Vermont National Guard briefs committee on deployments, recruiting challenges and $7 million general-fund request

Brigadier General Henry "Hank" Hardler, deputy adjutant general for the Vermont National Guard, and Kim Fedeli, finance director for the military department, briefed the committee on personnel deployments, recruiting and retention challenges, facility needs and the Guard's budget request.

Hardler said roughly 300 airmen were deployed worldwide at the time of the briefing, including about 275 assigned with F‑35 aircraft to Kadena Air Base in Japan as part of a scheduled theater security deployment. Another group of about 66 airmen were serving on a six‑month reserve component deployment that began in October, with most expected to return by April. Guard members were also participating in exercises in Guam, South Korea and Europe.

Hardler described the state's total Guard strength as about 1,100 personnel, with roughly two‑thirds serving as traditional, part‑time members and the remainder as full‑time staff. He said recruitment is a continuing challenge; once members join retention is generally good, but recruiting to reach authorized end strength remains difficult.

The Guard described several recruiting and retention initiatives: the Joint Enlistment Enhancement Program (JEAP), which uses state money to provide a $1,000 referral payment for leads that result in a sworn member; a partner recruiting initiative (PRIME) that connects Guard members to employers who guarantee interviews; and the Vermont National Guard Tuition Program, a roughly $1.3 million entitlement the Guard cites as an important enlistment incentive.

On facilities and construction, finance director Kim Fedeli said the department has 11 major military construction (MILCON) projects in design and expects somewhere between $30 million and $60 million of federally funded military construction in coming years. The department is pursuing a new readiness center in the Swanton area to replace aging armories. Fedeli said the military department's general‑fund request for the year was about $7,000,000; the majority of an approximately $300,000 increase this year is for pay and benefits. She told the committee the department's budgeting priorities are payroll, utilities and facility maintenance to preserve federal match opportunities.

Fedeli also described energy‑conservation steps, including conversion of boilers to natural gas at several firing‑range facilities and use of solar arrays at some Guard sites to reduce energy costs.

Why it matters: the Guard's staffing, readiness and facility investments affect domestic emergency response capacity, federal construction dollars coming to the state, and state spending priorities.

Ending: Committee members thanked the presenters; the transcript records the briefing and questions but does not record any committee action on the Guard's budget request within the provided excerpt.