Photos The new boss The families left behind More from MPR Soldiers' families want the 142nd back home (09/22/2003) Governor now wants to keep Andreotti file secret (08/22/2003) In small towns around Minnesota, National Guard soldiers say goodbye (08/13/2003) The Minnesota National Guard takes a turn in Bosnia (07/17/2003) Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

	E-mail this page			Print this page

Pawlenty names Shellito as new Guard leader
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
October 27, 2003

Larry Shellito's military experience includes three years of active duty. He's a Vietnam vet who has risen through the ranks of the Guard, and is now the division commander of the 34th Infantry Division based in Rosemount. (MPR Photo/Laura McCallum)

Gov. Pawlenty has appointed Major General Larry Shellito to lead the Minnesota National Guard. Shellito is president of Alexandria Technical College and has 35 years of military experience. He starts his new job at a time when more National Guard reservists are deployed overseas than during any other period since World War II. The deployments have led to frustration among many reservists' families.

St. Paul, Minn. — Shellito was the only candidate who Gov. Pawlenty interviewed from a pool of 31. Shellito will lead more than 12,000 citizen soldiers who help the Army and Air Force, and can also be called up by the governor to help with state emergencies such as natural disasters. Pawlenty says Shellito stood out because of his breadth of experience in the military and in management.

"He has tested, proven leadership, he's got seasoned judgement, he is somebody who is well recognized by the guard as a strong leader, and he understands the multiple missions and challenges that our guard faces, and I am absolutely confident that he will continue to lead our National Guard with excellence," he said.

Shellito's military experience includes three years of active duty. He's a Vietnam vet who has risen through the ranks of the Guard, and is now the division commander of the 34th Infantry Division based in Rosemount. In his civilian life, he worked his way up from instructor to president at Alexandria Technical College over the past three decades. Shellito says he saw a window of opportunity to lead the National Guard when Adjutant General Eugene Andreotti stepped down in August.

	The families left behind

"I was ready for it. I sincerely wanted it, and therefore I applied and have been accepted," he said.

Andreotti resigned after Gov. Pawlenty announced a state investigation into unspecified allegations of misconduct against Andreotti. The investigation is done, but a judge ruled that no information can be released until the Air Force inspector general completes a separate investigation into the matter.

Shellito says he won't be involved in the investigation, so it won't be a distraction. But Shellito will face other challenges, including the frustration of Minnesotans whose family members face long overseas deployments. About 3,000 reservists are currently deployed overseas; about a third of them in Bosnia and others in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. Members of Camp Ripley's 142nd Engineer Battalion left Minnesota in January, and may be in Iraq until next spring or summer.

Shellito says the Army is working to limit overseas deployments to one year. "The biggest problem for the soldiers that we're referring to, the 142nd, the engineers out of Camp Ripley, was that they were told upfront of one scenario, then in midstream it was changed. Now that impacts the employers, the families, soldiers, all of that, and that's what we want to eliminate."

Shellito says he will try to improve communication between the Guard and family members.

That's welcome news to Constance Potter, whose brother and father are both serving in the 142nd in Iraq.

"Communication's been horrific. To learn that you would be without your soldier, when you expected a six, maybe eight month deployment, to learn that you could be potentially without your soldier for two calendar years, the citizen soldier who might have a business, who might have a job, who works for an employer, that's catastrophic, and it's catastrophic to learn it from the media," she said.

Potter says she still doesn't know when her brother and father will be home. Her brother's wife had a baby in April, and her brother may not see his son for the first time until he's more than a year old. Potter served in the same unit her dad and brother are in, and she'd also like to see the National Guard be more upfront about potential overseas deployments when recruiting reservists. Shellito says recruiting for the Guard is the highest it's ever been, even in a time of increasing overseas deployments.

"Now if this were to continue a second or a third or a fourth rotation, we don't know. That's why it's so imperative that we work upfront now to make sure things are taken care of so we build a strong support system to make the National Guard service a successful service."

Shellito says another top priority is training, because he says reservists must be prepared to be called up on short notice. Shellito's term as adjutant general lasts seven years, and he'll make $123,000 a year.

News Headlines

Related Subjects