The ambitious schedule of activities, displays, and award presentations will begin at 10:00 in the Assembly Chambers at which time Brigadier general Glenn K. Rieth, the Adjutant General of New Jersey and Brigadier General (Retired) Robert S. Dutko, Sr., State Chairman of the New Jersey Employer Support of the guard and reserve Committee will present the prestigious “Seven Seals” Award to Senate Co-Presidents Richard Cody and John Bennett, Assembly Speaker Albio Sires, and Assemblymen Jack Connors and Nick Asselta recognizing these five legislators for their outstanding support of the more than 20,000 citizen-soldiers serving in units of the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard and the 5 military reserve organizations with units in the Garden State.

Static equipment displays, information booths, and a number of Army and Air National guard personnel will be on hand to demonstrate various weapons and equipment systems and share information and details with the public about the many diverse federal and state missions the Guard serves.  Scheduled to participate are: New Jersey Army National Guard’s Detachment 1, 1159th Aviation – TRIAGE display; T3BL (Training & Training Technology Battle lab); Recruiting & Retention; 254th  Regiment, Detachment 5, Sea Girt Medical Clinic; New Jersey Military Academy; 42nd DISCOM – HMMWV Ambulance; 50th BDE – MP HMMWV; 21st CST; New Jersey Air National Guard’s 108th Air Refueling Wing, 177th Fighter Wing, and HAZMAT Trailer; New Jersey Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve; Family Support Program; New Jersey National Guard ChalleNGe Youth Program; Veterans Health Care Services, Cemeteries/Monuments Memorials/Museums; BG William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery; Veterans Haven (homeless Veterans transitional housing program), Veterans Service Offices (information outreach); Veterans Memorial Homes (veteran long-term residential care facilities at Vineland, Menlo Park, and Paramus); and the National Guard Militia Museum Trailer.

More than 1,700 Guard troops were mobilized for active duty following the terrorist attacks of September 11th.  Governor James E. McGreevey, the Commander-in-Chief of the New Jersey National Guard, and General Rieth ordered more than 1,700 National Guard troops into service to provide additional security at the Hudson River Bridges and tunnels, major airports, and the state’s nuclear facilities.  As our state and nation commemorate the first anniversary of September 11th, citizen-soldiers of the New Jersey National Guard, or as General Rieth prefers to call them, New Jersey’s Home Town Team are still on the job fighting on the front lines of the ongoing war against terrorism, adding value to New Jersey’s communities, and serving the people of our great state and nation.

The public and media are invited.  Light refreshments will be served.  In the event of inclement weather, the event will be moved into the Assembly Annex.