The National Guard force is second to none in terms of the quality of its people, but severe equipment shortfalls are keeping it from being fully ready, the chief of the National Guard Bureau told Congress. Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum urged the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee to support the fiscal 2008 National Guard budget requests to ensure the Guard can continue serving as the country's "21st century Minutemen and -women."
"Now imagine being a combat controller in a critical mission and operating with unreliable old equipment built in 1953," Lt. Gen. Blum told the subcommittee. "I think that says it all." Should a tornado or other stateside disaster require a Guard mobilization, the unit's ability to respond would be minimized, "not because of the great people in it, but because of the lack of equipment that is in that unit right now," he said.
He urged Congress to address these shortfalls, noting the defense bargain the National Guard represents. To learn more, read the full article at Military.com.
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