Bush Policies Are
Weakening National Guard,
Governors Say
By ROBERT PEAR,
NYTimes on the Web, February 27, 2002
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 —
Governors of both parties said Sunday that Bush administration policies were
stripping the National Guard of equipment and personnel needed to respond to
hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, forest fires and other emergencies.
Tens of thousands of National Guard members have been sent to Iraq, along with
much of the equipment needed to deal with natural disasters and terrorist
threats in the United States, the governors said here at the winter meeting of
the National Governors Association.
The National Guard, which traces its roots to the colonial militia, has a dual
federal-state role. Governors normally command the Guard in their states,
but Guard members deployed overseas in support of a federal mission are under
the control of the president.
The governors said they would present their concerns to President Bush and
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Monday. In a preview of their
message, all 50 governors signed a letter to the president opposing any cuts in
the size of the National Guard.
"Unfortunately," the letter said, "when our National Guard men and women return
from being deployed in foreign theaters, much of their equipment remains
behind." The governors said the White House must immediately re-equip
Guard units "to carry out their homeland security and domestic disaster duties."
Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, a Republican and chairman of the governors
association, said: "The National Guard plays an incredibly valuable role
in the states. What we are concerned about, as governors, is that when our
troops are deployed for long periods of time, and their equipment goes with them
but does not come back, the troops are very strained, and they no longer have
the equipment they were trained to use."
Nearly one-third of the American ground forces in Iraq are members of the Army
National Guard.
This month the Pentagon backed away from a budget proposal to reduce the
authorized strength of the National Guard to 330,000 soldiers, from 350,000.
"We have no intention of cutting the number of Guard or Reserve brigades,
reducing the number of Guard or Reserve soldiers, or cutting the level of Guard
or Reserve funding," said the Army chief of staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker.
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, a Republican, said Sunday that he was still "very
concerned." The administration may have set aside the proposal on
authorized strength, but it has not restored money to the budget to pay for
350,000 Guard members, he said.
In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm
of Congress, said that "extensive use of the Guard's equipment overseas has
significantly reduced the amount of equipment available to governors for
domestic needs."
Since 2003, the report said, the Army National Guard has left more than 64,000
pieces of equipment, valued at more than $1.2 billion, in Iraq. The Army
has not kept track of most of this equipment and has no firm plans to replace
it, the report said.
Governor Kempthorne said the National Guard was bearing "a totally
disproportionate share" of proposed cuts in the growth of the Army's budget over
the next five years, even as the Guard's responsibilities at home were
increasing.
Governors of both parties said a Pentagon plan to reorganize the Army National
Guard would significantly weaken its ability to save lives and property at home.
After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, more than 40,000 Guard members
helped evacuate storm victims, distributed food and water, provided emergency
medical care, repaired homes and restored power.
Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana, a Democrat, said: "The Guard
played an awesome role. We should be increasing the number of National
Guard combat brigades, not reducing it."
Two other Democrats, Govs. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas,
said the strength and resources of Guard units in their states were being
depleted.
"We are not only missing National Guard personnel," Ms. Sebelius said. "We
are also missing a lot of the equipment that's used to deal with situations at
home, day in and day out."
Despite assurances from top administration officials, Mr. Vilsack said, "many of
us are very concerned about what we're hearing, that the Pentagon, the
administration, might reduce the resources for the National Guard so they can
redirect resources to pay for more boots on the ground, more full-time
military."
David M. Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, who heads the
Government Accountability Office, said the governors had some basis for their
concerns.
"The Army cannot account for over half the equipment that Army National Guard
units have left overseas," Mr. Walker said. "And it has not developed
replacement plans for the equipment, as Defense Department policy requires."
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