A Busy Year - and Changing Role - for the New Hampshire National Guard

Earlier this month Senior Airman Ryan Weeks of the New Hampshire National Guard stood in the honor guard that lowered the American flag in Baghdad as US forces formally concluded the mission in Iraq.

It was a year of conclusions for the New Hampshire National Guard. More than 1000 guardsmen and women returned to the state after deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, some of which began in 2009.

Major General William  Reddel, Adjutant General for the New Hampshire Guard, talks with All Things Considered host Brady Carlson about the long string of deployments and whether the Guard's role has permanently changed.