Adjutant general briefs committee on Oregon National Guard deployments, equipment gaps and retention request

Brigadier General Alan Groenewald, Adjutant General of the Oregon National Guard, told the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans on Feb. 4 that the Guard balanced significant overseas deployments with heavy domestic response work in 2024 while seeking state support to bolster retention.

In a prepared presentation and accompanying year-in-review video, Groenewald summarized training and federal missions — including 40th Infantry Brigade Combat Team rotations at the Joint Readiness Training Center and ongoing service in Kosovo and the CENTCOM area of operations — and domestic responses such as more than 60 days of wildfire support. "Through every mission, our Guard members demonstrated that they're connected to their communities, competent in their roles, and committed to excellence," Groenewald said.

The briefing outlined force posture and readiness: about 1,200 soldiers and airmen were expected to be deployed by May, drawn from roughly 4,800 Army soldiers and 2,000 airmen statewide. Groenewald said the Army National Guard was operating at roughly 80% strength with retention below 70%, while the…