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May 31, 2019 - Work Worth Doing - Doug Burgum
41:53
Always Ready, Always There

Major General Al Dohrmann offers an inside look at the North Dakota National Guard and the Department of Emergency Services while discussing lessons in leadership. Dohrmann, the Adjutant General of North Dakota, commands over 4000 North Dakota Air and Army National Guard men and women with approximately 1100 full-time federal and state employees. Visit ndguard.nd.gov and nd.gov/des to learn more.

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North Dakota's history is full of legendary people and today North Dakota is a place where anyone can be legendary.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States once said, far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
This is a show about people doing just that for the people of the great state of North Dakota.
All was ready.
All was there.
These are the four words that today's guest uses to describe his team.
It's a compelling message that poses an awesome responsibility for those who have been charged to fulfill that mission.
These four words are central to every day on the job for Major General Al Dorman, the Adjutant General of North Dakota.
Today's discussion with General Dorman is an inside look at the North Dakota National Guard and the Department of Emergency Services, the two agencies General Dorman oversees.
Beyond the agency overview, today's episode is also a lesson in management from an inspiring leader who commands over 4,000 North Dakota Air and Army National Guard men and women with approximately 1,100 full-time federal and state employees.
Prior to his appointment to this role in 2015, General Dorman served as the Deputy Adjutant General for eight years.
He has been deployed all over the world, including his time serving as the commanding general of more than 2,000 soldiers from seven nations supporting a NATO mission in Kosovo, as well as previous assignments in Germany and Japan.
We'll cover the roles of the National Guard that everyone is familiar with, like fighting overseas and defending our freedoms at home.
But we'll also discuss work that goes on behind the scenes that is often unrecognized.
And finally, we'll have some difficult conversations.
What is it like to lose a soldier?
How do you prepare a young recruit to make life or death decisions?
And through it all, how can you use humor as a leadership tool?
Welcome to Work Worth Doing.
I'm Mark Staples.
We hope you'll enjoy this conversation, so let's get to it.
Here's Governor Doug Burgum and General Al Dorman.
Hello, all listeners tuning in today.
We've reached a fun milestone for Work Worth Doing.
This is our 10th episode.
We've been chatting with cabinet leaders, breaking down a variety of work that the leaders of our state are involved with doing great things to serve the people of North Dakota and this country.
And really my honor today to be here with our guest, Major General Alan Norman, North Dakota National Guard, Adigent General.
And an incredible military career.
Let me just start off by saying thank you for your service to the country.
You've been working in various military roles since 1983. And obviously with great success to become the two-star general that you are today.
And thank you for your leadership.
My honor to reappoint you again for another term as the Adigent General.
But let's start with Fighting America's wars and that end of the job that the North Dakota National Guard does.
Well, thanks, Governor, and thanks for having me on today.
I don't know if that's the right word to say when you're in a podcast, but I appreciate this opportunity.
We've been fighting America's wars really since America began.
We are the militiamen, but we have been an operational force, especially for the last 18 years, really going back to Desert Storm, Desert Shield.
We have been using an operational role.
Really a lesson learned from Vietnam.
You know, it's part of who we are.
Our members signed up to do something.
They signed up first and foremost to defend their country, but also to serve their communities.
And I can tell you, Governor, on the home front, when we need them here, if there is a fire or a flood, Whatever the requirement is, folks are raising their hand because they want to get in on the action because that's why they join.
But back to your original question, yeah, we're fully engaged overseas.
I think some folks have the impression that the wars are winding down.
Two years ago we probably had our third highest deployment numbers.
Right now as I speak we still have aviators in the Horn of Africa.
We have airmen scattered throughout the Middle East.
We have some engineers getting ready to go into the Middle East.
So we're staying busy and as always are prepared when called upon.
And going back, when you mentioned in your first words to basically the beginning of America, the militiamen, this really is the back to the right to bear arms and the people that helped create freedom in America was the state militias.
And so maybe just share a little bit of the interesting history and the history of the Guard here in North Dakota.
Well, we really do tie our history back, our origin back to the colonies and the revolution and Our constitution, the militiamen is based on the constitution.
Every male, back in those days, every male between 17 and 45, you were expected to have your kit and be ready to go when your nation needed you.
