizes the best recruiting state in the region.
A number of senior leaders of the organization will be on hand for the enlistment and award presentation.
Brigadier Gen. Carol Timmons said, "Our recruiting team and our entire base population have worked hard to inform young people in our region of the overall value and sense of service that a person can gain from joining the Delaware Air National Guard. Their efforts have borne fruit as we have obtained this most significant recruiting milestone."
She added, "We are still hiring for great part-time positions, and we fully intend to push on to reach 102 percent manning in the year ahead as we strengthen our organization for the future."
The Delaware ANG has over 1,100 members, and continually deploys personnel and subordinate units around the globe. This release is in the public domain, and any part may be used as written.
Delaware Air National Guard: Celebrating 67 years of Citizen-Airman service to our state and nation, 1946-2013
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