zimv20
Sep 17, 2005, 04:56 PM
link (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509170141sep17,1,2047669.story?coll=chi-news-hed)
Guard units stretched thin
National Guard chief: Overseas missions left forces short of much-needed gear
WASHINGTON -- The deployment of nearly 50,000 National Guard troops from 50 states as part of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort has exposed debilitating equipment shortages in a force already stretched thin by three years of deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, head of the National Guard, said in an interview that the needs of Guard units overseas have left troops at home without modern communications and night vision equipment, as well as the vehicles necessary for Guard troops to traverse neighborhoods flooded in the wake of Katrina.
"Communications was the biggest challenge," Blum said of the Guard's post-hurricane performance. "You can't respond if you don't know what the situation is out there."
Most of the Guard's satellite phones--essential during the power and cell phone service outages caused by Katrina--are with troops in Iraq. Indeed, Blum said, the Guard's best equipment is overseas, causing shortages for disaster relief efforts in this country. The heavy reliance on National Guard and Reserve units by active-duty military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has become a concern in Congress, where lawmakers have questioned whether Guard forces are receiving the proper training and equipment for combat operations.
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last week that "once again our Guard is, I don't like to use the word `stressed,' but they are challenged" by commitments at home and overseas.
In the past, the military, especially the Army, has called on the Guard for logistics and other support during combat operations abroad. That was initially the case in Iraq, but as attacks on Guard units increased, so did their mission.
"The type of war America is waging in Iraq requires some of the same skills that disaster relief in the gulf states requires," said Loren Thompson, a military analyst with the Lexington Institute, a Washington-area think tank. "That would include military police, helicopters and military engineers. So there is the possibility that these two missions would come into conflict."
Governors in several states have raised concerns about the Guard's long-term overseas deployments. That's especially true in the West, where a busy fire season may be in store because of drought; Guardsmen have been used to fight fires.
The Guard staffing shortage was an immediate concern as Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, because about 6,000 Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard troops were deployed in Iraq at the time. That left about 12,500 Guard members available in the two states for hurricane relief.
Several hundred soldiers from the Louisiana unit came back early, and the Guard intends to keep all soldiers returning to hurricane-damaged states from Iraq on active duty to help in the storm-ravaged area.
(more)
i want a draft. (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=146657)
Guard units stretched thin
National Guard chief: Overseas missions left forces short of much-needed gear
WASHINGTON -- The deployment of nearly 50,000 National Guard troops from 50 states as part of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort has exposed debilitating equipment shortages in a force already stretched thin by three years of deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, head of the National Guard, said in an interview that the needs of Guard units overseas have left troops at home without modern communications and night vision equipment, as well as the vehicles necessary for Guard troops to traverse neighborhoods flooded in the wake of Katrina.
"Communications was the biggest challenge," Blum said of the Guard's post-hurricane performance. "You can't respond if you don't know what the situation is out there."
Most of the Guard's satellite phones--essential during the power and cell phone service outages caused by Katrina--are with troops in Iraq. Indeed, Blum said, the Guard's best equipment is overseas, causing shortages for disaster relief efforts in this country. The heavy reliance on National Guard and Reserve units by active-duty military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has become a concern in Congress, where lawmakers have questioned whether Guard forces are receiving the proper training and equipment for combat operations.
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last week that "once again our Guard is, I don't like to use the word `stressed,' but they are challenged" by commitments at home and overseas.
In the past, the military, especially the Army, has called on the Guard for logistics and other support during combat operations abroad. That was initially the case in Iraq, but as attacks on Guard units increased, so did their mission.
"The type of war America is waging in Iraq requires some of the same skills that disaster relief in the gulf states requires," said Loren Thompson, a military analyst with the Lexington Institute, a Washington-area think tank. "That would include military police, helicopters and military engineers. So there is the possibility that these two missions would come into conflict."
Governors in several states have raised concerns about the Guard's long-term overseas deployments. That's especially true in the West, where a busy fire season may be in store because of drought; Guardsmen have been used to fight fires.
The Guard staffing shortage was an immediate concern as Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, because about 6,000 Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard troops were deployed in Iraq at the time. That left about 12,500 Guard members available in the two states for hurricane relief.
Several hundred soldiers from the Louisiana unit came back early, and the Guard intends to keep all soldiers returning to hurricane-damaged states from Iraq on active duty to help in the storm-ravaged area.
(more)
i want a draft. (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=146657)
