Georgia National Guard celebrates 385 years of service

ATLANTA - The Georgia National Guard marked 385 years of service in the state with a ceremony at the Clay National Guard Center in Marietta.

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During the ceremony, Major General Thomas Carden, the 43rd Adjutant General of the Georgia Department of Defense, ran down some recent accomplishments of the guard and renewed its pledge to the service of the people of Georgia.

"For us, it’s a celebration of success. We are what our results say we are," Major General Carden said.

Carden said the biggest and most recent success was the many deployments during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Six-hundred-fifty-one days ago today, but who’s counting? March 2, 2020, was our first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state of Georgia. The Georgia National Guard has answered the call over and over again since the start of the pandemic. And we recently wrapped up our support of 31 medical facilities across the state of Georgia," he said.

Carden also noted the service of the guardsmen during the protests in the summer of 2020. He said the Georgia National Guard had hoped 2021 would bring some sense of normalcy, but that was not the case.

"We made it all of six days into 2021 until the next big call came in. But this time it was a repeated call for more and more soldiers and airmen to help secure the peaceful transition of power in Washington, D.C.," he said.

Carden said 1,285 guardsmen and airmen were deployed for the inauguration in the nation’s capital. Two more army guard units were left following the transition of power to help keep the peace.

"We don’t do politics here. We are the apolitical guardians of freedom. We demonstrated that time and time again in the past 385 years," he said.

Major General Thomas Carden said the Georgia National Guard is ready for their next deployment whatever it is and wherever it takes them.

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