#TBT According to the following article, the first official combined conference was in 1988! See MG Carl D. Wallace’s address below:
Wallace Calls on Guard to Accept Risks to Win
“This is the first time both the Enlisted Conference and the Officer Conference have been together. And in this setting I am most appreciative because it has given all of us an opportunity in the Tennessee Guard to understand what this is all about.
I think you know, as I know, that the Tennessee National Guard is in good shape, because we have interested, concerned people who care about the future of the Guard.
Several weeks ago while watching the Olympics on television I saw individuals, groups, teams, all of whom or perhaps living out a childhood dream of competing in the Olympics. I saw them reaching down into the bottom depths of their soul for the last bit of energy or that extra bit of hope that would somehow make them a winner and a recipient of a gold medal.
I heard a competitor once say, ‘To be successful, to win, to be the very best, you have to be willing to risk something. To commit oneself to go for the gold,’ he said, ‘you must be willing to lose everything.’
We must accept that as the challenge.
If you examine this analogy, it could be used in everyday life and especially in the National Guard. The spirit of winning follows very closely to this year’s Army theme, selected by Secretary Marsh. It’s entitled, “Training.”
Training is the most single important thing that we do in the military. It follows very closely with other military strengths, such as winning spirit, physical fitness, excellence, families, leadership, values and the Constitution.
And to be the best, to be a winner at home or on the battlefield, we must consider all of these strengths.
We have to be good leaders on the one hand, and on the other hand, we have to be good followers. My friends, training is the cornerstone if we are to survive on the battlefield when we are called to duty.
As we go about our business we have to focus our attention on the individual unit and its leaders – both Army and Air. No unit is successful without successful leaders. No unit is successful without somebody who is willing to step out on that line and go for the gold. And, individually, we must develop soldiers and airmen who are physically ready. They must have a will and a desire to maintain a high degree of discipline, and they must be highly motivated.
Our leaders, in order to succeed, must have a commitment to service just as the Olympic competitor commits himself to winning. He must be committed to the service of his country. He must have self-command and enthusiasm.
As George Washington said, ‘Impressed upon the mind of every man, from the first to the lowest, the importance of the cause and what it is that they are contending for.’
Our cause is to be trained and to be ready to go to war, to fight and to come home. It’s that simple.
The National Guard today is serious business. The National Guard is in the business of survival, and winning.
Thomas Jefferson said, ‘Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal. Nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.’
I am firmly convinced that the Tennessee National Guard whether it’s in Honduras, Panama, Germany, England or wherever it serves in this whole world…that we are ready, that we can do the job. We can prove to the rest of the world that we can do the job and that we are going to do it.
You are a viable part of the military of this country. You have a job to do. You do it well. You will continue to do that job well in defense against those who might seek to go in the other direction. I thank you for that. I appreciate you. God bless you.”