> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.sdnewswatch.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 'Citizen warriors' form backbone of South Dakota National Guard - URL: https://www.sdnewswatch.org/south-dakota-national-guard-citizen-warriors/ - Published: 2026-11-06T10:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-06T10:00:00.000Z - Description: In advance of the federal Veterans Day holiday on Wednesday, Nov. 11, News Watch spoke with the leader of the South Dakota National Guard about its evolving mission, its personnel and the attempt to bring a new fighter jet to Sioux Falls. - Author: Bart Pfankuch - Tags: Explainers Maj. Gen. Mark Morrell may have traveled the country and the world during his 27 years of service, but he has spent much of his military career in the Rushmore State, where he now serves as the adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard. Morrell is a native of Tyndall, in southeast South Dakota, and a 1999 graduate of South Dakota State University in Brookings. He had an illustrious U.S. Air Force career as a command pilot, flight instructor and winner of the Bronze Star during assignments in Texas, Florida, Nevada, Alaska and Korea. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/2026/11/2026-10-22-Vets-Day-Morrell-at-podium-1.jpg) Air Force Maj. Gen. Mark Morrell, the adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard, speaks during the 155th Engineer Company's activation ceremony in Wagner, S.D., on Oct. 22, 2026\. (Photo: Courtesy S.D. National Guard) But for the past 15 years, Morrell, 49, has served in increasingly important leadership positions at the National Guard base at Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls. Since August 2023, Morrell had led the SDNG, which includes roughly 4,100 soldiers and airmen, and roughly 950 federal and state employees who help maintain a state of mission readiness of the South Dakota Air and Army National Guard units. In the run-up to Veterans Day on Nov. 11, South Dakota News Watch connected with Morrell for a wide-ranging interview in which he spoke about the Guard's mission and how it has evolved, the personnel who form the heart and soul of the Guard, and an attempt to win a competition to host a new F-35 jet squadron at the Guard base in Sioux Falls. ****Get free, fact-based South Dakota news and information** in a weekday email. No spam. Cancel any time. [Subscribe ](https://www.sdnewswatch.org/#/portal) Here is a question-and-answer format of that conversation. Some responses have been lightly edited for length or clarity. **SDNW:** What is the current mission of the SDNG? **Morrell:** "Our primary job as a combat reservoir for both the Army and the Air Force is to fight and win our nation's wars. So we train to the highest standard of combat readiness, alongside our active duty counterparts, and that's our primary mission. Our secondary and equal mission, our dual mission, is at the behest of the governor. We are also capable of helping ensure domestic tranquility in any manner of emergency that happens to befall our state." **SDNW:** Data you shared with News Watch shows that over the past five years, almost 800 soldiers and airmen have been deployed out of state 10 times, including a deployment in October that sent 120 soldiers from Wagner to the southern U.S. border. Is that an increase in deployments compared to prior years, and does the data reveal a shift in the National Guard's focus and role in recent decades? **Morrell:** "It's been a long time since that shift happened. It really happened in the 9/11 (terrorist attacks) aftermath. So, instead of calling us a strategic reserve ... now they call us an operational reserve. And the nuance there is subtle but I think significant. And like I said, because we have been for more than 25 years deploying regularly right alongside our active duty counterparts, entering active service along with them, and in all places across the entirety of the globe, we've become much more operational. So the model for training is still at a very good value for the American taxpayer because (it) doesn't cost as much to hold a reserve component because we're not on full-time. We don't receive all the extra benefits that full-time soldiers and airmen do, but we still trained at the same high standard." