The inaugural class of students in the Battle Born Youth ChalleNGe Academy made Nevada history after 21 cadets graduated from the residential phase of the program Friday during a ceremony at the Elko Convention Center. All 21 students completed the rigorous 22-week residential portion of the program and are transitioning to the one-year mentorship phase of the program as they return to their respective local, traditional high schools.

Eighteen months into the Nevada Guard’s COVID-19 health response mission, about 135 Soldiers and Airmen remain on duty battling the persistent virus daily across the Silver State.

Experienced Soldiers willing to keep their boots on terra firma for the remainder of their military career can quickly transition into the Nevada Army Guard’s warrant officer corps. Warrant officers are the Army’s experts who perform specialized missions and train Soldiers and advise commanders on technical military topics.

More than 1,250 Nevada Army Guard Soldiers served in Afghanistan on 19 separate unit activations between 2003-2021, according to statistics from the Nevada Army Guard’s plans and operations section.

Retired Nevada Army Guard Brig. Gen. Douglas Byington, 88, a renowned Northern Nevada Soldier, educator and athlete, died on Tuesday in his hometown of Sparks. Upon his retirement from the Nevada Army Guard in 1988, he was the Commander of the Army Guard and had recorded a military career that spanned nearly four decades in both the active-duty Army and National Guard.