Guard leaders say policies must change

SAN ANTONIO -- The nation's laws and policies aren't changing fast enough to reflect the increasing demands on citizen soldiers, top commanders of the National Guard and reserves told an independent commission Wednesday.

"I think we're not changing and shaping our forces for the threats that are out there today," said Vice Admiral John Cotton, chief of the Navy Reserve.

The 13-member Commission on the National Guard and Reserves was formed by Congress to investigate how well the units are equipped and organized. It began a yearlong review in March to address needs for future roles and missions.

Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, director of the Air National Guard, raised the possibility of a draft if needs are not met.

"What is the cost if we don't support our Guard and Reserve?" McKinley said during discussions about funding. "I believe it would be a debate over conscription."

McKinley, however, said his force of 106,800 is being funded at adequate levels to remain operational.

"I'm not saying the sky is falling," he said. "I'm saying the system works. ... We want that to continue."

Commission Chairman Arnold L. Punaro, a retired Marine Corps major general, said information technology systems need to be improved to prevent problems such as citizen soldiers not always getting their paychecks right away when they are put on active duty.

Enlisted personnel told the panel that the benefits afforded reservists are key in decisions to re-enlist.

Army Reserve Sgt. Allison Kitzerow said help with school loans is important to her. But she and others said reservists would like to know more in advance about possible deployments and their length.

"My main concern is being uninformed," Kitzerow, who spent a year in Iraq as a prison guard, said after the hearing. "You don't learn what's going on."

About 69,000 members of the Air and Army National Guards are deployed overseas in the war on terrorism, Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said last week. More are posted within the United States, and President Bush wants as many as 6,000 Guard troops assisting along the Mexico border to free up officers there to stop illegal immigration.

Wednesday's hearing was the commission's first outside Washington, D.C. Another is planned this fall in San Diego.

said his force of 106,800 is being funded at adequate levels to remain operational.

"I'm not saying the sky is falling," he said. "I'm saying the system works. ... We want that to continue."

couldn't parts of these quote make a headline too, instead of "Guard leaders say policies must change"?

BS. A bunch of uniformed bureaucrats are running around staging PR stunts to drum up support to keep their rice bowl filled. So they throw around words to shock and frighten the ignorant into buying their nostrums. "Conscription" Not a chance in heck.

The current plans to expand the regular military and get scale back this Clinton era over reliance on the Guard/Reserves is exactly the right one. Instead of looking for way to expand the Reserves/Guards who have continually trouble with recruitment and retention because they are "overdeployed", we should be shifting as many resources as possible into active duty units.

"The current plans to expand the regular military and get scale back this Clinton era over reliance on the Guard/Reserves is exactly the right one.... we should be shifting as many resources as possible into active duty units."

Reliance on guard/reserves was underway as early as the Nixon Administration and has largely worked well. This trend has continued through the last several administrations. Lots more bang for the buck.
Clinton doesn't deserve the credit/blame (depending on your perspective)for this.
The regular military does need expansion so as to limit both the guard/reserve and the active duty force to a more realistic deployment schedule.

Rogator
COL USAF (Retired)

The current plans to expand the regular military and get scale back this Clinton era over reliance on the Guard/Reserves is exactly the right one. Instead of looking for way to expand the Reserves/Guards who have continually trouble with recruitment and retention because they are "overdeployed", we should be shifting as many resources as possible into active duty units.

The Navy and Airforce have decreased their personnel strength in active duty units. The Army has no plans for permanently increasing active duty billets.

The Army's Current and Planned Structure 4th paragraph below Table 1-1

"The Army has received permission from the Secretary of Defense to increase its size by 30,000 temporarily, thus enabling it to convert its combat brigades and grow to 43 or perhaps 48 combat brigades. To avoid a permanent increase in size, however, the Army has said it will identify 30,000 personnel positions that could be eliminated (ideally, from TDA or TTHS positions) by 2011."

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