Capt. Elizabeth Mead of Williamsville, the commander of the Illinois Army National Guard’s East St. Louis-based 1844th Transportation Company, was awarded the U.S. Army’s General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award, one of only seven National Guard officers to receive the award nationwide. Mead led her unit’s deployment to the Southwest Border from October 2022, returning just two days before Thanksgiving 2023. As Mead, her husband, Matthew, and their five children gathered around a 20-pound turkey at her in-laws in 2023, she knew she had a lot to be grateful for.
![Illinois National Guard Officer Who Led Unit's Southwest Border Mission Earns MacArthur Leadership Award]()
