National Guard: Now and Then (Including Powells quote on the N. Guard)

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http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0402/13/nfcnn.09.html

<snip>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: That controversy surrounding President Bush's military service during the Vietnam War has thrown the National Guard into the spotlight.
Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, takes a look at the Guard now and then.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the '60s and '70s, the National Guard was barely trained for riot control, much less jungle combat.

RET. COL. SAM GARDINER, U.S. AIR FORCE: They were the third echelon, they were the last to go. They weren't very ready.

MCINTYRE: Their drills looked good on film, but for many, service in the Guard was simply the best legal way to avoid the draft in Vietnam. In his autobiography, former joint chiefs chairman, Colin Powell, complained "I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well placed and so many professional athletes managed to wrangle slots in the Reserve and National Guard units."

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