Governors warn of troop buildup's impact on Guard

[unhappycamper]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-govs25feb25,1,5590400.story">Governors warn of troop buildup's impact on Guard
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Times Staff Writer
February 25, 2007

WASHINGTON — Republican and Democratic governors meeting here Saturday warned that President Bush's "surge" of additional troops to Iraq would put added pressure on National Guard units already stretched to their limits.

"We the governors rely on the Guard to respond to natural disasters, a pandemic or terrorist attack," said North Carolina Gov. Michael F. Easley, a Democrat. "Currently, we don't have the manpower or the equipment to perform that dual role" of responding to both state and federal needs.

The Pentagon last week announced plans to send 14,000 National Guard members to Iraq next year as support for the 21,500 troops to be deployed under Bush's plan. The announcement came on the heels of a change in Pentagon policy to deploy Guard troops more frequently but to limit tours to a year; the average now is 18 months.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, said the federal government must follow through on its pledge to replace equipment taken by Guard troops to Iraq.

<snip>

Gov. Easley of North Carolina called National Guard equipment levels across the country "putridly inadequate."

And without adequate equipment, he said, the National Guard's role in the buildup would amount to "a squandered mobilization."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-govs25feb25,1,5590400.story">more

[Monkeyman]

1. In IL if Chicago had a problem No Equipment

66% Of the Equipment left or destroyed in Iraq