Idaho National Guard signs MOU with Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
Major General/Idaho National Guard Adjutant General Michael Garshak and Fort Hall Business Council Chairman Devon Boyer sign the Memorandum of Understanding November 2.
FORT HALL — The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the Idaho National Guard signed another five-year Memorandum of Understanding November 2 to work together to preserve cultural and natural resources on the land the Guard uses to train their soldiers and airman in Boise.
Fort Hall Business Council Chairman Devon Boyer and Maj. Gen. Michael Garshak, who is also Adjutant General for the Idaho National Guard, both signed the MOA.
In addition, the FHBC was presented a U.S. flag that was flown on “Warrior Spirit” — an A10 jet named for the five tribes in Idaho.
Maj. Gen. Garshak explained the initial 2015 MOU with the Tribes was the first signed with any tribe in Idaho. At that time, Adjutant General Gary Sayler signed the MOU with the Tribes that solidified the government-to-government relationship between the two entities.
Garshak also highlighted other activities the Guard has worked on with the Tribes including the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy, a program he said is still going strong advising it helps young men and women get back on track.
He also said the Idaho National Guard is a part of the Idaho Council on Indian Affairs and helps host the Return of the Boise Valley People event every year. He noted they were also excited to be a part of the renaming of the Chief Eagle Eye Reserve and Eagle Rock Park in Boise in 2019.
FHBC Chairman Boyer said he hopes the relationship and the land they’re working on stays good. He thanked the Idaho National Guard. Other council members also thanked them.
After the MOU signing, airman Captain Michael Shufeldt explained a night mission he flew on June 18 as a pilot on “Warrior Spirit” during Operation Enduring Freedom Sentinel in Afghanistan. He said he was wearing night vision goggles when a saw a giant explosion and a flare go up and realized a friendly check point on the ground was being fired upon from all sides. The check point was on top of a hill and getting ambushed. Shufeldt said he flew over it and saw rockets and grenades hitting the check point. He pointed Warrior Spirit toward the friendly position and started making radio calls to get a tanker over there. He spent the next three hours in pitch black using all capabilities he had and the jet had to track down the enemies position. The pilot used low shows of force with flares lighting up the night sky multiple times. “I was diving low but I was never hit — I was kept safe by the ‘Warrior Spirit ‘and I was in the right place that night, so they could return to their families,” Shufeldt continued.
“I don’t know if it was luck, serendipity or fate, I was kept safe by the ‘Warrior Spirit’ and I were in the right place that night, we were able to save lives and effect the fight in the mission,” he said.
Shufeldt presented the U.S. flag on behalf of himself and the Idaho National Guard, along with a plaque with points from the generals from the Air Guard in recognition and mission it continued to support.
FHBC Chairman Boyer said it’s an honor, Putting yourselves in harm’s way is not an easy thing to do,” noting we all have family that are veterans and have family serving around the world. “We say prayers for all of you.”
