Each year, the North Dakota Army National Guard selects one National Guard family to be the recipient of the Family of the Year award.

The recipient of the 2006 award is the family of Sgt. Justin Gartner, of Bismarck. Gartner and his wife, Kate, have two children, Baylee and Bryce. Gartner is a member of Company C(-), 2nd of the 285th Aviation Assault Battalion, and was deployed to Bosnia with Task Force Strike.

During Gartner's deployment to the Balkans, Kate Gartner served as the president of Task Force Strike's Family Readiness Group.

Gartner works full-time for the telecommunications branch of the N.D. National Guard, and Kate Gartner works as the clinic nurse manager at Medcenter One in Bismarck.

Although young, Baylee and Bryce Gartner also did their part to help. They participated in numerous activities and formed many friendships within the unit's families. Baylee's class wrote monthly letters to her dad during his deployment.

The award was presented on Feb. 10 to the Gartner family during the Freedom Salute for the 1st of the 112th Aviation Battalion, Task Force Strike.

Gartner is a native of Killdeer, and Kate (Conley) Gartner is from Bowman.