SSG Sean Huolihan, WIARNG
On September 18, 2014, NGEF unveiled its second art exhibit in an ongoing program to showcase National Guardsmen on mission throughout the country and the world. The broad scope of citizen-soldiers who serve in the National Guard bring talent and ability not only to their duty in uniform but also in their civilian lives.
The mission of the National Guard Educational Foundation includes reaching out to the community and the nation as a whole to show those talents and to reveal to the public how incredible our service members are.
SSG Sean Huolihan of Shorewood, WI, an electrical transformer inspector by trade, joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard in 2006 with a desire to serve his state and his country. He ended up deployed with Battery B, 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery on a classified mission to Afghanistan in 2013. While there, he served the WI National Guard as a communications section chief. True to his National Guard roots, he also brought his civilian experience with him. At the time, photography was a hobby and he used his skills to document day-to-day life as a Wisconsinite transported to the wilds of war-torn Afghanistan.
High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), dormant, await their mission in Afghanistan. Battery B, 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery of the WIARNG.
On display in the National Guard Memorial, you’ll find over a dozen of his resulting pictures. Highly technical and brilliantly edited, the photographs bring to life the beauty, variety and grandeur of Afghanistan juxtaposed against the the brute force and the awe-inspiring power of the United States military. With his portraiture, Huolihan is able to balance the professionalism of the soldiers with the tedium, the quiet self-confidence and the sense of mission that is instilled in American Guardsmen.
SSG Huolihan is a brilliant representative of everything the National Guard does so well as citizen-soldiers. He brings both his civilian talent as well as his military knowledge and training to the forefront. His most important contribution to the Guard, in my opinion, is that he brings home to the nation a compelling record of his service and sacrifice to state and country. He brings the war home to us so that we can share in his experiences and those of his fellow servicemen.
NGEF’s prior exhibit was that of Sgt. Dominic Fredianelli of Hancock, MI. He served in Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) in the Michigan Army National Guard as a gunner and driver, 2009. Please visit his website to experience his amazing work.
SSG Huolihan is now a professional photographer in Wisconsin. To see more of his work, visit his website. His exhibit will remain open to the public through the holidays, 2014.
