COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: General
Report Faults Guard's Fitness
Associated Press
March 02, 2007
ASHINGTON
- The National Guard and Reserves don't get enough money or equipment
and are left out of important planning for national emergencies, an
independent panel concluded Thursday, long after the Iraq war and
Hurricane Katrina exposed serious stresses on the services.
The report from the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves
compounds earlier criticism of the Bush administration's response to
the devastating hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005.
The administration also is still struggling to better manage the
reserves nearly four years into the Iraq war.
The 151-page report found a significant lack of communication between
reserve officials and other military leaders, the Homeland Security
Department and U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for the
military's defense of the U.S. homeland.
Calling those failures unacceptable, panel Chairman Arnold Punaro said
in an interview that federal agencies must get past their turf battles
to better protect the public.
"This is unacceptable. The American people would find it unacceptable,"
said Punaro, a retired Marine Corps general. "These are not problems
that have just cropped up in the last two years or five years. These
are issues that have been pretty much ignored and glossed over for
decades."
The panel, which was created by Congress, also criticized the Pentagon
for not budgeting or planning specifically for civil support missions,
such as domestic disaster response, because they are viewed as
extensions of wartime preparation.
"This is not a sustainable course, and their capability to do their
mission will deteriorate over time if it's not changed," Punaro said.
"The thought that if we are capable of doing the away game, we can do
the home game, we believe is a flawed assumption."
He told reporters Thursday that if there is a chemical, biological or
radiological incident, "we're going to need mass decontamination, we're
going to need mass medical. ... That capability is not there in
sufficient quantities to deal with those scenarios."
Members of Congress, meanwhile, criticized the commission for not going
far enough in its recommendations., Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Kit
Bond, R-Mo., said they will continue to push for their legislation,
which gives the Guard chief budget authority and the power to buy
equipment, and also makes that person a member of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
The senators said the panel endorsed only halfway measures to solve the
Guard's problems. "Their recommendations are thin soup," said Leahy.
And Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, who is the ranking Republican on the
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said that while the
commission recognized the challenges that face the guard, "admiring the
problem isn't enough. The Commission's recommendations for the most
part won't address the issues they acknowledge."
Guard and Reserve troops have been under increasing strain since the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, serving in Afghanistan and Iraq
while also patrolling the border with Mexico and responding to
hurricanes and other natural disasters. During parts of 2005, the
citizen Soldiers made up nearly half of the U.S. forces in Iraq, with
some facing repeated deployments.
At the same time, Guard units have struggled to get the equipment and
training needed to go to war, often swapping armored trucks, radios and
other equipment between the states to meet battle and disaster
requirements.
In what likely will be one of its more controversial recommendations,
the report said governors should be given more command authority over
active duty military troops responding to local disasters. In previous
situations such as Hurricane Katrina, military leaders have worked
side-by-side with governors, but have maintained command of their
active duty troops.
"We believe that without giving governors a greater voice, and without
giving them a greater ability to bring all the assets of our government
to bear, particularly in the immediate aftermath of any kind of
incident, that we're putting our citizens and property and our economy
at greater risk," Punaro said.
The panel outlined recommendations that would elevate the status of the
Guard to become more of a partner with other military and homeland
defense agencies. It would make the National Guard chief a four-star
general and a direct adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff and his top commanders.
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