{"id":46558,"date":"2022-01-07T17:55:21","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T17:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/07\/guard-members-embrace-job-that-can-make-surprising-demands\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:55:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:55:02","slug":"guard-members-embrace-job-that-can-make-surprising-demands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/01\/07\/guard-members-embrace-job-that-can-make-surprising-demands\/","title":{"rendered":"Guard members embrace job that can make surprising demands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) \u2014 From assisting at COVID-19 testing sites to protecting the U.S. Capitol, it\u2019s been a busy two years for the Minnesota National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lt. Alexander Brown said there\u2019s been some surprises in the National Guard when it comes to expectations versus experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I joined the military, I didn\u2019t necessarily expect I was going to be working at a nursing home,\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sctimes.com\/story\/news\/local\/2022\/01\/05\/minnesota-mn-national-guard-members-become-cnas-covid-testing-protect-us-capitol\/9024043002\/\">he told the St. Cloud Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He expects every Minnesota National Guard member has had something like that go through their minds in the last couple of years. But at its crux, the way the National Guard has served the state in the last two years is exactly what being in the Guard is all about, Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link smg-interstitial-link--fallback wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2021\/04\/23\/minnesota-national-guard-walks-a-fine-line-on-minneapolis-streets\/#:~:text=Geoff%20is%20a%20senior%20staff,at%20geoffz%40militarytimes.com.\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__fallback-link\">Minnesota National Guard walks a fine line on Minneapolis streets<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf that\u2019s what helps the community, if that\u2019s what it takes to help, then that\u2019s what it takes to help,\u201d he said. \u201cThe exact nature of filling sandbags or dressing the elderly \u2014 that\u2019s just the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sgt. Andrew Syvertson, 21, was born and raised in Sauk Rapids and has been in the National Guard for four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEver since I was a kid, I\u2019ve always looked up to soldiers,\u201d Syvertson said. \u201cI wanted to be able to serve my community in every way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4442\" height=\"2961\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-8.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85227\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-8.jpg.jpg 4442w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-8.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-8.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-8.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-8.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-8.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4442px) 100vw, 4442px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Minnesota National Guard and law enforcement members stand guard outside the Brooklyn Center Police Station after a police officer shot and killed a Black man in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 12, 2021. (KEREM YUCEL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Guard allows him to do that while also having a good home life, Syvertson said. Syvertson recently took a job as an automotive service adviser for St. Cloud Hyundai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gov. Tim Walz announced in the fall that Minnesota National Guard members would be assigned to ease the burden on long-term care workers whose facilities are struggling amid COVID-19 and staffing shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Syvertson went through CNA training in early December. Right now, he\u2019s backup personnel, ready to be called in at a facility the Guard is already assisting in case the location needs more trained personnel, Syvertson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown is already at work as a CNA at a facility in Battle Lake. He also completed his CNA training in early December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neither Syvertson nor Brown had previous experience in health care before beginning their CNA training. The training National Guard members went through is the same required training for anyone looking to become a certified CNA, but expedited and condensed into 10 days. CNAs provide basic care for patients and assist patients with daily activities, such as making sure patients are clean, dressed and getting their daily exercise, Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re enabling the nurses to actually do their jobs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown, 23, is a recent transplant to Minnesota; he moved to the St. Cloud area in August and works at Coldspring. He attended school at Mercer University in Georgia, where he did ROTC. His family was moving away from Georgia, and \u201cI didn\u2019t want to really sit there by myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ROTC program booth caught his eye during freshman orientation at Mercer. He got onto the mailing list. And then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI just kept showing up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown grew up in Fargo, where he has some memories of Guard members stacking sandbags along the Red River. He\u2019s considered joining the Army full-time and has always wanted to serve in some capacity, but first, he said, he wanted to do something on the local level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI wanted to help a community,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"7183\" height=\"4789\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303904.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303904.jpg.jpg 7183w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303904.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303904.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303904.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303904.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6303904.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 7183px) 100vw, 7183px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Infantrymen of the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 194th Armor Regiment, look for the opposing force known as Blackhorse during an early morning mission to gain control of the occupied city of Razish during a decisive-action training exercise in the desert environment of the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California, on July 25, 2020. Blackhorse Soldiers of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment-Blackhorse, are dedicated to testing units in \u201cThe Box.\u201d\r\r\r\rBrigade Soldiers are taking part in one of the U.S. Army&#8217;s most challenging land force training exercises and have prepared for entering \u201cThe Box\u201d for over a year, including during their 2019 annual training at Fort Hood, Texas, where they completed an eXportable Combat Training Center exercise.