This lack of equipment is unconcionable. What's more, it is terrible for morale to have a two-tier fighting force: one being the regular Army,preferred,privileged, and well-equipped; and the other being Guard and Reserve--who get the junk and the leftovers.
Are the lives of our Reserves and Guardsmen less valuable than those of the regular military? My state of Pennsylvania has a huge contingent of Guardsmen and Reserves in Iraq. Once a month,in our town, we see families (some young wives with two or three toddlers), saying goodbye as their men are getting on the bus to be taken to the airport and flown over to Iraq. These families deserve to know that their loved ones are not being thrown out front as target practice for the insurgents. BTW, 48% of our forces in Iraq are now Guard and Reserves.
The entire military is composed of tiers. They exist within Special Operations Forces, within services, and within major units.
Some units are more 'high speed' than others, and if having better training and equipment is important to you, then you'll need to back that up with commitments. Go active, go airborne, volunteer for different MOSs, etc. Your life will be harder, but you'll be more ready for actual combat when the time comes.
If you want a part time job in an easy unit, where you don't have to train often, and won't be getting the newest gear, then expect to arrive in combat without the same level of training or equipment as the full timers.
There's simply no way to equip all units as well as the best equipped unit out there. Infantry squads aren't equipped half as well as a Special Forces ODA. As a soldier, you can either make due, make field expedients, move up the food chain to a better unit, or get out. That may sound harsh, but that's reality.
48% Guard and Reserve fighting in Iraq -- might as well say 50%, but as you say it's the regulars that are equipped and treated more favorably. The regulars serve a 6 month tour of duty while there are Guard units that are on their 4th rotation. The Pentagon finds it cheaper to have the Guard and Reserves in Iraq than the Regular Army -- the Guard and Reserves don't get the benefits of the Regs, aren't equipped like the Regs and aren't allowed the 6 month tour of duty like the Regs. Those of us with loved ones in the Guard and Reseves know that -- we've known it long before now. And there is no excuse for treating one soldier with more concern and care than another. It's all about $$$.