Gillette Area Leadership Institute tours Wyoming National Guard

By Chris Hyde

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Over 20 community leaders from Gillette, Wyoming, visited with military and civilian personnel assigned to the Wyoming National Guard last month.

This visit was part of a larger, annual effort driven by Wyoming’s Campbell County called the Gillette Area Leadership Institute, or GALI.

According to Campbell County Chamber of Commerce member and GALI program director Lori Jones, this unique program has a close to 30-year history in the state.

Each year, the Campbell County Chamber selects a group of 20-24 community leader applicants for a 9-month program that sees those selected traveling around Campbell County and the rest of the state to visit with well over 150 different speakers from all -walks of public and private life in the Cowboy State

One key part of that itinerary is a visit with the state’s national guard, headquartered in Cheyenne.

This year, GALI participants received an introductory briefing about the Cowboy Guard from the command’s senior leadership and toured the guard’s helicopter facility as well as one of the 153rd Air Wing’s hangars, where they were able to walk through a C-130H Hercules and tour the wing’s maintenance shops.

Wing Deputy Commander Col. Gary Monroe was enthusiastic about both the visit and the program and its relationship with the Cowboy Guard. “I think that it helps get other organizations and communities familiar with the guard, and the guard more familiar with communities outside of the Cheyenne area.”

While in Cheyenne, participants were also able to meet with state governor Mark Gordon.

The following day, the group visited the guard’s primary state training venue at Camp Guernsey, where they were able to get some hands-on small arms training at the facility’s simulation center.

“Of course, the base is a highlight; and very few people in the state know about (Camp) Guernsey,” Jones said.

Jones recommended that anyone interested in participating in this program reach out to the Campbell County Chamber. Recruitment occurs annually in June, selections made in July, and the program begins in September each year.