Guard commander: Rwanda mission offers opportunities

Major Gen. Daryl Bohac of the Nebraska Army National Guard, right, and Gen. Jean-Bosco Kazura, chief of the Rwandan Defense Force, left, pose for a photograph with Peter Vrooman, U.S. ambassador to Rwanda, on Dec. 12 in Kigali, Rwanda, after the Nebraska Guard and Rwanda signed a U.S. Defense Department State Partnership Agreement to share training and knowledge with the defense forces of Rwanda. Bohac said in McCook Thursday that the Nebraska National Guard has another partnership, an agreement that began in 1993 with the military of the Czech Republic. This Rwandan agreement is the 15th partnership between U.S. National Guard commands and an African country.

Nebraska National Guard

McCOOK, Neb. — During a quick town hall meeting in McCook Thursday morning, Maj. General Daryl L. Bohac, commander of the Nebraska Army National Guard, told veterans and McCook residents that he and fellow Guard members are trying to learn the language of Rwanda.

"Some of us are still on the 'alphabet level,'" he chuckled, explaining that the Nebraska Guard just last week signed a partnership agreement with the Rwandan Defense Force to share the Nebraska Guard's training and knowledge.

The agreement, signed by Bohac and Gen. Jean-Bosco Kazura, chief of the Rwandan Defense Force, is the 77th state partnership between U.S. National Guard commands and foreign nations, and the 15th involving an African country.

Maj. Gen. Daryl L. Bohac, left rear, adjutant general of the Nebraska Army National Guard, answers questions from McCook residents Don Harpst, left front, and Mike Simmons, a member of American Legion Post No. 203 in McCook, right front, during a Guard visit in McCook Thursday morning. Simmons and Bohac discussed how to increase membership of Guard veterans in the American Legion, which Simmons said can help care for Guard members for life. Bohac said veteran organizations like the American Legion, VFW and DAV can provide the camaraderie that veterans miss most after having served in the military. Joining Bohac at Sehnert's Bakery were, from his left, McCook city manager Nate Schneider and Air Force veteran Dick Trail. Behind them are, Staff Sgt. Levi White, left, and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Juett, both stationed at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in McCook.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

Bohac said, "We've partnered with and trained together with the Czech Republic since 1993. Now, we're adding Rwanda to the mix."

Bohac said there are 197 Rwandan students studying agriculture in Nebraska and one has been helping the Guards understand and speak the Rwandan language. "If you can speak the language of the country you're visiting, you're well-received," Bohac said.

The first year of this agreement will focus on relationship-building, and from there, branch off into engineering, logistics, medical readiness and aviation.

It is through agreements like these two, Bohac said, that the Nebraska Guard can provide its members international travel on a non-combat level.

Within Nebraska, Bohac said that Guard recruitment success is on the upswing, especially since changing unit types, from transportation to other types, over the past several years. "We were heavy in transportation from Kearney west, and it was too much. Not everyone wants to drive trucks," Bohac said. "Changing the types of companies increases the types of opportunities for Guard members." A military police unit in Chadron is full, he said.

McCook's transportation company is one of two left in the state, Bohac said.

Staff Sgt. Levi White, recruiter at the Armed Forces Reserve Center east of McCook, said that recruiting is on the increase in schools throughout Southwest Nebraska. "This area is pro-military, pro-Nebraska," White said.

College opportunities and health insurance are great benefits for Guard members, Bohac said. "Our soldiers have access to good coverage, affordable health care insurance."

Staff Sgt. Nicholas Iuett, Readiness NCO, also at the Reserve Center at McCook, said that while the minimum commitment for Guard members is one weekend a month and 15 days a year, "most are doing extra duty."

Bohac called local positions such as White's and Juett's as the Guard's "grassroots" connections to communities across the state. Bohac said that across the state, the Guard has a good relationship with employers, who "take good care of" Guard members.

Bohac said that the Guard "is committed to McCook. We're not going anywhere." He called the new facility wast of McCook, "beautiful … with its Frank Lloyd Wright design and prairie setting."

Bohac said he was very proud of the Guard's involvement in the total state-wide effort during "epic" flooding and blizzards in March and April 2019, when 400 Guard members were called to active duty and in support of the Nebraska Department of Transportation and the Nebraska State Patrol, and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

He said that the Guard provided traffic control and levy monitoring during significant flooding in 2011, which people "could see coming" for some time. Flooding in 2019 "came so fast and at night," he said, and on the Guard's part, involved the physical rescue of residents and, in many cases, their pets. "Some people would not leave without their pets," he said.

Bohac said that helicopter pilots told him that, other than combat, these flooding rescue efforts were the most demanding they've flown, and involved night flights in and around and under utility lines and trees, and fighting winds up to 60 miles an hour.

Come spring, state officials are very concerned, Bohac said, with the potential for more flooding because the ground is still saturated from the flooding and now winter snow.