During the past decade, the Nevada Army Guard’s more than 3,000 soldiers have performed nearly 2,000 overseas deployments in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom and thousands of days in support of domestic operations such as firefighting and search-and-rescue missions right here in the Silver State.
In order to remain eligible for deployment around the world, Soldiers must meet certain physical readiness standards. One of the primary pillars of the physical standards is dental health readiness.
In order to ensure the highest possible percentage of Nevada Guard soldiers maintain their deployment status, the Nevada Guard conducted one of its largest mass dental readiness events in its history last weekend at the Washoe County armory.
Dental health readiness has been a priority of the National Guard for several years. More than $100 million was earmarked by the National Guard Bureau across the nation in 2008 for dental treatment for Soldiers deemed non-deployable due to dental problems. Since then, the national percentage of Guard soldiers falling into non-deployable readiness status has dropped dramatically and the weekend event was another example of the National Guard’s ongoing prioritization of dental health.