2022 Washington State Guard Commanding General Interview
Colonel Joseph P. Maassen
Can you tell us a little about you and your history in the military?
Commissioned in 1984 through the Army ROTC program at Seattle University. Joined the Washington Army National Guard in 1985 and became an AGR solider in 1989 and retired in 2014. I Served in a variety of assignments including a battalion command and as the Deputy J-3 working in our JOC. I was deployed twice once to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.
Why did you decide to continue your military career in the State Guard after serving many years in the Army National Guard?
I heard about the great missions that the Washington State Guard was taking on and I wanted to be part of it. After serving as the Deputy J-3, I thought it would be a great way to be part of the response in my State to natural and manmade disasters.
Moving over to the Washington State Guard, Can you list the missions the Washington State Guard performs today?
Provide trained and qualified service members to serve as WANG Tribal Liaisons [SME] to continue to build a stronger relationship between the WMD and Washington’s Tribal Nations. This is a specialized mission that will require select service members at a minimum of E8/O3 to be trained and mentored by current WSG Tribal Liaison Officers [SME].
b. INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM [ICS] ICS 300 AND ICS 400 TRAINERS:
Have trained and qualified instructors prepared to conduct ICS 300 and ICS 400 classes as requested. This mission will require select Service Members who have been trained and certified by FEMA to teach the ICS 300 and 400 courses.
c. WILDLAND FIRE FIGHTING (WFF) HAND CREW:
Provide one WFF Hand Crew (20 personnel) to support WFF needs in FY24. WSG Hand Crews will be the third called upon in the event of a WFF request from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Trained Hand Crews mobilize for 14 days of employment plus time for mobilization and demobilization activities. All Hand Crew personnel must meet DNR’s physical and medical criteria to deploy. This mission is open to all service members who can meet the physical and medical criteria and are willing to commit to the training time necessary for Red Card certification. The immediate focus is to recruit Service Members to meet the needs of this mission.
Provide the following wildland fire fighting support resources as directed.
Provide trained and certified cyber security subject matter experts in the form of a Cyber Protection Team [CPT] as directed by the Washington State Military Department. This is a highly specialized and developed mission set requiring extensive training and high levels of experience. Plan to have qualified members participate in the SGAUS national cyber security competition scheduled for November 19th, 2022.
Have CPR, First Aid, and Stop the Bleed certified service members ready to provide basic first aid and related services to Camp Murray garrison as directed. This is open to all CPR/First Aid certified service members.
Have service members prepared to participate in functional and tactical support activities for Joint Task Force East as directed. Yakima/Spokane detachments are primary units to support this mission. Participate in Joint Task Force East exercises as scheduled.
Provide at a minimum two DAART trained Washington State Guard service members to train agency partners on the basic use of the DAART application for incident awareness and assessment.
Conduct GRAZING HERD accountability exercise in FY23 Q2 using unit phone trees and the unit chain of command to validate the unit phone roster and assess the effectiveness of unit notification and alert procedures.
Conduct GRAZING HERD accountability exercise in FY23 Q3 using a mass alert notification system to test the function of the system and the effectiveness of unit notification and alert procedures.
Conduct ROARING BULL accountability exercise in FY24 Q3 to assess the effectiveness of unit alert and mobilization procedures. This exercise is for all Washington State Guard service members and will include physical response to a call up for active duty with your deployment equipment ready.
Provide one Planner, E8 and above or O3 and above, in Q1 FY24 for the EG OVERFLOW workshop, in order to discuss WSG flood response procedures, capabilities, and shortfalls. Exercise requirements and support capabilities to be reviewed mid-year.
Provide one Planner, E8 and above or O3 and above, in Q1 FY24 for the Q3 EG BLAZE TTX to test specific portions of the EG BLAZE CONPLAN. The Joint Staff will determine, and then publish, the elements of the EG BLAZE CONPLAN to be tested after a review of the real-world FY22 and FY23 wildland fire fighting operations.
Provide communications support including, but not limited to, HF radio maintenance and training support, COMMEX support, JISCC support, HAM radio operators in order to assist with emergency response communications and training across WA state. Specific requirements to be published in FY23 JTOs. This mission set requires WSG-certified EMCOMM team members.
How big is the Washington State Guard now?
70 Active members.
How are your recruiting efforts going?
COVID took a toll on our recruiting over the past two years. This is an emphasis for the WSG. We are planning a significant recruiting event each quarter or more often and working with our current members to encourage them to also be a WSG recruiter. We just met with our National Guard Recruiters to help identify candidates that may not qualify for service in the National Guard but may be eligible for service in the WSG.
Do you bring in more Prior Service than Non Prior Service members?
In the past 11 months the highest percentage of new members have been non-prior service. Approximately 80%. Those new members have undergone Initial Entry Training (IET)
Where do you focus your recruiting?
By word of mouth or do you advertise?
Word of mouth. We maintain a Facebook page and a presence on the Washington Military Department website.
Lets move over to training, what kind of training is the Washington State Guard focusing on these days?
In addition to the training to support the Mission Essential Task List above – Ongoing training includes basic first aid, MEMS training, Technician certification for HF radio, LNO Training
For NON-Prior Service, do you have a basic training for such new recruits?
Yes
If so how long is it?
Four months of collective training and then training is continued at the regional detachment level through an assigned mentor.
Do you have other development courses such as BNCOC or ANCOC?
Not at this time. We do offer qualified soldiers the opportunity to complete an OCS program of 12 mos. in duration and a WOC program that is 6 mos. in duration
Moving over to missions, what kind of missions is the Washington State Guard engaged in these days?
