Next Sunday, visitors of the Benicia Historical Museum will get to enjoy a presentation by Capt. Christopher J. Meloy, the Headquarters & Headquarters Company commander of Benicia’s 749th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. He will be using his personal military experiences to talk about the history of the National Guard as well as his own story in the presentation “One Soldier’s Experience: National Guard Service Home and Abroad.”

“I’m not an authority on the history of the National Guard or its official spokesperson,” he said. “It would rather just be about my personal journey that’s still underway.”

The National Guard, which is called upon to assist citizens during domestic emergencies and disasters, had its roots in Colonial American government militias in the 1600s. The term “National Guard” was adopted by New York state militias in 1824 and became national in 1903.

“During the Cold War, the National Guard was lumped together with the Reserves to be a strategic reserve in case of a large-scale conventional war with the Soviet Union,” Meloy said. “Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has tried to integrate the Reserves and National Guard as sort of a modular force that can rotate in and out of mobilizations with active duty units, so no longer are we just the backups.”

Meloy joined the National Guard because he wanted flexibility in his assignments and locations. Among other things, he was deployed to Afghanistan from June to November, 2013. The National Guard’s assignment was to provide consultation to the Afghan military.

“In this stage of the conflict, we were primarily advising and supporting the Afghan military as consultants rather than actively engaging the enemy,” he said.

Meloy’s specialty was human resources. Much like a typical company’s HR needs, he handled things like performance evaluations, awards and promotions in the Army.

“I was really proud of the way my team conducted business, and I was really impressed with those that I worked with and those that I worked for, including my Afghan counterparts,” he said.

Additionally, Meloy also helped assist the National Guard with logistics/supply coordination during the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, which bring athletes with intellectual disabilities from around the world to compete. The ceremonies were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“The state of California asked the California National Guard to assist with logistical support, which meant transportation and the movement of supplies and commodities to all the various venues throughout the Los Angeles basin,” he said. “It was a large undertaking.”

Meloy is most proud of his service with the California National Guard’s Veterans’ Honors Program, which goes to military funerals to provide honors to those who served and were honorably discharged.

“Doing that was most important because I saw the impact it had on the veterans’ families and loved ones, and seeing how much their loved ones’ service meant to them,” he said. “I was honored to be a part of that.”

During his presentation, Meloy will be sharing his story as well as photographs that detail what the National Guard does.

“(I hope they take away) new knowledge on the citizen soldiers and what they do right here in our own backyards,” he said.

“One Soldier’s Experience” will be presented at 1 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 28 in the Benicia Historical Museum’s Stone Hall, located at 2060 Camel Road. Admission is free, and light refreshments will be served.

For more information, call the museum at 745-5435 or email info@beniciahistoricalmuseum.org.