Independent Guard Battalion

Dear officers, staff, members and friends of the Independent Guard Battalion,
Greetings from the snow fields.
On January 26 of this year, the winter meeting was held at Conner Prairie. There were troops and officers from 7 different companies of IGB members. The meeting was called to order at 1:00pm and Col. Julian made us all feel welcome and thanked us all for coming out on such a cold, wintry day.
First item to be discussed were safety issues of the past season. One incident was brought up that had the potential for disaster. A soldier who is not a regular but known to some of us was in a battle line but chose to pull a sidearm and advance on someone on the other side and fired at a very close range. Calm heads prevailed and tempers calmed down after a while. The solution is to make sure none of the men in the ranks have revolvers. They don't need them!  Only co.and battalion officers should be carrying sidearms, and if loaded show them to other battalion officers for inspection. We need to ensure that unauthorized use of sidearms does not occur.
Next up was the discussion of the 150th Anv. events the battalion should attend in 2013.  Chancellorsville was voted no. Gettysburg II is a yes. This is the GAC/PACS event. We have almost 40 signed up and I know of at least 2, maybe 3 other units who have told me they were going but not registered yet. Chickamauga for now is a no. Too many"not sures" to make the decision yes. I believe If two Companies would go then others from IGB member groups may want to go as well. I plan on going no matter what, just don't know who I will be.
We then discussed how many Max.Effort Battalion events there should be, and the consensus was to not have any more than 3 Max. Effort Battalion events. For 2013 those are Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Gettysburg II, and Hartford City, In.
Other events at which 2-4 companies will be in attendance are Spring Drill at Ft. Recovery, Ohio, Conner Prairie, In., Jackson, Mi., Caeser's Creek, Ohio, and Camp Allen, Ft. Wayne, In. All or part of the Battalion staff will be at these events. There are other local events at which member companies will attend, so keep in touch with your fellow IGB members and support them if possible. All event dates are posted on the new web site that the Major has designed, and can be found by going to the old web site and clicking on the link shown.
At the end of the meeting there was a general discussion about some co. didn't have enough members to go to the max events. That is one reason why the IGB exists, so you have member companies to fall in with and you won't be shunned by other groups. If anything, once they know that you belong to the IBG they may try to steal you away for the event! The assembly was given the order to break ranks at 3:30 pm.
These minutes presented by Col. Dave Julian, I.G.B.
This is what you missed if you could not attend the meeting. Keep the telegraph humming and keep your heads down. I will see most of you at Spring Drill. Until then, I remain
your obedient servant,
J. David Julian, Col., Independent Guard Battalion