In Montana, 10 of their 12 Nat.Guard helicopters are in Iraq. How many

[Pirate Smile]

helicopters does the LANG have? How many does Mississippi, Alabama, Texas have at home?

CNN just reported they diverted helicopters from trying to fix the Levees to try to save people. That makes sense but how big of a shortage of helicopters is there when they have to make these trade offs considering that the water continuing to pour in from the Levee breaches creates more problems.

"Montana in a tug of war for Guardsmen
Deployments in Iraq mean fewer firefighters

By Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Correspondent | June 5, 2005

HELENA, Mont. -- When summer wildfires burn out of control in the vast forests of the Rocky Mountains, the Montana National Guard has always been available to act as a fire force of last resort, sending its soldiers deep into the wilderness to help fire crews, protect evacuated property, and transport supplies to the front lines.

But as fire season approaches this year, the Montana Guard faces what its commander describes as an ''unprecedented" shortage of firefighters and helicopters, prompting the state's governor, Democrat Brian Schweitzer, to ask the Pentagon to return more of the state's troops from Iraq this summer for what he fears could be a particularly dangerous fire season.

-snip-
The Pentagon has refused his request. And while state and federal forest officials in Montana say they are confident they can work around the shortage of Guard personnel and absence of 10 out of 12 of the Guard's Black Hawk helicopters, Schweitzer tapped a sense of anxiety among governors whose troops are fighting the insurgency in Iraq with no end in sight.

''Many governors look to the National Guard as their contingency force, be it a hurricane or snow or fires out West," said John Goheen, communications director of the National Guard Association of the United States.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/06/05/montana_in_a_tug_of_war_for_guardsmen/

[theHandpuppet]

1. I understand that Florida is among the states...

... with the fewest number of Natl Guardsmen in Iraq. I wonder why that is.

[wli]

3. can civil suits be filed for politically-biased deployments?

[KeepItReal]

2. There was unit based at New Orleans Lakefront Airport. Whereabouts unknown

The unit is Louisiana Army Aviation Support Activity (1st Battalion - 244th Command Aviation)



Here's a link to my post on them:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4505211&mesg_id=4505211

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. They're in Iraq

At least they were last April.

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SS_041805_Aircraft,00.html

[ThoughtCriminal]

5. With 16 Blackhawks

http://www.nola.com/military/256th/index.ssf?/military/256th/stories/256_5.html

[Pirate Smile]

7. .

"Largest La. Guard unit called to duty
But ?no guarantee? Iraq is destination
Thursday, April 15, 2004
By Paul Purpura
West Bank bureau

The Louisiana National Guard?s largest unit, a combat brigade that includes almost 600 soldiers based in the New Orleans area, has received orders for active duty and likely will be sent to Iraq.
The 256th Infantry Brigade, a 3,800-member unit whose headquarters is in Lafayette, received word of the 18-month mobilization orders Wednesday, about six weeks after it was put on alert that its soldiers might be called to active duty, a Guard spokesman said.

-snip-
The last time the brigade was called to active duty was November 1990, for the first war with Iraq. The soldiers went to Fort Hood to train, but the war ended before they shipped overseas.

-snip-
That battalion, which has 16 UH-1 Black Hawk helicopters and arrived in Iraq last month, is the parent unit for a 500-member aviation outfit called Task Force Voodoo, said Jensen, a Mandeville resident. The battalion?s mission is "general support," and most of its time is spent transporting VIPs and troops, Jensen said.

[KeepItReal]

8. UH-1's are Huey's. Think they got the name messed up in the article.

Blackhawks are UH-60's.

[ThoughtCriminal]

10. Not sure which they messed up

the name or the number.

[KeepItReal]

12. Last time I saw them, they had Hueys

I hope the govt could afford to upgrade them to Blackhawks since then, though.

[Pirate Smile]

6. I did hear that a LA unit was supposed to go home from Iraq in 2 weeks.

Now they are trying to figure out if they have a home.

[KeepItReal]

9. The Aviation Unit based at Lakefront Airport's base is under water now.

The Airport is one with Lake Pontchartrain now.

[ThoughtCriminal]

11. Even when they come back, they may not have the equipment

Mississippi's NG unit that was the hurricane "first responders" came back in 2004 - but their equipment stayed in Iraq.

[KeepItReal]

13. They are going to have to restore their base also, or relocate

Their waterfront base is flooded.

[KeepItReal]

14. Thanks for the clarification/confirmation, by the way

<eom>

[Jersey Devil]

15. Isn't there a rule that you can't take more than 1/2 of a state's NG out

of the state precisely for these reasons, to save enough for state emergencies? I seem to recall that was the law some time ago.

[Pirate Smile]

16. Does that apply to their equipment too?