And that is carried forward.
Over the years, it's been much better organized.
There's a tighter nexus with the federal government.
But there's also a tension between the National Guard and the federal government, between a governor as commander-in-chief when they're in state status and when they're underneath the president when deployed.
And I think you make an argument that has been very valuable for the country.
And then fast forward all the way, talk about, you know, domestic missions in terms of securing the peace.
We've had airmen on and off that have been deployed defending Washington, D.C. airspace all the way back to 9-11.
Just talk a little bit about that interesting mission and the people that we've been sending to help protect our capital.
Yes, Governor, and it really did start on 9-11.
RF-16s at the time, flown by our Air National Guard out of Fargo, were over the Pentagon when that plane went into the Pentagon.
They were on air defense that day.
Flash forward, for the last four or five years, we've had airmen in Washington, D.C. Not airmen, they're soldiers.
But they're part of our Air Defense Artillery Unit that guard the National Capital Region to make sure that a 9-11 does not happen again at the seat of our government.
And that's really a no-fail mission.
And interestingly enough...
When they started that mission, it went about four or five years where North Dakota was not in the rotation.
And I think maybe too many people have watched the movie Fargo.
I don't know.
But they're like, well, can they really handle it?
And when they finally put us on that mission...
We just improved so much about how that was done.
It's a zero-fail mission.
It's an awesome responsibility to know that someday you might have to pull a trigger to bring down a jet plane because it's headed towards the White House or towards Congress or towards the Pentagon.
You pray to God that never happens.
But when North Dakota took it on for the first time, they really did improve the mission and, again, got called back a second time a year early because another state was not ready to go.
And once again, we showed we're always ready, always there, because when asked to deploy a year early, we're ready to go.
And again, just knocked the ball out of the park on the second time we took that mission.
I'm so proud of the way North Dakota has delivered against that.
And it's a credit to our troops and your officers to make sure people are always ready and always there.
But one thing I wasn't aware of was the state partnership program where states have partnerships with foreign countries.
In this case, maybe you'd like to describe a little bit of what we've got going on in West Africa.
Well, we've been partnered with Ghana and West Africa for about 15 years now.
A few years ago, we picked up two more partners, Togo and Benin, who are Ghana's neighbors in Western Africa.
But the partnership program is probably the most cost-effective system This is a tool available to combatant commanders because we develop relationships with these countries that last for years.
Myself as the Adjutant General, I've been to Ghana probably four times, Togo and Benin three times.
I will go again this summer.
And so they see me every year.
We build that relationship.
The soldiers and the airmen that I send over there to work with them and train with them, they will see sometimes the same trainers year after year.
In the active duty, a commander will normally be in his job for 18 to 24 months.
So on the active side, they are rebuilding relationships year after year after year.
Where with the state partnership program, we build those relationships, we build that trust, we show up year after year, and we really do provide cost-effective security for our nation through the partnership program.
But I need to add, too, because sometimes I get asked, why North Dakota?
What does going to Ghana have to do with North Dakota?
Why should we care about this?
And for me, it's about making sure we have ready soldiers and airmen.
In sending a unit like we did last year, we sent a platoon of engineers over to Ghana to help build a training site so that Western Africa could train its own peacekeepers in Ghana.
And we sent them over there.
They worked with troops from the Netherlands.
They worked with the Ghanaian Armed Forces.
They worked with some active duty counterparts, and we got incredible training.
It's not just the training we did in Ghana.
It's the fact that you had to deploy from home station into another country.
You had to overcome obstacles.
There are no Menards, Lowe's, or Home Depot's.
So when your bill of materials doesn't show up for day one for building a guard post or laying some concrete, you have to be adaptive and figure out what can I get done this day to keep the mission moving forward.
So it's incredible training for our soldiers.
It's cultural training.
Things you need to do on other mission sets like work through an interpreter, work with NATO partners, work with other partners.
That's all positive for our readiness within the North Dakota National Guard and really is the payback for us in readiness whether we're called on at home or abroad.
So, but fun to hear about what all that means on the readiness side.
But back home, I mean, because that readiness also helps us when you've got to deploy for disasters.
And one thing that listeners may not understand is the Department of Emergency Services, which is a key part of state government, reports up to you in our state.
