The Iowa National Guard’s yearslong recruitment woes have subsided, the adjutant general said in his annual address to the Iowa Legislature on Thursday as he eyed improvements to Guard facilities and scholarship expansions.
Recruitment challenges plagued the Guard since the COVID-19 pandemic and had been a focus in previous Condition of the Guard addresses. But Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn said Thursday morning in his speech that the Army and Air Guards have “achieved significant strength improvements” in the last year.
“I truly believe when 9/11 hit, the National Guard, the Army Reserve, our community-based military entities really focused on training and preparing to deploy and deploy, and we lost touch with our communities,” Osborn told reporters after his speech. “We lost touch talking to our communities about the advantages of being in the military, stationed here in Iowa, in the Guard, in the Reserve.”
Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, delivers the Condition of the Guard at the Iowa State Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Des Moines.
Engagement with community, government, business and education leaders and with the media has helped tell the Guard’s story and influence young people to consider military service, he said. Osborn added that it has helped to have more distance from the pandemic and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Osborn attributed the progress to dedicated recruitment efforts and a federal American Rescue Plan-funded, $1 million state incentive pilot program. More than 150 people have been either recruited, changed their job or came from active duty to Iowa because of the bonuses under the program, he said.
The Guard ended fiscal year 2024, the budget year that ended June 30, with an 83% retention rate, which he said was one of the highest in the nation.
Transitioning into 2025, the Guard has gained more than 400 new soldiers and airmen since Oct. 1, numbers he said it has not seen in more than five years.
“We stand at a pivotal moment in the evolution of the Iowa National Guard as the transformation and modernization of our military is not just a goal, it is a necessity to guarantee our future security,” Osborn said. “Here at home, this translates to strengthening our organization with relevant structure, upskilling our personnel, securing meaningful missions and modernizing our infrastructure to support our future readiness objectives.”
Expanding the Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship
Osborn again called on lawmakers to expand the most-used state benefit afforded to service members, the Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship, by including certificate and credentialing programs. Iowa law currently only allows scholarship recipients to be enrolled in eligible Iowa university or college degree programs.
The scholarship program is currently funded at $6.6 million. To support this expansion of state resources without new appropriations, he proposed requiring the application for military federal tuition assistance be mandated before the use of state tuition assistance.
He also asked for lawmakers to OK an exception to the current chronic absenteeism law for military applicants and those fulfilling their duty without being penalized academically.
Under the law that took effect July 1, “chronic absenteeism” is defined as missing 10% of school days during a specified grading period or more. Schools must notify the county attorney and send a letter to the student’s parent or guardian when that occurs.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, delivers the Condition of the Guard at the Iowa State Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Des Moines.
Soldiers can join the Guard at age 17 with their parents’ permission and come once a month to the Military Entrance Processing Station to be prepared for basic training. But Osborn said the facility is not open on the weekends, so they typically have to come during a school day to complete their physical and testing to join the military.
Osborn said this change would help Iowa’s high-school military applicants and recruits “seamlessly enter the military and begin their service.”
$95 million runway replacement among infrastructure improvements
In Sioux City, Osborn said the Guard will break ground likely late this summer on a $14 million Army National Guard maintenance facility and complete the design of a $95 million Air National Guard runway replacement. Both projects are federally funded.
He told reporters the maintenance facility is “antiquated” and too small, making it somewhat dangerous to work on new Army vehicles there. As for the runway, he said the Air Force’s 2003 decision to move from F-16 fighter jets to KC-135 tankers necessitated eventually creating a new runway to accommodate thicker, heavier aircraft.
The Guard received $13 million last year for design and is working on securing construction funding. Most of it will be completed within a year, but it may be a two-year project.
“These investments will modernize both Army and Air National Guard facilities and allow for continued mission execution and expanded growth into the future — a future that is both volatile and uncertain as we face an evolving set of complex threats,” Osborn said.
After breaking ground in 2023, the Guard’s West Des Moines weekend training facility is slated to open in May.
The $24 million facility, funded with state and federal dollars, will have capacity for more than 200 soldiers, their vehicles and their equipment, and also serve the West Des Moines Fire Department.
People walk by a television showing a broadcast of Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, delivering the Condition of the Guard at the Iowa State Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Des Moines.
Deployments included Operation Lone Star at the U.S. border
In 2024, Osborn said the Guard deployed more than 700 service members across the state, the nation and 14 countries around the world.
Earlier this year, Gov. Kim Reynolds deployed more than 100 Iowa State Patrol officers and National Guard soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border to assist Texas law enforcement efforts to crack-down on illegal immigration, known as Operation Lone Star. The effort has mobilized law enforcement from several states. Osborn only mentioned it to say 115 people were deployed in the mission.
When floods ravaged northwest Iowa in June, Osborn said soldiers and airmen from multiple organizations supported Reynolds’ response efforts with search and rescue, high-water transportation and debris removal.
In September, Osborn said the Guard deployed two Army helicopters and 15 crew members to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts in North Carolina. He said Iowa crews delivered more than 176,800 pounds of food and water and rescued 38 people.
And soldiers returned home in October after a 12-month federal mission on the southwest border supporting U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.
“From natural disaster relief efforts to international deployments, our service members have met every challenge with excellence and a steadfast commitment to serve and protect the people of Iowa and our nation,” Osborn said.
The Guard also deployed soldiers to Kosovo from December 2023 to October 2024 as part of NATO’s Kosovo Force. Soldiers provided medical evacuation and law enforcement support to all NATO partners, “contributing to a safe, stable and peaceful Kosovo,” he said.
“Our efforts continue to support the Kosovo Security Force as they work toward becoming a NATO interoperable, territorial defense force capable of protecting the sovereignty and the citizens of Kosovo,” Osborn said.
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa National Guard general eyes scholarships, facility improvements