thedrifter
12-16-06, 07:36 AM
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
Deployments straining Guard and Reserve
By DAVE MONTGOMERY and DREW BROWN
Star-Telegram Washington Bureau; McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- National Guard and Reserve forces are displaying signs of strain after five years of deployments in the biggest active-duty mobilization since the Korean War.
More than 500,000 Guard and Reserve troops have served in active duty since 9-11, and they've made up nearly half of the force fighting against terrorists and in combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Military leaders, pointing to an upswing in recruiting and retention, describe the reserve force as the most professional and combat-seasoned in history, bonded by a keen sense of patriotism.
At the same time, many Guard units are struggling with chronic equipment shortages and funding problems that threaten their ability to respond to disasters and other emergencies in their home states. Thousands of reservists are serving in patchwork units cobbled together in piecemeal fashion from other units, often with little or no sense of cohesion.
"I think you're seeing the leading-edge indicators of strain and fraying the edges," said Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine Corps general who heads a commission looking into a possible overhaul of the Guard and Reserve. "And, yes, they are doing a good job of recruiting and retention, but at what cost and how long can they sustain it?"
The widening concerns come as U.S. military leaders are pressing for even more reinforcements from the Guard and Reserve to help ease the pressure on active-duty forces.
Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army's top general, warned Punaro's commission Thursday that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq "will break" the active-duty force unless the Pentagon changes its mobilization policy to allow more involuntary call-ups from the Guard and Reserve. Schoomaker also wants to add thousands of active-duty forces.
Lt. Gen. David Poythress, adjutant general for the Georgia National Guard, said he agreed with Schoomaker that changes are needed in the Army's structure because it's configured to fight high-intensity, short-duration wars, not the grinding guerrilla conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he expressed concern that the National Guard may be carrying too much of the load.
"There is a danger of breaking the Army, but there is an equivalent danger of breaking the Guard. Guardsmen don't sign up to be full-time soldiers. If that's what they wanted, they'd join the active Army," Poythress said.
Reserve advocates are noticing indications that some junior officers and noncommissioned officers older than 30 are thinking about pulling the plug on their Reserve status to keep from falling behind on the civilian career ladder.
Texas National Guard
"They're at a point in their civilian career where they're making their mark," said Lt. Gen. Charles Rodriguez of Austin, adjutant general for the Texas National Guard. "Now is the time for them to punch their tickets and do all the hard things in their civilian jobs. If they're not there, they can't punch those tickets."
Rodriguez said that recruitment in the Texas Guard is in line with the robust national trend and that retention is "better than it's ever been." But some may be asking, "Can I afford to go a third time?" if they're called upon to leave home again, he said.
"Most Guard families understand now that the possibility is very real for not only one deployment but for more than one," he said. "Some families are having difficulties because that's not what they signed up for."
The post-9-11 era has completed the evolution of the nation's Guard and Reserve from their status as second-tier "weekend warriors" into an operational force capable of standing alongside and integrating into active-duty ranks.
During the Vietnam War, Reserve and Guard units -- fairly or unfairly -- gained a reputation as havens to escape the draft. A national change in how these units are viewed began with the deployment of 265,300 guardsmen and reservists during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Of the 88,500 currently mobilized, California has the largest contingent (4,559), followed by Texas (3,935), Pennsylvania (3,57 and Minnesota (3,079).
The Army National Guard and Army Reserve represent the biggest share of deployments, but all other services also have sent thousands of reservists into active duty. More than 4,000 troops have been deployed from Naval Air Station Fort Worth, the nation's largest joint reserve base. It serves as home to more than 20 major units attached to the Air Force, Army, Marines and Texas Air National Guard.
'Next Greatest Generation'
Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, commander of the Army Reserve and a 25-year employee of Procter & Gamble in Orlando, Fla., said the men and women in today's Reserve and Guard are vastly different from the Reserve unit he joined in 1979. The unit commander, he said, opened the annual two-week active tour by asking who'd buy the beer for the end-of-tour party.
"These kids are the next Greatest Generation," Stultz said, referring to a name that some give to America's World War II generation. "We've got a different caliber of soldier than we did in 1979."
Thousands joined up in the patriotic surge after 9-11. Guardsmen have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and have served in anti-terrorism missions in Africa, in peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Kosovo, in disaster response teams for Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and, more recently, in units supporting federal agents along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But repeated missions have taken a toll, prompting U.S. governors to complain to Punaro's commission about equipment shortages, inadequate training and insufficient federal funding. Units returning from combat were forced to leave much of their equipment with active-duty forces or replacements, leaving them ill-equipped to confront disasters at home.
Schoomaker said the Army entered the war on terror "flat-footed," with a financial shortfall of about $100 billion, including $56 billion in equipment shortages. The National Guard and Army Reserve, he said, suffered the brunt of that shortfall, often relying on outdated tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters cast off from the active-duty forces, some dating to the Vietnam War.
Punaro and others also have criticized the Pentagon's mobilization polices, which they say have virtually wrecked unit cohesion in the National Guard and Reserve and left many units scrambling for volunteers to fill the ranks when the time came to deploy.
National Guard and Reserve forces can be called to active duty for up to two consecutive years under a partial mobilization, which is what President Bush declared after 9-11.
Officials also have promised to call up part-time units no more than once every five years, but now with the Army short of troops, they say the policies need to change.
Kevin G. Hall contributed to this article.