And maybe just talk a little bit about the scope of Department of Emergency Services first and how they engage, and then we can talk about some specific deployments.
Well, the Department of Emergency Services is made up of two divisions.
The Homeland Security Division, which is really the group that plans for, prepares, and helps our citizens recover from disasters.
The other piece of emergency services is State Radio.
That's about 30 folks that work down there 24-7, behind the scenes, making sure when people in North Dakota are having their worst day ever that a first responder is dispatched to take care of that problem.
I'd like to throw in here, too.
I always like to dote on the folks in emergency services because they're often behind the scenes and maybe don't get the credit for what they do.
But we had about two weeks ago another one of our communications specialists join the Stork Club.
I'd never heard of this before, but her name's April Johnson, and a father called in one night and said, my wife is in labor.
And the dispatcher talked the husband and his wife through the delivery process, what to do once the baby was born, what to do until first responders arrived.
So that's just one of those cool things that these guys do every day.
Sometimes you're sitting around and maybe there's not much going on, but you have to be at your best when other people are in crisis.
So incredibly proud of what our dispatchers do within State Radio and our whole team within Homeland Security.
Governor, you've been involved in some of these events.
Guys like you and me get out in front of the microphone and tell folks what's going on, but there's some really dedicated folks behind the scene making sure that we do what's right for the people And once the crisis is over, there's a lot of work left to be done.
Each and every day, America owes its safety to our armed forces.
And as important as it is to tell our service members that we're grateful for their service, it's just as important to make sure our actions match our words.
That requires a commitment of support throughout the years of service and all the years that follow.
In that spirit, Governor Burgum and the legislature worked together to pass a new law during this legislative session that will exempt military retirement pay from state income tax.
They also passed legislation regarding occupational licensing that will allow trailing spouses of service members who moved to North Dakota to use their license from another state.
This will help these new residents in our state find a job more easily without the hurdle of getting a new license.
There was also progress made this session on a project to increase the Guard's training capacity by expanding a facility known as Camp Grafton, which is split into North and South units near Devil's Lake.
At Camp Grafton South, Guard members from around the nation can come to train on a variety of skills, including land navigation, water operations, and weapons training.
The Guard has long advocated for greater capacity at this location to accommodate rapidly evolving technology and their support to keep advancing this effort to help the Guard prepare for its diverse and numerous missions.
Like a lot of organizations, there's exciting things on the horizon, new things happening, and some of that came to the fore during this year's legislature where you and your team had a very successful legislative session in terms of advancing some initiatives.
And maybe just share a little bit about some of the great assets that we have in the state, Camp Grafton specifically, which maybe a lot of our citizens haven't had a chance to go to, but world-class training facility and some of the plans that were underway to try to expand that and make it even more beneficial to the state and the state's economy.
Governor, we're trying to make Camp Grafton up by Devils Lake a training destination.
We've been working on that for some time.
Right now, we're working on a bridge park that's on Camp Grafton North, which is just outside of Devils Lake.
That'll be a first of its kind, I think, in the country.
We're a multi-role bridge company like the one we have here in Bismarck can go up there and they can train on every single bridge that is in the inventory.
And they can do that all in one location.
At the same time.
So we're really excited about getting that completed and open to use yet this summer.
When you're talking about bridges, we're talking about physical bridges because I got to see this last year where if you're in a wartime situation and you've got to cross a body of water, it could be a moving river, it could be a lake, it could be a swamp.
You've got some teams and you've got some equipment and capability where these guys can basically out of nowhere show up and start rolling huge things off of trucks and vehicles, connecting them together, getting the boats out there, stringing them together.
I mean, really impressive.
So when you're talking about bridges in your inventory, the listener may not understand, we're not talking about some kind of computer bridge or electronic bridge.
We're talking about things that you can drive a truck across.
A tank across.
Everything from a small dry span that you can put a tank across.
I don't think you saw the one in action, Governor, but I've only seen one Transformer movie, but we got one that looks like a Transformer, and it just starts building a bridge.
And I'm always amazed when I talk to bridge builders, engineers, our water purification folks, again, back to these 19 and 20 year old kids and the skills they have and what our country and our state entrusts them to do.
