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Oregon National Guard technicians Dan Dougall, left, and Dan Grist work on a tank engine Thursday at the guard’s training facility near the Redmond Airport.
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin
Oregon Guard short on equipment
Disaster relief jeopardized, general warns
By Peter Sachs / The Bulletin
Published: May 05. 2006 4:00AM PSTWASHINGTON - Across the nation and in Oregon, the National Guard may not be able to respond effectively to disasters because of severe shortages of everything from trucks to radios caused by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, commanders and experts agree.
The shortages, which National Guard commanders nationwide are contending with, have cropped up as the National Guard's roles have shifted substantially in recent years, a topic being explored by an independent congressional panel this week.
"Because of the call-ups, in dealing both in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have had to deplete our resources and our equipment significantly," said Maj. Gen. Raymond Rees, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard.
"If we had a major disaster in Oregon, we would probably have to go to our neighboring states" to get additional equipment, Rees said in a phone interview.
Units have several hundred fewer trucks now than they did before Sept. 11, 2001, and many are 25 to 30 years old, Rees said.
As it mulls the National Guard's goals, the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves heard testimony from National Guard commanders, government officials and academic experts Wednesday and Thursday.
The panel will hold one more day of hearings next month when several governors share their perspectives on the National Guard.
In recent years, the National Guard has taken on two types of missions simultaneously - large-scale disasters and the war on terrorism sometimes stretching it beyond its capabilities, some experts said.
"The Guard is not trained, organized or equipped for a domestic response to a large-scale national disaster," former Army Secretary John Marsh said, citing shortcomings and snags in the National Guard's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Rees disputed that claim, arguing that even with reduced equipment levels, the National Guard has demonstrated it can respond to situations like the aftermath of Katrina.
"The Guard is very well trained and normally we are well-equipped to deal with disasters," Rees said. He noted that about 2,000 troops from Oregon were sent to New Orleans after Katrina, where they worked for 30 days.
Traditionally, the National Guard has operated as a "strategic reserve," meaning that troops would train and wait to be deployed as needed to a war zone or disaster area, Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke said. Lempke is the president of the nationwide association of adjutants general.
But since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, large numbers of National Guard troops have been activated at the same time and given a range of tasks, from protecting perceived terrorist targets in the United States to serving in Iraq.
When Katrina struck last year, 50,000 Guard troops from around the country were deployed, according to Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense. Coupled with the 75,000 National Guard troops in Iraq at the time, more than a quarter of National Guard troops were deployed at once.
Right now in Oregon, about 1,100 of the state's 8,000 National Guard troops are deployed, of which about 900 are preparing to go to Afghanistan.
The National Guard's continuous deployment has reduced equipment levels by about half since 2001. Getting new equipment to units when they return requires that units formally report what is needed, a national Guard spokesman said, but Rees said he has not seen any new equipment come to Oregon.
When National Guard units deploy overseas, they take some of their own equipment - trucks, radios and the like - with them. But when serving abroad, the unit falls under federal authority. Because of that, the unit effectively loses control of its equipment, Rees said.
When a unit's deployment ends, the federal government decides what to do with the equipment.
That often means passing along vehicles and gear that have not been damaged or destroyed to troops replacing the first unit, National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Milord said.
To better accommodate its new dual mission of responding to disasters and fighting terrorism, some experts at this week's meeting said the National Guard should invest in specialized training and equipment. But with a lack of basic tools like Humvees and radios, Rees said, spending money on "go-to-war" equipment that can also be used in disaster response operations would be a better use of taxpayer money.
One bill in Congress would give the National Guard a greater voice among the Joint Chiefs of Staff to reflect its larger role. By next March, the commission is expected to issue its final recommendations to Congress.
"There is nothing more essential than emphasizing and increasing the readiness capability and strength of our Reserve forces," said Marsh, the former Army secretary.
Peter Sachs can be reached at (202) 661-0151 or at bend bulletin@medillnewsdc.com.
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