Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, February 02, 2017, Page 9

Pvt. 2 Casey J. Paxson of Mount Ayr was part of more than 80 Iowa Army National Guard Soldiers recently recognized during a patching ceremony held at the Camp Dodge Joint Maneuer Training Center in Johnston.

This ceremony represents a time-honored tradition where Iowa Citizen-Soldiers officially receive the left-shoulder military patch representing their unit of assignment in the Iowa Army National Guard.

It also marks completion of the Iowa National Guard Recruit Sustainment Program, a preparatory training program that provides new recruits the education and skills needed to excel during their Army Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (military school).

These Soldiers represent today's Iowa Army National Guard, which consists of 7,000 Citizen-Soldiers based in more than 40 communites across the state. Paxson, an apprentice with Kline Electric in Des Moines, Iowa, now becomes an Infantryman with Company C, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry, in Johnston, Iowa. He's a 2014 graduate of Mount Ayr Community High School.

By completing Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training, Paxson is now eligible for the Iowa National Guard Educational Assistance Grant (NGEAP), a state-funded tuition assistance program for Iowa National Guard members who attend Iowa community colleges and four-year colleges and universities, both public and private. Under this program, Iowa National Guard members will receive tuitition payment up to 100 percent of the State Regent's rate, an amount up to $7,108 per academic year.

Paxon, the son of Eldon and Lorna Paxson, of Mount Ayr, is also eligible for the Reserve Component GI Bill, which pays a Soldier up to $600 per month while attending college, technical or vocational trade schools.. And he'll also receive monthly drill pay and 15-days of paid duty each year for Annual Training.

Photograph courtesy of Mount Ayr Record-News
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker at, August of 2017