All units are inspected and graded on unit readiness, which is dependent on appropriate numbers of personnel and a high level of equipment maintenance.

This is the first time since the late 1980s that the Morrisville unit received the Gen. Walter T. Kerwin Jr. Readiness Award.

Known as the 1st of the 130th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion and nicknamed the Panthers, the unit supports and flies the AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter. The Panthers have been stationed at their current facility at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport since 1987.

The Guard members were deployed to Iraq from 2009 to 2010, where they flew more than 10,000 combat flight hours. Since their return, the Panthers have been training for their next deployment, sometime in 2013.

Army Lt. Col. Brian Pierce is the leader of the 130th and the N.C. National Guard Joint Force Headquarters mobilization and readiness division chief.

Q: What kind of staff make up the Morrisville-based unit?

A: We have aviation mechanics, command and control, cooks, military intelligence, ground equipment maintenance.

Q: When you went to help after Hurricane Irene, what did the Panthers do?

A: We covered a range of duties, but the main one was power generation teams, helping get fire and police stations and community centers back up and running. We were in charge of teams of soldiers, directing safety operations, and we also covered flight operations, carrying personnel to and from the region.

Q: Tell me about the unit's main equipment, the AH-64D Apache Longbow.

A: In the past, the Apache flew in tandem; there was one scout and the Apache was the killer. The new Apache Longbow has both capabilities in its system: reconnaissance and attack. Its main mission is attack, and its secondary is reconnaissance. It's the eyes and ears of the battlefield. If required, we can exploit targets.

Q: What is your most powerful memory of your deployment in Iraq?

A: The most notable thing is the progress that Iraq has made from the first time we were deployed there in 2006 to the next, in 2009. I couldn't believe the sheer number of cars on the road and the tremendous building boom. We came in at the end of the surge period when there was a more secure environment than there had been in a long time. There was significantly increased security, and it made a significant difference.

Q: What does it take to earn this award?

A: Our pilots fly 340 days a year out of RDU, where we have a National Guard Unit Readiness Center.

Over 500 people are constantly preparing to support state and federal missions as well as support the homeland, like after Hurricane Irene. There is plenty of training, and I think this award is the sign of a payoff. It was recognition at a national level. It shows that the Panthers are as good as any active unit and are prepared for any mission they are called upon to do.

I am proud of the soldiers in the unit and the fact that they were recognized nationally.