When I was that age, I can't imagine Having both that responsibility and that opportunity to do some of the things that these young folks are doing in the National Guard.
But yes, we are talking physical bridges, everything from things you can put down quick and drive a tank across to rafting operations to building a dry span bridge across a large body of water.
But again, we're very excited about that.
But again, we want to be a training destination and we want to make sure that the North Dakota National Guard is as ready as it can be.
So one of the things that we're able to get support of the legislature and appreciate your support in allowing us to bring this forward Was to try to expand Camp Grafton South, which is in Eddy County, North Dakota, which is our training area.
And right now it's about 9,000 acres.
We're trying to secure interest in about 6,000 more acres of land down there so that we can build a multi-purpose range complex.
There's one there now, but over the years, characteristic of the weapons we fire, the rounds we fire, we're getting to the point where we're going to be down to about eight firing points with our individual issued weapon, and that's it.
And so those crew serve weapons like small caliber machine guns, even some of our larger caliber machine guns, It cannot be fired at Camp Grafton South, which causes our military police in the state of North Dakota, our security forces on the Air Guard side, and a lot of our other units to go out of state to do their training.
This burns valuable training time and also spends a lot of our resources in other states that we could spend right here in North Dakota.
So it's not a done deal, but we're excited about the opportunity to pursue that.
As I told legislators during this session, I joined the Guard in 1991, and we talked about expanding Camp Grafton in 1991. And between 1991 and 2019, all we did was talk about it.
Now this year we actually did something.
We'll see if we can find a solution, but again, we're very thankful for the opportunity to at least pursue a solution, and we hope we can get something to work out.
When I had a chance to tour Camp Grafton with you, in addition to the firing ranges and the bridge building, The campus there, it's a world-class career and technical education.
I mean, plumbers, electricians, dormitories, gyms, workout facilities.
I mean, this is like another university that a lot of people don't know we have, but one focused on career and technical education, and there are That is a destination already because we've got an example where this is working because when I've been there, there have been people there from other states that are there for two-week assignments going through some really sophisticated training in some really beautiful facilities.
Yes, Gary.
We train most of the Army National Guard's engineers in more and more We're getting the active component to send their soldiers to North Dakota to train.
We have a model.
The National Guard, we work on weekends.
So even some of these active duty engineers are like, well, if I go to North Dakota instead of Fort Leonard Wood, I can get done a week earlier because I'm going to just train through the weekend.
And if you're away from your family, why not just work?
So it's an incredible jewel we have up there.
We pour concrete inside.
We lay block inside in the wintertime.
We train year-round.
And any middle-aged man that dreams of a shop someday would just love our cold storage area.
I think somebody told me once that there's enough building materials back there, I think, to build a handful of ranch homes at any time.
But just an incredible facility.
Very proud of the folks we have working up there.
They really put on some quality instruction.
Like I said, to the point where now the active duty is trusting sending their engineers to us.
So, yeah, we're very proud of what we've got going on up there.
And that's fantastic.
And as long as we're talking about, you know, it's great that you've got a chance now with legislative support to take a look at a plan for expanding Camp Craft.
But a couple other big wins in the legislature this year, too, that were exciting for military in North Dakota.
One is military retirement pay.
Exemption.
Exemption from income tax, putting us on par with other states.
And then also trailing military spouses, getting some relief on licensure.
So if someone follows their spouse to North Dakota for military reasons, that they would have an opportunity if they're licensed in another state to operate here, whether it's as an addiction counselor or I think they're critically important.
If I remember right, it's about a $1.5 billion economic driver in North Dakota, the military, a year.
With a B. 1.5 billion.
With a B. Yes, sir.
1.5 billion.
Yes.
And two governors in a row, like my predecessors, have turned to me and said, hey, I want you to work base retention.
Some days you go, why me?
My bases are fine.
But I decided to embrace it.
You know, I don't like to do things halfway.
If you're going to do them, do them all the way.
Better come together as a state because we've had examples during previous BRAC's where maybe one BRAC 20 years ago there's a little bit of a competition between Minot and Grand Forks and then the next BRAC round there's a little bit of competition between Grand Forks and Fargo, and we're all on the same team.
We all want the same things.
And there are some things we can all agree on that are good for the state.
And so with your support and with the Lieutenant Governor's leadership, we brought together a group of leaders from across the state.
