Welcome to new members.  We’re glad to have you.

PGR National Background

The Patriot Guard Riders, Inc is an international organization with just over 175,000 members, most in the continental US.  We are then divided into, and managed as, state units.  You join the PGR through the national website and then usually associate yourself with one state.  Some states have separated to create their own non-profit corporations but Wisconsin is a registered agent of the national organization.  Each state may operate a little differently.

If you haven’t joined yet, go to the national website at www.patriotguard.org and click on the box that says, “Freedom Isn’t Free But Membership is” on the top of the page. You MUST complete the fields so we include you in mailings. You must have Wisconsin listed under region or you will not get statewide e-mails.

  Once you have joined through the national web site www.patriotguard.org and you log-in, (I suggest you click the box for [  ] Remember Login), you can then go to All Forums on the left side of the page and go down about half way to the Wisconsin forum and all our activities, questions, comments and such will be listed there. 

There are two things to do to stay informed of events in Wisconsin.  I suggest you log-in to the web site, go to All Forums on the left, go down to Wisconsin, and when that opens, click the small box near the top to be notified of any postings to the forum.  You should also watch this web site or the Missions threads on the right side of the home page.  If you see a Wisconsin Mission, click on the link and if you want to stay informed, again click the small box at the top.  Missions are NOT part of the Wisconsin Forums so mission update emails are NOT automatic.   The State Captain issues a “Statewide Email” to announce missions when they are confirmed.

We’ve made some changes so in the Wisconsin forum all the old postings will be archived.  In order to get into the member forums and respond to any events you must be a member and can only respond on the national site.  If you are sent an e-mail with a link and it does not take you to the right place, you probably are not logged in (this is where auto login helps).

PGR WI State Background

This is our dedicated web site.  The National site provides the most current information and is the official word on matters, but  this site serves the function of narrowing things down to include only items of interest in Wisconsin. Events listed on this site take you directly to the correct spot on the National site. You must be signed in to National to be taken to the correct information.  Afterwards you will get taken directly to the appropriate forum and thread on the National website.  If you have any software that "cleans" your machine or if you delete cookies this will get wiped out and you'll have to sign in (and click the box) again.

If you have registered with National, please also take just a moment to send me, SC@patriotguard-wi.org: your contact information, to include: last name, first name, username, e-mail, street address, city, state, zip, and phone.  We are attempting to keep backup information as our national database has been overwhelmed, it was designed for the lofty goal of 10,000 members, and we're at 175,000 and growing.

As far as finding missions, it's actually simple. They are listed here on our State website and, for the National site; Confirmed Missions are on the right side with a little farther down Pending Missions.  When a mission is confirmed, the State Captain has an e-mail sent to everyone in the state.  He  also sends out regular updates about things of interest in the state so if you don't get a statewide e-mail within 3 weeks something is wrong, please follow the instructions in the state forum called “Not Getting E-mails?”.

Miscellaneous

Many new members ask about our “ride schedule.”  If you have read the Mission Statement on the National site, you will notice that we are essentially a service organization providing honor guards and escorts at the funerals of the fallen and providing other support for all active military and veterans as we have resources.  We do have a number of events that you will find on this web site from “Meet and Greet” gatherings to participation in other events like Air Shows or Veteran’s recognition events but we are not a "motorcycle club" so being in a van, car or truck is great.  We also have a definite need for support vehicles that can carry flags (we have extras in every region) and a cooler with water in the summer and eventually some simple tools and first aid kit.

We also have a few projects we'd like some help with:

1)    If you can occasionally help a stranded member, even if it's only directions or getting them help on the road, please sign up for the Red, White, and Blue Book.  Check the Wisconsin Forum for information.

2)   I'd like to create a "WI PGR owners manual / frequently asked questions" so if there is anything that confused you when you started (or still does today) let us know so we can address it.  There are a lot of people that don't know about forums and mission threads.

3)   Support vehicles - so many feel bad about "caging it" driving a car, truck, or mini van.  WE NEED YOU more than you know.  We still need a lot of people who would be willing to bring the extra flags and water and possible tools and first aid kits to a mission.