FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. –
Twelve executives with USAA toured several facilities here Aug. 29-30 that showcased the capabilities and impact of the Pennsylvania National Guard.
The tour included flight simulators at the Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, the Pa. National Guard Military Museum, the Training Support Center’s weapons simulator, and the Pa. Guard’s Ambassador Demonstration Team.
“It’s so important for us to make sure we maintain our connection with our membership, and this really helps us do that,” said Angela Steffens, executive director sourcing partner for USAA, and herself a National Guard spouse.
USAA provides support to U.S. military MWR activities, the USO, and military appreciation barbecues held at the Community Club here over the past two years.
Part of the executive experience at USAA is building military acumen and maintaining contact with military members.
“It was a great fit for my community, for my life, and I’m so honored and happy to be here,” said Steffens. “The team has been gracious and has helped us all the way through. It was just top notch.”
According to David Weisnicht, deputy base operations manager, most of the USAA executives’ experience of the military is with the active component. Some have served in the military, but few have any experience of the National Guard.
“The goal of the tour is to let them see a National Guard base, so why not let them come to the busiest one in the United States?” said Weisnicht. “All told, they are very impressed, they had an eye-opening experience seeing what the Guard does.”
USAA offers insurance, banking and investment services for active and reserve component service members, veterans, and their spouses and children.
Fort Indiantown Gap, home to the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Pennsylvania National Guard, is the only live-fire, maneuver military training facility in Pennsylvania and is among the busiest National Guard Training Centers in the country.
The installation covers more than 17,000 acres in northern Lebanon and Dauphin counties and is home to numerous ranges, training facilities and simulators and regularly hosts personnel from all branches of the military, both active-duty and reserve-component, as well as foreign militaries, first responders, law enforcement and state and federal agencies.