I am a National Guardsmen, living in Covington, working at Camp Murray and want to share a success story with the assistance of our State Rep. Pat Sullivan.

I want to send my heartfelt thanks to Rep. Sullivan, who has assisted with our National Guard Scholarship, which has made it into the State House budget as a line item. This means a lot to all 8,200 members of the Washington National Guard that this was added.

The members of the Washington National Guard serve our state and nation selflessly every day, risking their lives to safeguard the people and property of Washington state during state emergencies and assist with the war fighting mission during federal deployments.

Guardsmen are some of the hardest working members of the military, but Washington is one of the few states that doesn’t incentivize continuing education for our guard member. This scholarship could provide additional resources to our members to pursue their education goals, which happen here in Washington state, where many are full-time students at a state university or college.

Keeping a strong National Guard means a lot to Washington state, and it strengthens our ability to provide the capabilities that we have to respond to domestic operations.

Last year more than 1,500 Guardsmen responded to two large scale natural disasters, State Route 530 Landslide and the Wildfires. These Guardsmen worked day and night to protect our state.

Rep. Sullivan worked hard and has backed the National Guard and getting the National Guard Scholarship added wasn’t easy, but as a constituent and a Guardsmen, I appreciate all his work and want to once again say thank you!

Joseph Siemandel
Covington