To really look at what can we do to make sure North Dakota is military friendly and that down the road if DOD ever looks for reasons to take missions away, we're not going to give them any.
But more importantly, if they're looking for a place to put a new mission, They can look at their list of criteria and they'll say, well, North Dakota, check, check, check.
They meet all the criteria for being military friendly.
And we know we are.
We know what great support both our active duty air bases receive.
We know the support that our hooligans receive in Fargo.
And it goes beyond that.
All the Army National Guard, all the reserve components within the state.
But what we weren't doing is coming together and saying, how can we get some of these things done?
Because not tax and retired pay, this has been approached three or four times in the past.
License portability, that's been addressed in the past, and every time all 80 boards and commissions show up, ensure the horrors that will happen if we do anything that will lessen the requirements to transfer a license to the state of North Dakota.
But bring that whole team together.
We got it done this time.
Yes, we did.
Bring that whole team together.
And the world's not going to end when we've got some highly qualified military spouses coming into our state to help us solve our 30,000 open positions that we have.
We've got qualified people because the worst thing that happens is they may not even come.
That's one of the things you and I learned.
It's not that they come to North Dakota and can't work as an addiction counselor, a teacher, a nurse, because we weren't letting them.
We weren't recognizing their license.
They weren't just coming at all.
So they're staying at home, maybe with the kids in another state.
And then when their spouse is done at Minor Grand Forks, they're out of here as fast as they can.
We miss an opportunity to recruit a family to North Dakota who puts their roots down.
And now we can do both.
Their spouse, trailing spouse, can work.
And when they retire...
The military pay portion is exempted, and retiring from the military might be, what, age 42, 44. They got a whole career they could spend living in the great state of North Dakota.
So this does come back to work for us, which is a key component.
Again, so thank you for helping us get those two hard ones over the finish line, and let's call that a good start.
We have more work to do on those, but that was a good start this year.
Despite massive advances in technology that continue to improve the safety and readiness of our armed forces, protecting this nation still requires a somber commitment for millions of men and women to put their lives on the line in defense of freedom.
Understanding the gravity of this commitment is key to understanding the human component of the National Guard.
This spring, the Governor joined General Norman to recognize several current and former Guard members who went above and beyond in the service of others with the Woodrow W. Keeble I Am Ready Award, named for Master Sergeant Woody Keeble, a National Guard soldier who served in World War II and the Korean War.
Keeble was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2008, becoming the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the United States' highest military distinction.
Keeble's bravery in combat and lifelong service to his community inspired the National Guard to name this award in his honor.
The recipients of the Keeble Award exemplify bravery, selfless service, and decisive action.
Keeble's famous comments on his time in the military offer a glimpse into his legendary service.
He writes, There were terrible moments that encompassed a lifetime and endlessness when terror was so strong in me that I could feel idiocy replace reason.
Yet I have never left my position, nor have I shirked hazardous duty.
Fear did not make a coward out of me.
There's a lot of things that you have to do in your job that's hard.
When you've had to deliver the news to a parent that a deployed soldier's not coming home from overseas, you've had one of the hardest jobs to do that.
On the other hand, you've also had a chance to recognize heroic actions like we did at the recent Woody Keeble Awards, which you created in honor.
And maybe just, you know, the topic here is work worth doing.
These are two hard ends of the spectrum, but maybe share a little bit about sort of what makes the work worth doing and some of the things that are, when you think back on your career, that really touch you and touch your heart.
Well, I think, luckily, I haven't had to call that many people when they've lost a loved one, but I'll give you an example.
When I was deployed in Kosovo in 2009 and 2010, we lost a soldier.
It was to natural causes, but we lost a soldier.
And I still remember this day when I called up his wife and just checked in to see how she was doing and offering mine and the entire unit's condolences.
The first thing she shot back with is how are his buddies doing.
And it just struck me.
That at a time of grief she lost her husband, the father to her children, but the idea that in the military everybody serves and she was concerned about how his battle buddies were doing over in Kosovo speaks volumes.
I remember talking to a mother of a soldier we lost early on in Iraq and Offering my condolences.
And she said to me, thank you for your service.
And it just set me back.
Because again, thinking of others at a time when you're in great grief.
