The Iowa National Guard and the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a Community Leader Event at the Fairfield Armory on Friday, August 7th, bringing together local business owners, community leaders, and public officials for a firsthand look at the Guard’s capabilities, a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the armory’s renovation, and Black Hawk helicopter flights over the city of Fairfield.
The event ran from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Fairfield Armory, located at 1501 West Stone Avenue. Lunch was served beginning at 11:00 a.m., with the program and introductions beginning at 11:30 a.m. and flights beginning at 1:00 p.m.
The program opened with remarks from Jackie Schmillen, Director of Public Affairs for the Iowa National Guard, emphasizing the National Guard’s unique dual role as the only military branch that serves both the state and the nation. “We are the only military branch that serves both state and nation,” Schmillen told the crowd. “If assistance is needed — a flood, a tornado response, a derecho, COVID — our soldiers, our airmen can respond.” Schmillen also highlighted that the bulk of Guard members are part-time citizen-soldiers who hold full-time civilian jobs, attend school, and raise families in the very communities they serve. “They are just as trained as service members who do this full time,” she said. “Iowa is asked to assist quite often because we’re really dang good at what we do.”
Brigadier General William F. McClintock, Deputy Adjutant General and Chief of Staff for the Iowa Army National Guard, traveled from Des Moines to speak at the event and explained why the Guard makes a point to engage with community leaders across the state. “We go around the state somewhere between six, maybe ten times a year, and we do these types of events,” McClintock said. “We want to partner with you so that when a flood comes, when a roof blows off, a tornado hits, we know who each other are in the communities.” He said the Guard wants to be part of celebrations as much as disasters. “It’s not all about devastation — it’s about celebration,” he said. “If you have a community event or an opportunity at your workplace to bring someone in to talk about leadership or what we do at the Guard, reach out.”
The program also featured a presentation by Chief Warrant Officer Two William Scheidecker, Commander of the 34th Army Band — the only official military band in the state of Iowa — which has called Fairfield home since its founding on November 11th, 1918, on Armistice Day. Scheidecker noted the band can be traced back to at least 1876 and that it once served almost exclusively as a community band for Fairfield before expanding its reach statewide. “We really have become the band for the state of Iowa,” Scheidecker said. The band has performed in 150 to 160 different Iowa school districts over the past decade. The 34th Army Band includes 46 members and can be broken into several smaller groups including a rock band called Scrap Metal, a modern brass band, a brass quintet called Fort Iowa Brass, and a woodwind ensemble called Synergy Winds. A fife and drum group called the Patriots rounds out the band’s ensemble options for special occasions.
A soldier spotlight featured Staff Sergeant Eric Newman, a Jefferson County native and trombonist who grew up in Lockridge and attended Fairfield High School before joining the 34th Army Band at age 17 while still in high school. Newman used the benefits of National Guard service to attend Iowa State University and become a chemical engineer, a career path that eventually brought him back to Fairfield where he now serves as Vice President of Engineering at Dexter Laundry. He used his own story to make a broader point to the business leaders in the room about the Guard’s presence in the community.
“If I weren’t playing here in a moment for you all, I’d probably be sitting out there with you as a business leader, knowing that there’s probably a large difference of understanding of the National Guard and kind of the relationship that Fairfield and others have had with it — just kind of letting you know and understand that we’re talking about integration,” Newman said. “But we already are integrated, whether you know it or not. You may not have someone in your organizations that are part of the National Guard, but we’re around. We just don’t say it out loud very often. But all of the leadership that an organization like the Army or the Air Force brings — call it free skills that people that work for you have and get from their part-time job. And it’s an important thing just knowing that we’re talking about integration, but we’re already integrated. Those people are already leaders in some of your businesses and in your community. And just don’t forget that.”
When asked what kept him in the Guard through career changes and moves, Newman said it came down to family and music. “This unit is like family to me. I love playing my instrument and I just keep coming back for that.”
Attendees were also treated to a live performance by the 34th Army Band, including a set by Scrap Metal, the band’s rock ensemble, giving community leaders a firsthand taste of the versatility and talent the Guard’s musicians bring to communities across Iowa.
A noon ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of renovations at the Fairfield Armory, which serves as the home of the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion — a logistics and support unit that relocated from Camp Dodge in Johnston to Fairfield in the summer of 2025. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Kiel Archer and Command Sergeant Major David J. Gossard, the 185th has made community engagement a priority since arriving in Jefferson County, joining the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce, participating in the Fairfield High School Veterans Day Ceremony, establishing the Warrior-Citizen Award, and supporting local initiatives including the Lord’s Cupboard.
Following the program, community leaders were offered the opportunity to take Black Hawk helicopter flights over the city of Fairfield.