\r\r\r\rThe 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 194th Armor Regiment, is a Minnesota Army National Guard battalion headquartered in Brainerd. The overall unit mission is to provide heavy armor and mechanized infantry ground combat power to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Sebastian Nemec)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So when he got a call about a week before Thanksgiving, letting him know about CNA training for National Guard members, he volunteered to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown volunteered to work as a CNA for the same reason he joined the National Guard in the first place: to help the community, he said. He wasn\u2019t around to help during the unrest in summer 2020, following the death of George Floyd \u2014 a Black man who died after he was pinned to the ground by a white Minneapolis police officer with his knee on Floyd\u2019s neck \u2014 or in spring 2021, following the shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright by a white police officer in Brooklyn Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNow that I\u2019m finally here, I\u2019d love to help out somehow. Earn my paycheck, right?\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown said he didn\u2019t know much about what it meant to be a CNA walking into it, and he hadn\u2019t considered a career in health care. Working as a CNA means helping people with things you don\u2019t always expect to do for other people, Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think as long as you have a basic level of just empathy and care, I think a lot of it comes down to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Syvertson said he believes most people taking the course were volunteers. He said may of the people he worked with volunteered not only to undergo CNA training, but also for other COVID-19 missions, such as helping out at testing sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"8192\" height=\"5464\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-2.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-2.jpg.jpg 8192w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-2.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-2.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-2.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-2.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mn-guard-2.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 8192px) 100vw, 8192px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Members of the National Guard stand watch as protesters leave the Brooklyn Center Police station on Sunday, April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minn. The family of Daunte Wright, 20, told a crowd that he was shot by police Sunday before getting back into his car and driving away, then crashing the vehicle several blocks away. The family said Wright was later pronounced dead. (AP Photo\/Christian Monterrosa)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of us really just do everything we can to help out our fellow Minnesotans,\u201d Syvertson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Syvertson said he has considered a career in health care, as he likes interacting with people and helping others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHealth care has definitely kind of been in the back of my mind for a while,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is his first mission dealing with health care, but he said he saw it as a good opportunity to help out. He knows people who work as CNAs, he said, and he knows it\u2019s a stressful job \u2014 particularly when there aren\u2019t enough employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI know I want to do everything I can to help out,\u201d Syvertson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But no one could have predicted what \u201chelp out\u201d would mean for the Minnesota National Guard these last two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith how the last couple years have been, no, I don\u2019t think anyone would come out and say it\u2019s been a great couple years,\u201d Syvertson said. \u201cBut with joining the National Guard, I mean, that\u2019s what we signed up for. That\u2019s what we\u2019re wanting to do. We want to get out there and help our community in any way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Almost every moment, he\u2019s not quite sure he knew this was what he was signing up for. He was particularly surprised by the announcement the Minnesota National Guard would ask members to become CNAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Syvertson said being in the Guard is like building a house: You do one task at a time, and in the end, you get to see what was accomplished through all that hard work. He\u2019s hoping that he can make a difference in a long-term care facility, helping residents and other certified nursing assistants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Syvertson\u2019s unit was activated for two civil disturbance response missions in the Twin Cities and was also sent on the U.S. Capitol support mission in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When he was in the Twin Cities, he observed a community that was very supportive of the Guard\u2019s effort to help out and protect everyone\u2019s rights, Syvertson said. Community members would make conversation or bring donuts and drinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was very awesome just seeing the community stepping up and supporting us the way they did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Brown, being part of the National Guard requires a certain \u201croll with the punches\u201d attitude of adaptability, Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt might not be what you necessarily expected, but it is what you signed up for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Brown, it\u2019s also a way to start off on the right foot as a new Minnesotan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can hear it from how I talk,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m not a Minnesota native. So as someone who\u2019s new to the area, who\u2019s a bit of a stranger around here, it\u2019s nice to be kind of giving back to a degree. I feel like everyone has an obligation to do what they can for those around them, be that on a personal level or to the community as a whole. And I think that as the new kid on the block, I\u2019m happy to be starting off doing something for people. That does motivate me to a fair degree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From assisting at COVID-19 testing sites to protecting the U.S. Capitol, it\u2019s been a busy two years for the Minnesota National Guard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":39142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,24,89,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5285],"class_list":["post-46558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"NAG7P7XXWNACJO4U742VGVTOVA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2022\/01\/07\/guard-members-embrace-job-that-can-make-surprising-demands\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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