QDR looms large at NGAUS executive council meeting

Addressing the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) Executive Council for the first time as its president, MG Richard C. Alexander issued his directions to the Executive Council members, "I challenge each of you to be proactive on all the issues the NGAUS and the Guard face at the close of this century."

Perhaps the greatest issue facing the Guard is the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) that is being conducted by the Department of Defense (DoD). The QDR was the focus of much of the NGAUS Executive Council's attention during the recent meeting, conducted at the National Guard Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The QDR was congressionally mandated in the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act; where Congress said it must be designed to be a "comprehensive examination of the defense strategy, force structure, force modernization plans, infrastructure, budget plan and other elements of the defense program and policies." The QDR is required to provide its findings through the secretary of Defense's office to the 105th Congress in May 1997. However, already there is talk the committee will be unable to meet that deadline since the committee members have yet to be appointed. The National Defense Panel (NDP) will then make alternative recommendations to Congress that will determine the size, shape, missions and manpower of the post-Cold War military in December 1997.

Council members were briefed by a number of speakers who informed them of the QDR's significance and its possible impact on the National Guard.

Maj Gen Edward J. Philbin (ret.), NGAUS executive director, said, "Congress has to understand that whatever comes out of this study will affect the force structure of this country for at least the next decade."

He then outlined the efforts that the NGAUS is making now to ensure that the Guard is given a fair shake in the QDR process including letters and visits to key individuals in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill. "The major legislative activity of the NGAUS has to do with the QDR," General Philbin said.

LTG Edward D. Baca, chief, National Guard Bureau, echoed General Philbin's concerns over the QDR, saying he believed that during the QDR and NDP process, "We are going to set the course of the Guard for the 21st century," General Baca said. This course will include a Guard force, General Baca hopes, more closely integrated with the active components in a wide variety of missions.

This integration, he said, will be facilitated by programs like the one that places active- duty officers in command of Guard units and the division redesign plan. General Baca said he believes that by giving the active Army a greater sense of responsibility for the readiness of the Guard, as the Air Force did with the Air National Guard in 1947, it will more closely integrate the two components.

Integration will become more and more important as the defense budget continues to shrink, said MG William A. Navas, director, Army National Guard. Despite assumptions at the start of the QDR that the defense budget will remain stable, it seems likely that defense budgets will continue to shrink .

As funds for national defense become increasingly scarce, General Navas believes that the Guard must do more than rely on the mantel of the Constitution to prove its validity. The Guard must quantitatively prove that it is capable of being a vital component of national defense. The Army Guard director said he believes that as we move into the post-QDR environment, the Army Guard has a golden opportunity to prove that capability. "We need to think broader than just the structure and the weapons systems that we have today and look beyond that," General Navas said.

Maj Gen Donald W Shepperd, director, Air National Guard, said the QDR is very important because it establishes future force structure. General Shepperd also believes that the QDR presents the Air Guard with some good opportunities. "We have to keep our heads on straight. Don't cut us. Put more into us," General Shepperd said. The general urged others to let congressmen and women know that the citizen soldier and airman is a low-cost alternative that works.

The general stressed the importance of the Air Guard taking on more missions. He said that the Air Guard would be looking to accept active-duty officers in the Air National Guard in a similar arrangement to what is happening in the Louisiana Army Guard. General Shepperd mentioned that he has received several requests about the possibility of placing active officers in the Air Guard and that such a situation is a win-win for everyone.

The changes that the Army and Air Guard will face as a result of the QDR are largely the result of the shrinking of DoD's budget. In the opinion of several of the speakers at the Executive Council meeting, the increasing requirement for Army and Air National Guard units to do more with less will continue. Several members of the Executive Council expressed concern with the increased shortage of FY97operations and maintenance (OAM) funds.

MG Donald Edwards, vice president, Army, described the O&M situation in the Guard as being critical.

Despite the unlikelihood of being able to correct the O&M shortfalls this year, the NGAUS legislative department was tasked with making it a priority to pursue increased funding for the 1998 budget. It is hoped that the 1997 Legislative Action Plan, due out next month, will help with the Association's efforts to secure greater overall funding, especially for equipment modernization for the National Guard. The NGAUS legislative department was also tasked with determining the O&M funding shortfalls for 1998.

With the upcoming battles that the Association must fight regarding the QDR, NDP and O&M funding, all the Executive Council members agreed that it was imperative for the health of the National Guard to pursue 100 percent membership in the NGAUS.

"Membership is one of the most important endeavors we are going through. It is a must that the Association have 100 percent membership," General Alexander said.

MAJ Stephen Joyce, Membership Committee chairman updated the Council on the status of some of the committee's efforts.

Joyce also recommended the beginning of a formalized sponsorship program. This program would assign a state with high membership numbers to mentor a state that needed to energize its recruiting efforts.

General Alexander concurred, saying, "Every state has a way to achieve 100 percent membership, it may be simple or sophisticated, but every state has a method. That information has to be made available as a start to those states that are having difficulty."

COL J. Tipton Lewis (ret.), Retired/Seperated Army Representative, said that the key for high membership numbers in every state is for the state Associations to work at attaining 100 percent membership every day! "There is no major or predisposed plan for recruiting. It is just constantly working at it," Lewis said.

The Executive Council considered a number of initiatives, such as bringing the NGAUS membership data in-house and revitalizing the insurance trust program, that will improve the Association's service to its members.

The Executive Council also approved the Association's proposed 1997 operating budget. They gave approval to the New Jersey National Guard Association's offer to be the host of the NGAUS Annual Conference in 2000, with the Associations first conference of the next century conducted in Atlantic City.

All of the events at the Council meeting did not focus entirely on what the Association will face in the coming year Council members also had an opportunity to thank LTC Edward C. Morai (ret.) and Col Charles G. Schreiber (ret.) for their service to the Association and the Guard. Both were presented the NGAUS Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of their dedication to the National Guard

Copyright National Guard Association of the United States Jan 1997
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