Reply #14: US National Guard not fully equipped at home(or overseas)-paper [View All]

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The Pentagon is not adequately equipping the National Guard and has not adapted to the increasingly important security role it plays in the post-Sept. 11 environment, an independent commission said in a report to Congress on Thursday.

The report said the global war on terrorism had placed increased demands for the National Guard to provide forces for both overseas and domestic missions, but added that the Defense Department, or DOD, had been slow to adapt to the change.

"DOD's failure to appropriately consider National Guard needs and funding requirements has produced a National Guard that is not fully ready to meet current and emerging missions," the commission concluded.

Among its findings, the 13-member panel said the Defense Department was not adequately equipping the Guard for its domestic missions.

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02369196.htm

Panel slams treatment of Guard, Reserves
WASHINGTON - The National Guard and Reserves don't get enough money or equipment and are left out of important planning for national emergencies, an independent panel concluded Thursday, long after the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina exposed serious stresses on the services.

The report from the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves compounds earlier criticism of the Bush administration's response to the devastating hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005. The administration also is still struggling to better manage the reserves nearly four years into the Iraq war.

The 151-page report found a significant lack of communication between reserve officials and other military leaders, the Homeland Security Department and U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for the military's defense of the U.S. homeland.

Calling those failures unacceptable, panel Chairman Arnold Punaro said in an interview that federal agencies must get past their turf battles to better protect the public.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070302/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/national_guard_woes