NY National Guard marks 389th anniversary of the National Guard with cake-cutting ceremony on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

Oldest and youngest service members take part in a ceremony which highlights the history and the future of the National Guard

Latham, New York (12/12/2025) — The New York Army Guard's top warrant officer who's served since 1986, and an Airman who enlisted in 2023, saluted the National Guard's 389th Birthday during a Dec. 12 ceremony at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham, New York.

Chief Warrant Officer 5, William Solmo, the state's command chief warrant officer, and Airman 1st Class Emma Grace Charboneau, cut a birthday cake during the commemoration of the Dec. 13, 1636, birthday of the National Guard.

Traditionally the oldest servicemember present joins the youngest in cutting the cake. Solmo, age 60, with 39 years of service, represented the history and traditions of the National Guard, while the 20-year-old Charboneau, represented the future of the Guard.

They joined Brig. Gen. Gary Charlton III, the New York National Guard's assistant adjutant general, Air, the presiding officer for the ceremony, in slicing the cake with a cavalry saber.

Charlton told the 100 service members attending the gathering that they can lay claim to distinguished history.

Citizens began serving as part-time Soldiers as soon Europeans began creating colonies in what is now the United States, Charlton said.

These militias defended their colonies against native Americans and other European powers and then went on to fight in the Revolutionary War and every conflict since then, he said.

"You can be proud of your service in the New York National Guard and your role in protecting freedom and democracy and taking care of our fellow citizens in time of disaster," Charlton said.

Solmo, who is responsible for overseeing the New York Army Guard's warrant officer program, said it was rewarding to be part of the ceremony.

"It is a profound honor to be here today, representing the deep history and unwavering traditions of the National Guard," Solmo said.

"My role is not just a title; it is a commitment to the men and women who make up our force, and it is with immense pride that I cut this cake in celebration of their recent service and accomplishments," he added.

Solmo, who lives in Brooklyn, is a veteran of the Iraq War and has been awarded the Combat Action Badge and the Bronze Star. He has also deployed to the Horn of Africa

Charboneau, said it felt "really special' to be representing the future of the National Guard during the ceremony.

"It's a unique experience," she added.

Charboneau, a nursing student at Utica University who lives in Fultonville and who serves as a medical technician in the 109th Airlift Wing, said she joined the Guard to help pay for college.

"I really just wanted a new opportunity," she said.

The National Guard is the oldest armed service in the United States and traces its history back to the citizen militias that were founded when the original colonies were founded.

The Guard claims December 13,1636 as its official birthday, because on that date the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony officially established three militia regiments for the colony. Today, those regiments are the oldest units in the U.S. Army.

In New York, the first citizen-soldiers were members of the Burgher Guard, organized by the Dutch East Indian Company in 1640 to help protect New Amsterdam from their English neighbors in Massachusetts and Virginia or from hostile natives.

After New Amsterdam became the English colony of New York in 1665, a militia modeled on the system used in Massachusetts and other English colonies was put in place.

Citizen Soldiers of the militia and National Guard have fought in all of America's wars from King Philips War against Native Americans in the New England Colonies in 1675 to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are over 11,850 members of the New York Army National Guard and over 5,880 members of the New York Air National Guard. The New York Army National Guard is the fourth largest in the nation while the New York Air National Guard is the largest Air Guard in the country. The New York National Guard is the second largest National Guard in the nation after Texas.

New York gave the country the term National Guard for its militia forces.

In 1824 the 2nd Battalion, 11th Regiment of the New York Militia renamed themselves the National Guard to honor the Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolutionary War who was visiting New York City.

In the early days of the French Revolution, Lafayette had commanded a force called the "Guard de National".

In 1862, with the Civil War raging, the state legislature formally renamed the New York State Militia as the New York National Guard. New York National Guard units were mobilized several times during the Civil War to supplement federal troops.

Other states began to copy this name, and in 1903 federal law specified that state militias be called the National Guard.

Some notes from New York National Guard history include:

The 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment was portrayed in the 1940 movie "The Fighting 69th" starring Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien. The movie was based on the historic unit's service in World War I.

The New York Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division was given its nickname "The Rainbow Division" during World War I by General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur, then a colonel, was charged with organizing a division of National Guard troops from across the country to deploy to France in 1917. He described the division as reaching across the country "like a rainbow."

The band of the New York National Guard's 369th Infantry Regiment, an African American unit originally formed as the 15th New York, is credited with introducing jazz music to Europe during World War I. The 369th became known as the Harlem Hell Fighters.

The oldest Air National Guard unit in the nation is part of the New York Air National Guard. The 102nd Rescue Squadron of the 106th Rescue Wing traces its history back to the 1st Aero Company organized in the New York National Guard in 1908 as a balloon unit.

The Soldiers of the New York National Guard's 105th Infantry Regiment faced the largest Japanese "Banzai" attack of the Second World War on 7 July 1944 on the Island of Saipan. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 105th Infantry had 650 men killed and wounded but killed more than 4,300 Japanese Soldiers. Three regimental Soldiers earned the Medal of Honor posthumously in that battle.

The New York Air National Guard's 138th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, based at Syracuse, was one two Air National Guard units assigned to provide aircraft for the defense of the United States on March 1, 1953. Today the unit operates the MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft.

The New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing flies the largest ski-equipped aircraft in the world, able to land on snow at the South Pole Station.

The New York National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division headquarters and support units served in Iraq in 2005 and was the first National Guard division headquarters to deploy to command in combat since the Korean War in 1953.

In 2020 the 42nd Infantry Division headquarters commanded Spartan Shield, the 10,000 Soldier Army force on duty in the Middle East.

In 2022 & 2023,1,000 Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry deployed to the Horn of Africa in September and conducted security operations at U.S. installations in Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia.

In 2024, New York Army National Guard Soldiers deployed to Europe in support NATO forces in the Baltics and to the Southern Boarder in support of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Currently the headquarters element of the 42nd Infantry Division is deployed in the Middle East serving as the headquarters of Task Force Spartan, the 10,000- Soldier Army force in the region.

For more images go to the New York National Guard FLCKR page.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nyng/albums/72177720330870256/

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