Soldiers and airmen gathered to celebrate the Tennessee National Guard’s 250th birthday on Thursday.
Major General Warner Ross and Command Sgt. Major Dale Crockett hosted the ceremony.
Service members listened to guest speakers, and everyone honored the sacrifice and accomplishments of all those that came before them.
The Tennessee National Guard’s origins trace back to before Tennessee became a state. In 1774 Captain Evan Shelby, a militia leader in Tennessee’s present-day Sullivan and Carter counties, formed the settlement’s first volunteer militia company.
This marked the first time “Tennesseans” deployed for war as a militia.
