JUNE 15, 2026 — A 60-year-old Army Guard warrant officer with 40 years of service, and a 17-year-old high school junior who enlisted in April, celebrated the Army’s 251st birthday during a June 12, 2026, cake-cutting ceremony at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham, New York.
New York Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 5 William J. Solmo, New York’s command chief warrant officer, and Pvt. London Brown, who attends Fayetteville-Manlius High School, represented the past and future of the Army, respectively, as they sliced a birthday cake with a cavalry saber.
Solmo, who represented the oldest Soldier in the New York Army National Guard, was performing that role for the second year in a row…