How is your working relationship with your states National Guard?
Excellent. Many of the senior staff we interact with I knew when they were junior officers.My primary and special staff interacts regularly with their higher headquarters colleagues as needed.
Do you have missions where you work hand in hand with your states Army National Guard or Air National Guard?
Yes. One example of recent is our work with the COVID response of the State of Washington. Our WSG soldiers worked side by side with Army and Air Guard personnel assisting in contact tracing and food bank operations statewide. Also, our cyber security personnel work side by side with Army and Air Guard members in providing support during the recent mid-term elections.
If you had to put a number on it, out of 10, how many of the Washington State Guard missions work with the Washington Army National Guard or Air National Guard?
10 – our missions are tasked through Joint Forces Headquarters and are in support of Army or Air guard taskings.
Has the Washington State Guard ever deployed out of the state on a mission?
Not in recent history
Regarding the Covid-19 Pandemic, was the Washington State Guard activated?
Yes – for over 12 months
And if so what kind of missions were performed?
Contact tracing, food bank operations, soldier readiness training in ICS management and radio communications.
We discovered that the Washington State Guard is assisting in Wild-land Firefighting, can you tell us what firefighting roles do you participate in?
Assuming the recruiting goals are met in 2023, the WSG will provide a 20-man hand crew for firefighting. The WSG also supports traffic control and security mission taskings and provides HF and VHF radio support as needed.
When did you start Wild-land firefighting?
He firefighting mission is a new mission for 2023-2024
How many troops do you typically deploy on such Firefighting missions?
The TY 2023 tasking will require that we be able to deploy at least 20 personnel
What kind of training do your troops need to deploy as Wild-land firefighters?
“DNR Red Card” qualified
How long is the training?
Two field days (14 hours) plus RT-130 training completed virtually (8 hours)
In February of this year we discovered that the Washington State Guard is working with Native American Tribes throughout the State, can you tell us more about this mission?
Phase 1: Establish Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to assist WMD in responding to a Tribe’s request for assistance
Improve communications with the Tribe’s Emergency Management (EM) departments
Examine inter-agency coordination protocols and evaluate how the WMD might enhance inter-tribal EM assistance efforts
Examine ways in which a Tribe’s Native American (NA) Veterans might be utilized to enhance State/Tribal emergency/disaster response coordination and communication
Phase 2: This portion of the operation successfully synched with the State EMD and Tribal LNOs, providing communication and process to prevent confliction and duplication of efforts. This effort also provided the Tribal Emergency Managers with a clear understanding on how mission support can be delivered through proper process and communication.
Phase 3: Work with the EMD on the partial embedding of a WANG TSME, or at the very least, the development of procedure and process for the utilization of this TSME at the ESF 20 Desk, to triage Tribal requests for assistance in areas under their jurisdiction during declared disasters.
Finalize the SOP to be considered as guidance for JOC operations pertaining to the deployment of WANG assets in support of Tribes.
Travel to all twenty-nine (29) Tribes to meet with their Tribal veteran organizations to enlist support for recruitment of personnel in support of emergency management operations.
Travel to all 29 Tribes as needed to re-engage with Tribal managers and leadership who might have changed as a result of recent Tribal elections or re-organizations.
Continue working with the Washington Military Department leadership on WANG efforts and capabilities related to Tribal LNO efforts.
For those less active State Defense Forces / State Guards, what recommendations do you have for them in regards to having a better working relationship with their National Guard?
Reach out the National Guard in your state. Engage where appropriate. Be aware of opportunities. Make sure to over deliver and under promise. Establish clear lines of authority and communication. Know who your higher headquarters is and not just be part of the “National Guard”. Attend regular briefings conducted by your higher headquarters in order to become part of the team. Insist on being given a role with appropriate resources in order to meet expectations. Have a training plan and share that plan with your higher headquarters. Recruit the best and the brightest.
Another question I have is, Half the States refer to themselves as State Defense Forces, the other half are known as State Guards even though under Federal law they are State Defense Forces. Do you believe every State Defense Force should have the same organizational name to avoid confusion?
No strong opinion either way, for some states there could be political reasons for naming their units accordingly.
We did a poll a while back asking State Defense Force members what mission they would like their State Defense Force to take on, surprisingly one choice got most of all the votes which was Assisting the Army National Guard by acting as an Opposing Force for their Urban Warfare Courses. The Georgia State Defense Force has been engaging in such a mission for years, do you think such a missions would work in the Washington State Guard?
It would be a great recruiting tool for us, great idea! The California State Defense Force told us they assist their National Guard units with weapons qualification – that is also something I would like to pursue for the Washington State Guard.
One question that I wanted to ask you, in 2007 the Maryland Defense Force did something no other SDF ever did, they deployed with the Maryland Air National Guard on a mission to provide medical assistance in Bosnia. Do you believe the SDF / SG’s could assist the National Guard in overseas locations in support role missions?
Many of our members would appreciate the opportunity to serve outside of Washington if given the chance. It might be possible after resolution of any legal or personnel issues.
What do you think State Defense Forces need to do to better grow and develop in the short term? What are your long term plans for the Washington State Guard?
In the short term – for the state of Washington, we will work on updating our regulations, and resurrecting the OER/NCOER program and increasing our strength.
Long term plans – Ensure plans are in place to rapidly grow the State Defense Force to meet the needs of the Governor in the event the Washington National Guard is unavailable.