So I think that lessens.
Yes, it's hard to have those conversations.
It's hard to make those phone calls.
It's hard to have those engagements.
But it's really...
I guess inspiring just to see the resiliency of the Guard family and how they deal with this.
You know, one of the things we do, Governor, and you joined us last year was our resiliency weekend.
But we bring together the Gold Star families along with soldiers we've lost and airmen we've lost by suicide, by natural causes, anybody that's grieving that needs to come together.
And heal.
And we do that on a number of occasions each year, but that's been incredibly rewarding.
And it's interesting there too that, you know, it's not always how they lost the child that will bring some of these families together.
It's connections some other way.
Everyone's grieving.
It might be a different basis for the grief, but they come together to help each other out.
No, and the support activities that you and your team and the volunteer groups that are providing are really, really impressive, really important.
And the First Lady, Catherine, and myself had a chance to attend a number of those events and meet the families and what they're going through.
I mean, you know, meeting mothers whose babies have been born while they're, you know, they're having a child and their husband's deployed overseas and they're, you know, meeting their child through Skype or FaceTime and As you say so eloquently when we're at these meetings, it's not just the soldier that's serving, it's the whole family and the support is there.
And so I'll take this time to shout out to any families that are listening too, but to thank them for their service as well.
No, absolutely.
We can't.
It's a three-legged stool.
We can't do what we do without the support of our families, our employers, and both critically important to the success of the organization.
Woody Keeble Awards, Medal of Honor winner, Native American, North Dakotan.
It was so fun to be with you, and tell us a little bit about those awards, why you named them after Woody, and tell us about the criteria.
Well, I've been thinking about this for some time.
There's something called a Soldier's Medal, but very limited criteria of who can be awarded that.
And I kept getting these stories of National Guardsmen, not in the line of duty, but in their civilian capacity, doing some really heroic and neat things.
And I just thought it's time that we commission our own award to recognize these folks.
And I'd like to think that it was...
A lot of research and deep thought on my part, but I think how it actually happened is in my conference room as we're discussing this, we have the portrait of Woody Keeble, the same one that hangs in the halls of the Capitol here.
As part of the Rough Rider workshop.
And I looked up at that and I'm like, well, that guy epitomizes.
Selfless service, heroism, all the things we're trying to capture with this award.
I said, let's name it the Woody Keeble Award.
And the team went off and we just about went to press on that.
And I said, well, let's talk to Woody's family.
Let's talk to his tribe.
Because, first of all, I wouldn't be presumptuous to name something in his honor without We're good to go.
How many of those we gave out, Governor?
Because this should be a pretty exclusive group of folks that get this award.
And when my staff told me we had like 15 or 20 that were being recommended for the award, I'm like, that's not going to be right.
But then I went through all those award applications.
I'm like, nope, check, check, check.
These guys are exactly what this award was designed for.
Literally, awardee after awardee was involved in saving a life, literally saving a life, when they were off-duty.
Whether it was busting down a door to pull somebody out of a burning apartment when they're not the fireman, they're just a concerned citizen, or helping somebody who's got themselves in a dangerous car accident in icy waters.
The stories were incredible, and it really speaks to the quality of the men and women who serve in the North Dakota National Guard.
Well, and it goes back.
We're a values-based organization, and part of that is selfless service.
And again, we look at those awardees.
They all live by our values.
And again, I was shocked at the number, but I shouldn't be, because that's the quality of people we have in the National Guard.
So, General, you've got a reputation of being not only one of the strongest and best adage generals in the United States, but you've also got a reputation of being one of the funniest adage generals, and there has not been one even hint of humor in this entire podcast.
I don't know, General.
It's hard to turn on and off.
So I'm a pegged-out left introvert, so I think everybody...
Wonders where that comes from, but I saw actually was in the Tribune today.
There was a Tammy Swift about being friends with an introvert.
And sometimes they're the life of the party, but the hard thing is to actually get them to the party.
That's me.
If you can get me there, I can usually deliver, but it's just tough getting me to the party.
So I'll just say, well, General, certainly I'm a big fan of your sense of humor because I think it plays an important role in leadership, and I've seen you deploy it with a lot of wisdom and a lot of care, and I just say...
I'm a fan.
