On Tuesday of this week, Representative Candice Miller was presented with the 2012 Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Eagle Award during a meeting of the Selfridge Base Community council at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.  The award was given to two members of the House of Representatives and one member of the Senate who contributed outstanding and exceptional service to the National Guard.  Congresswoman Miller worked to successfully attach an amendment to the Fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that would make the Chief of the National Guard Bureau a statutory member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  This change provides the National Guard the ability to influence budgetary and policy decisions as they are made by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Since 9-11, the Guard has gone from being an under resourced strategic reserve to a fully functional and integrated operational force as part of the Total Force Policy.