Ellie
Deployments straining Guard and Reserve
By DAVE MONTGOMERY and DREW BROWN
Star-Telegram Washington Bureau; McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- National Guard and Reserve forces are displaying signs of strain after five years of deployments in the biggest active-duty mobilization since the Korean War.
More than 500,000 Guard and Reserve troops have served in active duty since 9-11, and they've made up nearly half of the force fighting against terrorists and in combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Military leaders, pointing to an upswing in recruiting and retention, describe the reserve force as the most professional and combat-seasoned in history, bonded by a keen sense of patriotism.
At the same time, many Guard units are struggling with chronic equipment shortages and funding problems that threaten their ability to respond to disasters and other emergencies in their home states. Thousands of reservists are serving in patchwork units cobbled together in piecemeal fashion from other units, often with little or no sense of cohesion.
"I think you're seeing the leading-edge indicators of strain and fraying the edges," said Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine Corps general who heads a commission looking into a possible overhaul of the Guard and Reserve. "And, yes, they are doing a good job of recruiting and retention, but at what cost and how long can they sustain it?"
The widening concerns come as U.S. military leaders are pressing for even more reinforcements from the Guard and Reserve to help ease the pressure on active-duty forces.
Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army's top general, warned Punaro's commission Thursday that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq "will break" the active-duty force unless the Pentagon changes its mobilization policy to allow more involuntary call-ups from the Guard and Reserve. Schoomaker also wants to add thousands of active-duty forces.
Lt. Gen. David Poythress, adjutant general for the Georgia National Guard, said he agreed with Schoomaker that changes are needed in the Army's structure because it's configured to fight high-intensity, short-duration wars, not the grinding guerrilla conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he expressed concern that the National Guard may be carrying too much of the load.
"There is a danger of breaking the Army, but there is an equivalent danger of breaking the Guard. Guardsmen don't sign up to be full-time soldiers. If that's what they wanted, they'd join the active Army," Poythress said.
Reserve advocates are noticing indications that some junior officers and noncommissioned officers older than 30 are thinking about pulling the plug on their Reserve status to keep from falling behind on the civilian career ladder.
Texas National Guard
"They're at a point in their civilian career where they're making their mark," said Lt. Gen. Charles Rodriguez of Austin, adjutant general for the Texas National Guard. "Now is the time for them to punch their tickets and do all the hard things in their civilian jobs. If they're not there, they can't punch those tickets."
Rodriguez said that recruitment in the Texas Guard is in line with the robust national trend and that retention is "better than it's ever been." But some may be asking, "Can I afford to go a third time?" if they're called upon to leave home again, he said.
"Most Guard families understand now that the possibility is very real for not only one deployment but for more than one," he said. "Some families are having difficulties because that's not what they signed up for."
The post-9-11 era has completed the evolution of the nation's Guard and Reserve from their status as second-tier "weekend warriors" into an operational force capable of standing alongside and integrating into active-duty ranks.
During the Vietnam War, Reserve and Guard units -- fairly or unfairly -- gained a reputation as havens to escape the draft. A national change in how these units are viewed began with the deployment of 265,300 guardsmen and reservists during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Of the 88,500 currently mobilized, California has the largest contingent (4,559), followed by Texas (3,935), Pennsylvania (3,57 and Minnesota (3,079).
The Army National Guard and Army Reserve represent the biggest share of deployments, but all other services also have sent thousands of reservists into active duty. More than 4,000 troops have been deployed from Naval Air Station Fort Worth, the nation's largest joint reserve base. It serves as home to more than 20 major units attached to the Air Force, Army, Marines and Texas Air National Guard.
'Next Greatest Generation'
Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, commander of the Army Reserve and a 25-year employee of Procter & Gamble in Orlando, Fla., said the men and women in today's Reserve and Guard are vastly different from the Reserve unit he joined in 1979. The unit commander, he said, opened the annual two-week active tour by asking who'd buy the beer for the end-of-tour party.
"These kids are the next Greatest Generation," Stultz said, referring to a name that some give to America's World War II generation. "We've got a different caliber of soldier than we did in 1979."
Thousands joined up in the patriotic surge after 9-11. Guardsmen have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and have served in anti-terrorism missions in Africa, in peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Kosovo, in disaster response teams for Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and, more recently, in units supporting federal agents along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But repeated missions have taken a toll, prompting U.S. governors to complain to Punaro's commission about equipment shortages, inadequate training and insufficient federal funding. Units returning from combat were forced to leave much of their equipment with active-duty forces or replacements, leaving them ill-equipped to confront disasters at home.
Schoomaker said the Army entered the war on terror "flat-footed," with a financial shortfall of about $100 billion, including $56 billion in equipment shortages. The National Guard and Army Reserve, he said, suffered the brunt of that shortfall, often relying on outdated tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters cast off from the active-duty forces, some dating to the Vietnam War.
Punaro and others also have criticized the Pentagon's mobilization polices, which they say have virtually wrecked unit cohesion in the National Guard and Reserve and left many units scrambling for volunteers to fill the ranks when the time came to deploy.
National Guard and Reserve forces can be called to active duty for up to two consecutive years under a partial mobilization, which is what President Bush declared after 9-11.
Officials also have promised to call up part-time units no more than once every five years, but now with the Army short of troops, they say the policies need to change.
Kevin G. Hall contributed to this article.
Ellie