You know, some people will have to keep their day jobs if you ever decide to do stand-up.
Yeah, I haven't found an agent yet, but I'll keep looking at it.
Well, actually, that's actually part of my command philosophy.
I tell folks I've had days where I've been cold, I've been wet, I've been hungry.
It's been incredibly stressful.
But if you keep your sense of humor, you can get through those days.
And I really look at it as an important attribute to have.
One of the things when we talk about the 30,000 jobs open in North Dakota, one of the things we've got some great jobs open in the North Dakota National Guard.
Hundreds of positions that are available.
We've got, we provide, we re-up the program for paying college tuition for people that join.
In terms of work worth doing, what would you have to say to people that are thinking about a career in the National Guard?
And if they are interested, where do they go?
If you'd like to be part of a successful team, we got jobs for you.
If you want the opportunity to get some leadership experiences that you will not be able to get at this point in your life, probably anywhere else in the civilian sector, we got openings for you.
If you want to go to college and have Us pay for it.
We'll do that right now.
I'll use NDSU as an example.
If you want to go into agriculture and go to NDSU, just for an example, a private enlisting right now that would be about between the GI Bill, which is federal assistance and state tuition assistance, you'd have about $14,000 to go to college.
If you want to pursue other leadership opportunities and apply for one of our reserve officer training programs where you become a commissioned officer, some of those programs are between $24,000 and $28,000 a year in college benefits.
And I have a whole range of jobs from cyber to intelligence to the trades, you name it, where we have anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 signing bonuses.
So we're going through the NBA draft and all that right now, we have signing bonuses just like the professional teams.
But I also know for this generation of young folks, it's not just about the money.
It's about being a challenge.
It's about having opportunities.
And again, the state partnership things we talked about in Ghana, Togo, and Benin, I got 400 folks going to Romania this year to do some operations over there with our NATO partners.
I got aviators flying helicopters up in Canada with the Brits in the next couple three weeks.
We've sent airmen across the globe and very interesting opportunities.
So I just, you know, I look now at the opportunities that are available.
I just want to make sure young folks know what these are.
Because I think if they take a hard look at the products we have available, the opportunities we have available, There's a lot more that would like to raise the right hand and be part of this team.
And I was chuckling when you mentioned NDSU my alma mater, but the benefits you described, do they also apply for your alma mater as well?
Yes, they do.
Just as you know, UND charges a little bit less for college, so it's slightly smaller benefit at UND. But in our tuition assistance program, in our grant program, not only applies to all the North Dakota University System schools, the public schools, But Jamestown College is part of our program.
You and Mary is part of our program.
We signed our first ever Memorandum of Understanding with United Tribes Technical College.
We're looking next to add the other tribal colleges in North Dakota to our tuition assistance program.
So we're trying to make sure that we provide opportunities to everybody.
And we also see this as an opportunity to grow the diversity within the National Guard.
Fantastic.
So we're talking tuition assistance, state, tribal, private, any college in North Dakota is where we're headed with this.
And fantastic.
Thanks for getting that going.
As we close out, again...
Teddy Roosevelt said, greatest prize in life is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing.
You've been working hard at work worth doing during your entire career, but closing comments about the rewards you find from the work worth doing that you're doing right now?
It's just, I go back to...
What these young soldiers and airmen do, what our emergency dispatchers do, the folks over in Homeland Security, what they do every day.
But this entire organization, no matter what division you're in, again, it's about helping other people when they're having a bad day.
It's about being part of a team.
It's about selfless service.
And when you see the dedication of this group, the hard work of this group, It's just a pleasure to lead the organization.
Well, thank you for your leadership, and thanks for your service to state and country, and thanks for being on Work Worth Doing.
It's been my pleasure.
Thanks, Governor.
Governor Burgum announced last November that he would be reappointing General Norman to continue his service as Adjutant General with a six-year term beginning July 1st, 2019. To find out more about our National Guard and the work they do to protect our nation and serve our communities, visit ndguard.nd.gov.
For information about the Department of Emergency Services, check out nd.gov.
And finally, head over to ndresponse.gov, a site dedicated to keeping you up to date with the latest information regarding drought, fire safety, flooding, and more.
That's all for today's episode of Work Worth Doing.
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