Mail call

National Guard, Jun 1999

WMD Mission Should Not Overshadow Guard's Combat Role

I just went to the National Guard Bureau Web site to retrieve information on my new state, and was amazed to see a huge banner saying, "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and "Biological Terrorism," along with red-and-blueflashing police lights. I am frankly amazed that the National Guard has seized on this potential mission with such zeal, especially as proposals I have read indicate the Guard's combat units would be assigned this mission, with a secondary" role as a warfighting force.

The NGAUS has been a leader in attempting to preserve the National Guard's divisions, and should take a strong stand against the WMD mission, which will certainly divert scarce resources from our combat units.

The units in our existing divisions are at least ten years behind the regular Army in fielding new equipment. Most have neither SINCGARS (single channel ground and airborne radio systems) nor PLGR (precision-locating GPS receivers), and most artillery battalions generally have one live-fire exercise per year between annual trainings. These are the issues leaders should deal with - the issues that will get our men and women killed in combat - not some non-combat mission that may get us some shortterm funding, but which will not make the Army National Guard an integral warfighting component of the nation's military force.

Capt. Joseph T. Gardemal III Louisiana Army National Guard

More Questions About the Anthrax Vaccine

I read your article "Anthrax: a close look at a vexing vaccine" (April 1999, page 18). The article left me with a lot of questions.

1) What are the 17 specific concerns brought before you from the 103rd's pilots? When reading the article, I did not know if you addressed their specific concerns. Are they asking the same que tions as the soldiers in my command?

2) How does the Middle American soldier get news about the anthrax virus and vaccine without the Internet? I've been to several units in the past month and more than 80 percent do not have Internet access.

3) Did Lenore Gelb, FDA spokeswoman, take the vaccine also? Is she willing to risk retiring from her job and come down with the [Gulf War] Syndrome? Will her health insurance pay for her medication? Will she have to drive to numerous hospitals throughout the country where doctors will her and say it is all in your head, as they did with the Gulf War Syndrome?

4) Are military attorneys working on a legal protection for our soldiers? Will our soldiers receive guaranteed health care if they and their families become infected by the anthrax vaccine? Will the guarantee extend until death? If we are so willing to allow soldiers to die for us are we willing to guarantee them a chance at a quality lifestyle after taking the anthrax vaccine?

5) If the vaccine is so important and needed by everyone, are the wealthy members of our country, who are willing to pay highly, getting the vaccine?

6) Is the FDA speeding up more vaccines for the general population?

Your article is a start in the education process. There are many more articles to write. In whatever we write and do, we must keep foremost in mind what is good for the soldier and his or her family

Maj. Starrleen J. Heinen Missouri Army National Guard

Editor's note: Space prohibited us from answering all the questions. The NGAUS continues to follow issues surrounding the mandatory vaccine.

AGR System Needs Fixing Before More Are Added

I was less than enthusiastic over the article by Maj. Gen. E. Gordon Stump, president of NGAUS, concerning the state of National Guard readiness and the need to bolster AGR personnel shortfalls (President's Message, March 1999, page 9). Everywhere we look all organizations around the world are downsizing. There is even speculation of private contract corporations displacing the Army Reserve and certain National Guard units in the [combat support] and [combat service support] mission areas within the next 10 years.

I have to admit that losing full-time soldiers has hurt the Guard. But I can also tell you that as an M-day soldier, I'm not impressed with the overall management of the AGR personnel we currently have. I think NGAUS should examine the politically sensitive issues of how the AGR program is plagued by mismanagement, competition and politics. [The Guard should] clean house and improve the performance of what we have before [the General Accounting Office] looks hard at how we aren't doing what should be done. We desperately need to include M-day soldiers into the integration of our units and their missions. The current state of the AGR program requires a fix before more people are added.

Capt. Allen S. Plymale Pennsylvania Army National Guard

Article Reminds Iowa Politician of Prior Service

Twenty years ago, long before my new "career" serving in the Iowa House of Representatives, I completed a four-year stint coordinating logistical support for science research projects in Antarctica and the Arctic. Near the South Pole, U.S. Navy "Hercs" supported our work In Greenland, the 109th Air Guard did the same daring job.