Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004 | 9:03 a.m.
The National Guard, composed of civilians who receive military training and who can be mobilized for duty by the federal government and state governors, mustered 19 divisions for World War II (between 350,000 and 400,000 troops). Another 138,000 guardsmen served in the Korean War. To a far lesser extent Guard units were also mobilized for Vietnam and violent student protests of that era. Then came a lull, a period in which Guard units were rarely called up. This was a time when people joked about guardsmen being "weekend warriors," a reference to the occasional weekend given over to training. Then came Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991, involving nearly 65,000 guardsmen, and subsequent Guard mobilizations for peacekeeping duties in such foreign lands as Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. And then came the war on terrorism, requiring about 70,000 guardsmen overseas alone. Now we have Iraq, where about 50,000 guardsmen -- including 155 from Nevada -- are serving.
And the plans for the Guard's future role?
In Las Vegas last week, addressing the annual conference of the National Guard Association of the United States, President Bush told his audience, "You are a vital part of our strategy to defend America." Even before 9/11 President Bush foresaw the need for increased use of the National Guard. In February 2001, in a speech to West Virginia National Guard soldiers, Bush said, "As threats to America change, your role will continue to change. The National Guard and Reservists will be more involved in homeland security, confronting acts of terror and the disorder our enemies may try to create."
The view of the National Guard as an increasingly critical component of our nation's defense crosses political lines. Also addressing the National Guard Association last week was Sen. John Kerry, who outlined his plan for the Guard if elected president. "In addition to their current duties overseas, I will assign Guard units an additional mission ... to prepare, and execute, a coordinated strategy for homeland security, working with the states and the federal government to react in times of crisis," Kerry said. "The National Guard can make a real difference in protecting America from terrorism."
Also speaking at the conference in Las Vegas was Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, commander of all National Guard units. He addressed the problem of the stress being placed on guardsmen and their employers. Without question, frequent deployments of Guard units have disrupted the personal lives of the guardsmen and caused anxious times for their employers, who are bound by federal law to keep their jobs open. We do not agree, however, with Blum's solution, which is to promise guardsmen that their long-term deployments will be no more than once every five years.
Given the history of the Guard, and given the vision for its future by government leaders, such a promise could likely never be kept. And if it were kept, it would severely hamstring the effectiveness of the Guard, whose mission is to be a full partner with regular, full-time troops and be ready to defend our country here and abroad whenever needed. It would be a logistical and time-consuming nightmare for generals to have to calculate the five-year rule whenever the Defense Department requested the Guard's service.
The problem facing guardsmen, however, should be addressed. The best, albeit more expensive, way would be to build up our regular Army, which has only about 500,000 troops -- who are backed up by 700,000 National Guard and Reserve troops. The regular Army is stretched too thin given its duties in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, South Korea, Bosnia and other places. Conventional wisdom in the Bush administration is that we shouldn't permanently build up the Army to solve the temporary problem of Iraq. But Iraq isn't going away any time soon, neither is Afghanistan, and conflict with Iran and North Korea is a possibility. The time is now to begin building up our regular armed forces, not just to stabilize the lives of our National Guard troops, but as well to prepare for the future as global threats continue to grow.
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