1/30/08 Lawton in Mississippi for 951st Engineers Departure to Afghanistan
1/30/2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 – State of the State Address
Lt. Governor Lawton attended Governor Jim Doyle’s annual State of the State Address on Wednesday evening where he delivered a sober assessment of the state’s economy and his priorities for the coming year. Prior to the event, Lt. Governor Lawton stopped by the legislative receptions for the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association.
Thursday, January 29, 2009 – Lawton in Mississippi for 951st Engineers Departure to Afghanistan
Lt. Governor Lawton, Adjutant General Don Dunbar and other senior National Guard officials visited the Tomahawk- and Rhinelander-based 951st Sapper Company in Mississippi Thursday and wished the engineer unit well as it departed for Afghanistan for approximately 10 months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The 100-plus Guardsmen left Wisconsin in November for Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center to train for combat engineer missions that will include route clearance patrols.
Left: Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton speaks to the soldiers of the 951st Engineer Sapper Company Thursday. The 100-plus soldiers recently completed mobilization training at Camp Shelby.
Lawton joined Brig. Gen. Don Dunbar and Brig. Gen. Mark Anderson, commander of the Wisconsin Army National Guard, in recognizing four soldiers for outstanding performance while at Camp Shelby. With this mobilization the Wisconsin National Guard will have approximately 300 soldiers and airmen on duty.
Left: Lt. Gov. Lawton and Brig. Gen. Don Dunbar pose with recipients of the Army Achievement Medal awarded for their exceptional performance during mobilization training. Left to right: Specialists Brandon Devlin and Spc. Blaise Gaboriault, Lawton, Dunbar, Staff Sgt. Jarred Maney and Spc. Blaise Gaboriault.
Friday, January 30, 2009 – Lawton in Florida to Participate in Prestigious Conference: The Elements of Smart Power: Re-Inventing Public Diplomacy
Lt. Governor Lawton joined a select group of national leaders in public diplomacy at a conference sponsored by The Public Diplomacy Council, Meridian International and the Howard Gilman Foundation on Friday in northern Florida.
Participants at the conference titled, The Elements of Smart Power: Re-Inventing Public Diplomacy, developed a set of recommendations to present to the Obama Administration based on a comprehensive approach to reinventing public diplomacy. Lt. Governor Lawton was the lead participant in the session, “A View from Government.”
About fifty individuals participated, including former ambassadors, leaders from the executive branch and House Foreign Affairs Committee, business, the military, academe, science, technology, communications, think tanks and community and non-governmental organizations whose experience and expertise are particularly relevant to the context and content of a revitalized US public diplomacy. Lt. Governor Lawton represented states’ interests as the only elected official to be in attendance.