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/2026/11/2026-9-19-Vets-Day-Morrell-handshake-2.jpg) Maj. Gen. Mark Morrell, the adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard, at left, shakes hands with and presents a challenge coin to a soldier assigned to the 665th Support Maintenance Co., South Dakota Army National Guard, during a welcome home ceremony at Mitchell High School in Mitchell, S.D., on Sept. 19, 2026\. (Photo: Courtesy S.D National Guard) **SDNW:** Is Guard duty a more dangerous job these days as a result, and is there a higher risk for guardsmen due to higher deployment rates and the different places they are going? **Morrell:** "That's difficult to answer. I'd say that when we train to mobilize for combat, it's inherently dangerous. So the training is challenging, and the duty is inherently dangerous. It's the kind of stuff that we hope the rest of our citizens don't have to do. And so, there's an increase in danger with an increase in amount of deployments for sure. But we also are the same kind of people that'll step into dangerous situations here domestically as well when there's natural disasters or other kinds of emergencies that happen, so different kinds of danger." **SDNW:** Some people used to refer to the National Guard as a haven for "weekend warriors" who train one weekend a month and two weeks a year but then wait around for a tragedy or crisis to arise. Does that moniker still hold up? **Morrell:** "We still advertise that the basic commitment involves training. We train hard, but training one week in a month and two weeks a year is the minimum that we ask for from soldiers. We've had thousands of South Dakota guardsmen deployed across the past couple decades for all manner of operations. ... What people don't often understand is that when we do deployments and we get federally mobilized, we become the Army or the Air Force. So there's no difference between us and the active duty at that point in time. We get put on active duty status and we go execute those missions along with them. But that doesn't mean that we don't retain the capacity or the capability to handle all those domestic things as well." **SDNW:** How would you describe the current personnel roster in the SDNG? **Morrell:** "We're a citizen warrior organization of soldiers, airmen and civilians. We're a bunch of ordinary citizens that, when we get together, do really extraordinary things. And I like to tell people, we're your neighbors, we're your friends, your aunts and uncles, your business owners, and your teachers, and your first responders. And if you'll allow it, your very best friends. Because I like to tell my soldiers and airmen that they're super citizens as they step up and do things that nobody else will." [As South Dakota veteran population declines, honor guards carry onFinding people to participate in honor guard ceremonies is getting more difficult as the South Dakota veteran population declines.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/icon/SDNW-Logo-Vertical-0ecdafc1-5f1a-43cb-8796-2dd0f3525bc8.jpg)South Dakota News WatchStu Whitney![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/thumbnail/veteran.2-1-1-b406d950-f0ab-4593-b9ed-2dc8109b62e9.jpg)](https://www.sdnewswatch.org/veterans-day-south-dakota-popuplation-decline-honor-guards/) **SDNW:** What are the benefits of SDNG service to an individual ? What's your selling point for Guard recruitment? **Morrell:** "Thank you so much for asking that. I'm not going to answer the way you might expect me to answer here because there are an array of benefits that we use to incentivize service. But I think the thing that we sell best is we provide soldiers and airmen great purpose in their life. We offer them an opportunity to be part of an incredible winning team that does amazing things. And it's difficult to put a price on purpose and impact that you can have in your life. Now, in addition to that, which is by far the biggest thing that I think we offer, we do also offer education benefits. There are frequent bonuses for shortages in certain career fields. We have access to more economical health care options, depending on what your status is, and so there's a lot of other ancillary benefits that go along with serving. But it's not transactional. It often starts as transactional for young people, like, 'Oh, hey, I wanted to get my college paid for because we have great tuition assistance. I wanted to get my tech school paid for, my college paid for.' But once they are at their first enlistment kind of decision point, they're often staying because of the people and the missions and the work that we get to do together. It's because they've taken on an identity that's something about something bigger than themselves." **SDNW:** What are the sacrifices Guard members make, especially during deployments? **Morrell:** "Most of our young soldiers and airmen look forward to opportunities to put their training in action and look forward to deployment opportunities. Having said that, the sacrifices are substantial. There's no way around it. It in order to live a life of service, it's going to cost you something, and we think that that is worth it. Frankly, so yeah, you're going to miss milestones. You're going to be separated from your family. You're going to miss kids' birthdays and anniversaries and things of that nature. And there are challenges that go along with that. But I think, for the most part, our soldiers and airmen embrace that challenge with glad hearts." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/2026/11/2026-9-21-SDNG-soldier-returns.png) Touching moments are common when Guard members return home from a deployment, including for this soldier from the 665th Support Maintenance Co., based in Mitchell, who returned from a nearly yearlong deployment to Germany in September 2026\. (Photo: Courtesy S.D. National Guard) **SDNW:** How is recruitment faring? **Morrell:** "Air Guard and Army Guard are different. The air side, we're very healthy. ... We only have one large operational unit in South Dakota of about 1,100 airmen, and it's all on the east side of the state. And there's a wait list to get it. So it's very popular. It's well regarded, and you have the whole mission happening in one location, so it's easy for young people to walk in and see kind of start to finish what they'd be a part of. Our Army National Guard is split across the entire state, so we're in 22 different locations, and it's a variety of mission sets and formations that we have, (but) we are a little behind in our overall end strength right now. But I guess we could add just under 200 more soldiers. We added to the size of our artillery battalion, and we don't actually have all the equipment that we need to totally train all those soldiers yet, anyway. So we're taking a measured approach to growing into that." **SDNW:** Can you update the public on the efforts by the SDNG and local officials to secure Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls as a new home for the F-35 fighter jets? **Morrell:** "We have not replaced all of our old equipment at a steady rate through the years, especially through the global war on terror and the counterinsurgency fights. We prioritize funding in the Department of Defense or War and other areas, and so we have a lot of old equipment right now. What I'd say about the F-35s (F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jets) ... we are currently in the midst of a competition for the Department of the Air Force to decide out of nine locations where they're going to place two brand new squadrons of F-35s, and that would replace sort of one-for-one our F-16s here at Joe Foss Field. But they're only going to pick two, and there's nine in competition. And so, what happens to those others? The real answer is we don't know what happens if we don't get chosen. Maybe there's another chance for us to get our jets replaced at some point in time in the near future. But we're becoming increasingly nervous about it because this decision that'll get made here early next year, when that decision is made, those jets still won't show up until the early to mid 2030s, so it's a long lead time on the decision. Our jets right now, they're fantastic because we have amazing maintainers. But they were built in 1988 and 1989\. ... So they're just nearing the end of their life cycle, and we're going to have to replace them." ****Double your impact.** One-time and recurring donations are matched through Dec. 31\. [See giving options and donate ](https://www.sdnewswatch.org/donate/) **SDNW:** What is the outlook for landing the new jets? **Morrell:** "I think that South Dakota is uniquely positioned to do well in that competition for two primary reasons. One is because of all the work that's been done at Ellsworth (Air Force Base near Rapid City) with the Powder River Training Complex and the B-21 coming in there. We're in a position uniquely, the only place that it can happen in the world and in the country right now, where if we put F-35s in the state side-by-side with B-21s, we can do daily training together, we can do proficiency together (because) our most advanced stealth aircraft don't go anywhere alone. They still need support. And then the second thing is we've got this premier aerospace training and power projection platform. Some of our universities are deeply invested in advanced manufacturing and advanced cybersecurity and things of that nature. We have the Governor’s Resilience and Infrastructure Task Force to help us look at ways that we can shore up and make more resilient the infrastructure that our average citizens rely upon every day. And then we've just begun the South Dakota Defense Institute as well to focus on ways that businesses can find ways to be more robust to find opportunity with the defense sector as well. So all those things together are sort of the X-factor that makes South Dakota extremely unique." [Share your thoughts on this story](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdTmGFf24Uhwiwd%5FndSxHkv6oBGSAy1LxF9BbwRbhBK5KflA/viewform?usp=sf%5Flink&ref=sdnewswatch.org) **South Dakota News Watch* is an independent nonprofit. *Read*, *subscribe* for free and *donate* at* [*sdnewswatch.org*](http://sdnewswatch.org/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)*. *Contact* content director Bart Pfankuch:605-937-9398/* [*bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org*](mailto:bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org)*.*