The Pentagon's National Guard Leader

Promoting Partnerships With Industry.

- Lango Deen

The National Guard is a unique element of the U.S. military that serves both community and country. As chief of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Lengyel’s job is to provide the best advice to America’s leaders.

That means ensuring more than 453,000 U.S. Army and Air Force National Guard soldiers and airmen are ready to fight wars, secure the homeland, and build enduring partnerships.

The Guard responds to domestic emergencies, combat, reconstruction missions, and more. Any state governor or the President of the United States can call on the Guard at a moment’s notice.

An F-16 Fighting Falcon Pilot

Guard soldiers hold civilian jobs or attend college while maintaining their military training part time. Guard soldiers’ primary area of operation is their home state.

As an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot, Gen. Lengyel has served as a citizen-airman of the National Guard while working full time as a commercial airline pilot, notes 2nd Lt. Phil Fountain of the Texas Military Department.

Lengyel was commissioned through the ROTC program in his home state at the University of North Texas, Denton, after earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. His more than 30 years in the military include service in operations Desert Storm, Provide Comfort, Southern Watch, and Enduring Freedom.

“He could be on airline trips for a month or more and come back and lead an eight-ship strike package to the tanker, fight his way into the target against red air, and somehow know that six miles behind him, ‘No. 8’ was out of position,” said one former gunfighter and chief of air operations for Headquarters, Texas Air National Guard, in Austin.

Balancing a Military and Civilian Career