The Stars & Stripes dinner, a military awards event, was held recently at the 38th annual BEYA STEM Conference in Baltimore.

This year’s dinner featured the National Guard, and two of its members received BEYA Stars and Stripes awards: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Regina Carrell (a senior strategic intelligence analyst at the National Guard Bureau) and Sgt. Maj. Alan Thomas (an operations sergeant major in the Indiana National Guard).

The event was hosted by Maryland Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead, who also served as the master of ceremonies.

Distinguished attendees included Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, U.S. Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson (Chief of the National Guard Bureau), U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), and Mr. Frank Kendall (Secretary of the Air Force). Military members from every branch of service were also present.

The 229th Maryland Army National Guard band provided the music for the event.