A Question of Resources

If it had not been for NGAUS, the Enlisted Association, the Adjutants General Association (AGAUS), Congress and our corporate partners working together to resource our Army Guard, we could not have sent one unit "out the door" for the global war on terrorism.

Tiered readiness was truly the bane of our existence. But we overcame the lack ol resources with our own grass-roots communications to Congress for equipment and full-time support.

These efforts allowed us to meet many mobilization challenges and provide a ready force to delend this country even though we were far from adequately resourced. We should never return to a resourcing system of "haves" and "have-nots," where the "havenots" are also expected to mobilize at the highest readiness levels (Cl and C2).

And still other challenges remain.

Modularization and transformation may require the reduction of 46,000 force-structure spaces. We have been promised that it we cut lorce structure (unfilled spaces, not actual personnel), we could keep current resourcing levels, including the full-time support ramp, and spread these personnel over our smaller force, thus improving readiness.

We must ensure that our contract for these changes is fulfilled and not let our readiness be a bill payer lor initiatives not relevant to the Army Guard. Full-time manning is particularly critical to our success. We must maintain the agreed upon ramp toward 73 percent ol our original validated requirements and allocate these positions to our new force structure, no matter what the final percentage.

Health care, regardless ol mobilization status, and enlistment/re-enlistment incentives are also critical to our survival. These are not benefits. Tricare and Selective Re-enlistment bonuses are readiness enhancers that allow us to maintain our forces at the levels and quality necessary to fight the war on terror and secure our homeland.

Equipment is another critical issue. We have units returning from Iraq and Afghanistan without their equipment. This has us wondering how these units will train and respond to state emergencies. And if you remember, the Guard was 6,000 Humvees short before the 9/11 attacks. Now we are faced with the question of how and from where we will field equipment sets ior training.

Training, of course, has always been the centerpiece of our operations. It requires a fully manned and equipped force to be successful. The point I am trying to make is that we must have the resources to attract, equip, train and retain the great Americans we call the Guard.

The baseline for NGAUS and AGAUS has always been the three tenets of recruit/retain the Guard, equip the Guard and tram the Guard. Although we have recently received an increase in our recruiting and retention bonuses, the Guard is still far behind our active-duty counterparts where bonuses are concerned. The key to all this is resources.

All is not gloom, however. NGAUS and AGAUS will continue to work with our corporate partners and Congress to provide the resources that allow us to do the nation's work.

In fact, we are oil to a great start with our NGAUS Task Forces, which met Nov. 4 to organize and begin work on vital issues.

Your input is critical to our success. Whether a chairman of a task force, a NGAUS ofticer or a member sending legislation requests to Congress, everyone can make a diflerence.

Lastly, I would like to thank the NGAUS membership for the privilege of serving as your vice chairman for Army. And I reiterate my pledge to work with all our supporters and the National Guard Bureau to gain the resources we need for our Army Guard.

These are extraordinary times for the Guard and require extraordinary efforts from all ot us to safeguard this great military force, which has been in existence since 1637. The Guard is truly America's Army!

Brig. Gen. Robert V Taylor, NGAUS Chairman of the Board, will continue to share this space with other association leaders.

Copyright National Guard Association of the United States Mar 2005
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