Brothers in arms
Siblings leave National Guard service together
LATHAM, N.Y. >> Two brothers who deployed to Iraq together in 2005 marked the end of their service in the New York Army National Guard during a joint retirement ceremony last Saturday at guard headquarters.
Lt. Col. Joseph Claus of Cropseyville ends his military service Dec. 15, after 30 years, while Master Sgt. Leonard Claus, of Grafton, ended his service Nov. 15, after 33 years in uniform. The two brothers were both awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by Col. David Martinez, director of intelligence for the New York National Guard, at the ceremony.
Both brothers started their military service in the U. S. Army and worked in military intelligence units during the Cold War before they joined the Army National Guard. Both worked in the intelligence operation of the 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit, Iraq, Master Sgt. Claus as intelligence fusion cell non-commissioned officer in charge and Lt. Col. Claus as the intelligence collection management officer.
“We’ve been through a lot in 30 years,” Lt. Col. Claus said.
“… and it’s good to know that no matter what, you always have somebody who has got your back,” his brother added.
Martinez saluted the brothers for what he called “magnificent careers,” but Lt. Col. Claus pointed out it’s not unusual to have family members serving together in the National Guard.
“I think the New York Army National Guard is a family business,” he said. “There are been a lot of families that have worked with us, so it is not that we are that unusual.”
The National Guard itself often feels like one big extended family, Claus added, with soldiers getting to know each other well through exercises, training deployments and state emergency callups.
Master Sgt. Claus enlisted in the Army as a signals intelligence specialist in 1984 and attended the Defense Language Institute, where he learned the German language. After completing his military education, he joined the 108th Military Intelligence Battalion in Wildflecken, Ger- many, where he monitored East German communications.
After leaving active duty in 1989, he joined the New York Army National Guard in 1991 and was assigned to the intelligence section of the 42nd Infantry Division in Troy. In 2001, after another break in service due to his civilian job, Claus joined the 642nd Military Intelligence Battalion, which provided intelligence information to the 42nd Division. He deployed with the 642nd to Iraq as part of the battalion, where he was an intelligence analyst in the division’s intelligence collection center.
Claus remained in the 42nd Infantry Division until 2011, when he was assigned to Company B of the 27th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, where he served as signals intelligence platoon sergeant. In 2012, he deployed to Afghanistan with the 174th ( Forward) Stability Transition Team/ Security Force Assistance Team, a New York Army National Guard special unit that worked with the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division to train Afghan security forces.
After returning from Afghanistan, Claus was assigned to the New York National Guard intelli- gence directorate, where he served as senior intelligence and security noncommissioned officer.
His awards include the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, the
Army Achievement Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Overseas Service Ribbon, the NCO Professional Development Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the NATO Medal.
Claus currently works as the Rensselaer County Department of Public Health’s emergency preparedness coordinator.
Lt. Col. Claus joined the Army in 1987 and also served in military intelligence. He left active duty in 1991 and joined the New York Army National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division in the intelligence section, but decided in 1995 to go back on active duty.
Claus served another three years on active duty, including a deployment to Saudi Arabia in 1997 and 1998 as a military intelligence instructor for the Royal Saudi Land Forces. After again leaving active duty, he rejoined the New York Army National Guard and received a direct commission as a second lieutenant.
One of his first missions was the division headquarters response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Claus and other members of the division were on duty to assist in the recovery operation in lower Manhattan.
Claus served as the 42nd Division’s intelligence collection cell manager in Iraq in 2005 and did great work in that job, according to Lt. Col. Christopher Ciccone, deputy director of intelligence for the New York National Guard.
“I can tell you story after story of Joe Claus interdicting bad guys on the battlefield and collecting information that had operators maneuver on them to take them off the battlefield,” Ciccone said. “He is a fantastic military intelligence officer.”
Claus commanded the headquarters detachment of the New York Army National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters from 2010-13 while also serving as a logistics planner and mobilization officer. He traveled to Japan and Australia during his service to the 42nd Division, while other missions took him to Germany, Kuwait and Great Britain and he was also part of the National Guard headquarters cell during President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
Claus is a graduate of several military intelligence officer schools, as well as the Army Command and General Staff College. His awards include the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.
In civilian life, Claus is emergency services chief at the Watervliet Arsenal, responsible for the police and fire departments at the Army’s cannon-manufacturing plant.