National Guard sees troops reupping despite COVID, hard year

WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Spc. Javzailia Pineiro joined New York’s National Guard in late 2019, and started work as a truck driver just as the pandemic was starting to hit. For months she drove around the state, spending long days delivering masks, water, food and other supplies.

It was grueling work. Yet she has already signed up for four more years — taking advantage of a $10,000 reenlistment bonus and the opportunity to use her military benefit to go to college.

Pineiro’s decision to stay on is being echoed around the country. State Guard units are seeing dramatic reenlistment rates – despite the exhausting demands the Guard has faced in the past two years dealing with COVID-19, natural disasters and other military deployments.

For some, the Guard provides extra income during uncertain economic times. For others — like Pineiro — it’s a job that could become a 20-year career, and give her tuition assistance and employment skills that she’ll always be able to use. And for many, it’s a fulfilling part-time avocation that lets them give back to their communities.

“Since March of 2020, we have had a significant increase in our retention rate,” says Army Brig. Gen. Isabel Rivera Smith, director of the joint staff for the New York National Guard. “We believe that it is because of the impact that our service members have made during this COVID pandemic.”

Says Col. Wes Nichols Jr., the Air Guard’s deputy director for personnel and recruiting: “The whole idea of neighbors helping neighbors is really inspiring."

“Our airmen have been involved in all types of COVID operations, from testing to vaccinations to working in hospitals to doing the distribution," he says. "In addition, just in 2020 and 2021, we’ve also been out fighting fires, floods, winter weather, tornado response....