La. National Guard holds annual Command and Staff Conference

By Staff Sgt. David C. Kirtland, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office 

NEW ORLEANS – As part of its ongoing mission to ensure Louisiana’s National Guard service members are trained, ready and equipped to responded to any mission, foreign or domestic, the Louisiana National Guard held its annual Command and Staff conference at LANG Training Center Pineville in Pineville, La., Oct 14-15.

The conference provided Maj. Gen. Keith Waddell, the adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, with an opportunity to address key leaders within the organization of his vision and guidance for the LANG in 2024.

“Recruiting and retention will never go away for us as a focus area. If you don’t have strength, if you’re not taking care of your people, you’re not going to be able to do the things that we’re asking you to do,” asserted Waddell.

During the conference, Waddell laid out his four key areas of focus for the new fiscal year. The key focus areas addressed are personnel readiness with a focus on recruiting and retention; legal, moral and ethical service; getting the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to 100% strength; and ensuring the safety of all of its service members while on and off duty.

“You can’t get where you’re trying to go if you don’t know how to get there,” said Waddell.

In addition, attendees had a busy weekend of breakout sessions which covered a variety of important topics including Soldier and Airman readiness, physical fitness, suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention, resource management, and leadership and diversity training.

The ultimate morale-building event of the conference was a two-mile run conducted on Sunday morning following ACFT familiarization. Battalion-level units and above displayed their colors as a demonstration of LANG’s emphasis on instilling morale and esprit de corps among its senior leaders.