Politicans chastise the Army at the 120th General Conference

National Guard, Oct 1998 by Calvert, Brian R

Last month, nearly 3,000 National Guardsmen, all concerned with the future of the Guard, surrendered their Labor Day weekend for the NGAUS general conference. For 120 years, the NGAUS annual conference has provided a forum for discourse on the future of the Guard.

Politicos and military officers had a chance to speak this year on some of the triumphs and tragedies the Guard has incurred lately. The message they heard from speakers was focused mainly on the ever-present rift between the Army and its Guard counterpart. It has been more than a year since Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen told the services to do more to integrate the Guard and Reserve. And though some Guardsmen now carry a green identification card, little else has been done to integrate the components, speakers noted.

But heavy hitters in Congress like Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott are calling for a mending of differences as did Army Chief of Staff GEN Dennis Reimer The NGAUS honored Lott this year with the Harry S Truman Award, the association's most prestigious award. After accepting it, Lott addressed the resource problem. His dedication to giving the Guard what it deserves earned the honor. After accepting it, Lott called for legislative and military action to improve Guard resources.

"If [the Defense Department] will give the National Guard the part of the pie they deserve[they] will get more money for the budget overall," he said. "We will also get more funding for the Army, providing the National Guard gets its share."

Right now, that is not happening-for any of the services. If the Army will cooperate, Lott said, it would be easier for both components to receive funding. That funding this year is strikingly low, and that shortness of resources is now a veritable trend. There has been some progress in the process, and Congress increased the budget this year over the presidents' original proposal.

"I believe the National Guard needs to be fully integrated into our national defense and that the National Guard should be fully resourced to do its job," Lott said.

Generally, those resources are needed for readiness-including training, retention and recruitment-as well as operations and maintenance. It means money to keep soldiers from leaving their units for civilian jobs. And with the Pentagon's budget-which has been shrinking since the Persian Gulf War-every branch of the military is angling for a larger portion.

The Navy needs more sailors to continue its missions. The Air Force needs money for more aircraft and to create more incentives for pilots. The Army continues to modernize for future conflicts. The pay gap between the military and civilian jobs is still more than 13 percent, even with the pay increase provided in this year's defense budget, a 3.6 percent increase. And though the Guard has been an integral part of the nation's defense for more than 200 years, it faces new problems and challenges as the military shrinks and the operations tempo (optempo) grows.

The struggle for money has forced services to not only spend less, but to spend smarter. For the Air Force, it means integration of the Air Guard into new deployment plans like the Expeditionary Air Force. The new program concentrates the resources of the Air Force and Air Guard into a more workable and predictable solution to the optempo problem.

The Air Force has recognized the capabilities of the Air Guard, Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson told an audience during the conference, and they have incorporated them well into the Total Force policy.

"Most of the service have strengthened their capabilities as they integrated their reserve components," Thompson said. "But one of our armed servicesand I don't have to tell you which onejust doesn't get it."

That would be the Army.

"The Total Force is not a theory, or a concept, or some lofty aspiration," Thompson continued. "It is the official policy of the United States of America.

"Imagine an armor unit with 11 gallons of gas per tank per year," Thompson said. "You don't have to imagine it, unfortunately.... Maybe the Army should just give each crew a picture of a tank." Thompson called the lack of resources for the Army Guard "nonsense," adding, "I call on the Army leadership to put an end to it now."

Lt Gen Russell C. Davis, chief of the National Guard Bureau, was more optimistic in his conference remarks. He congratulated the Air Force on its new policies, especially the new Expeditionary Air Force. He also congratulated the Army on some of its integration policies.

"On the Army side, we see great progress in the division redesign and enhanced brigade concepts," he said. "We share a common interest with everyone in uniform," he said, adding, "We all face the same challenges to maintain our readiness."

Davis cited the Total Force as an imperative concept for all branches.

"Readiness requires training, equipment and resources, but above all, it requires people," he said.

Most of that can come from Congress. While the taxpayers provide the raw materials for readiness, Davis called Congress the check writer. And Congress answers to the public.