AHOSKIE – The senior officer of the nation’s more than 500,000 Army and Air National Guard soldiers and airmen, Lieutenant General H Steven Blum will address the Ahoskie Rotary Club at 12 noon here Monday, February 2 at the Ahoskie Inn.

As Chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Blum is appointed by the President and serves as the principal advisor for National Guard affairs to the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He is also the official channel of communications between the Army and Air Force and the Governors and Adjutants General of the 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia.

Blum’s topics will include the National Guard’s role in the ongoing transformation of the nation’s military, his efforts to bring the National Guard and its members up to equal status with the active components and the National Guard’s ongoing role in the War on Terrorism, including his recent visit with North Carolina Guardsmen deployed to Afghanistan.

He will be available for questions following the speech.

Immediately prior to his selection as Chief, Blum was the first chief of staff of the United States Northern Command, a major headquarters formed at the beginning of the War on Terror that is charged with defending the continental United States.

As a major general, Blum commanded the 29th Infantry Division and was commanding general of the Multinational Division (North), Stabilization Force 10, Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Blum’s career has included commands at every level of the Army, with most of his background in Special Forces.

He began his military career as an enlisted soldier and received his commission by way of Officer’s Candidate School.

He holds a bachelor of arts degree in history from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and a master’s degree in social science from Morgan State University.

He is a 1989 graduate of the Army War College.