Tagged: Missouri National Guard

Members of the Missouri House Budget Committee are proposing a new fund to provide tuition assistance for National Guard members who are also enrolled in college.

The move comes because the federal government has suspended federal tuition assistance for National Guard soldiers due to sequestration cuts.  House Budget Chair Rick Stream (R, Kirkwood) says they’ve reallocated $1.5 million in next year’s state budget to make up the difference.

A solider  in the Missouri National Guard has died of injuries suffered during a training exercise.

Staff Sgt. Robert J. Traxel was providing public affairs support to the Beyond the Horizon mission in Guatemala. The National Guard says the 34-year-old was struck in the head by a tree limb that fell in wind generated by helicopter blades. The incident, which happened Monday, is being investigated.

The Missouri National Guard reports four of its soldiers stole electronics from a Wal-Mart store while helping recovery efforts after last year's tornado in Joplin.

The Guard released records on the incident to the Joplin Globe on Tuesday after refusing to release them last week, claiming it was exempt from the state's open records law.

The Globe reports that the Guard said three specialists and a sergeant admitted taking electronics such as video games and a camera. The Guard did not release the soldiers' names.