By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, March 19, 2015 – The nation’s investment in the
National Guard transformed it into a premier operational force, but
sequestration spending cuts scheduled to begin Oct. 1 will create challenges,
the chief of the National Guard Bureau said during a congressional hearing this
week.
Army Gen. Frank J. Grass, joined by other senior reserve
force leaders, testified before the House Appropriations Committee’s defense
subcommittee March 17 about the fiscal posture and readiness of the National
Guard Bureau and its subordinate components.
“For the past 13 years of sustained conflict,” Grass said,
“with the help of the Congress, the Guard has transformed into a premier
operational force serving with distinction as the primary combat reserve of the
Army and Air Force. The nation’s investment in the Guard has resulted in the
best trained, led and equipped Guard in history. It is the finest I have seen
throughout my career.”
The general thanked the congressional panel for its support
in funding programs such as the National Guard and reserve equipment
appropriation, and for improving Army National Guard readiness, Humvee
modernization, providing new radars for F-15 fighters, Black Hawk helicopter
procurement and other critical priorities.
Facing Three Realities
Looking to the future, Grass said, military leaders face
three realities shaping the security environment: global realities, fiscal
reality and the reality of change.
“A global reality that includes asymmetric adversaries and
regional instability,” he explained, “is intertwined with the fiscal reality
that requires us to balance the need to provide security to the nation with
other domestic spending requirements. These realities exist [beside] the
reality of change -- change that has resulted in a borderless world.” Change
also has resulted in “a more informed U.S. population that expects the
government to respond to natural and man-made disasters at greater speeds,”
Grass said.
The general also addressed the pending return of
sequestration and its impact on the National Guard Bureau.
“In view of these realities and the security environment,”
he said, “I am concerned that with sequestration, the nation will have its
smallest National Guard since the end of the Korean War despite the U.S.
population approximately doubling since 1954.”
This will create challenges in responding to the needs of
state governors, Grass said, at a time when the Army and Air Force rely heavily
on the operational reserve to accomplish combatant command missions.
Finding the Right Balance
Sequestration funding levels are below President Barack
Obama’s budget request, Grass said.
“We risk not being able to execute the defense strategy [if
sequestration returns],” he added. “The soldiers and airmen who serve -- and
their families, communities and employers who support them -- are our most
treasured resource.
“The nation’s investment in developing combat and
mission-ready Guardsmen through a wide array of resourced, accessible and
effective programs is greatly appreciated,” he continued, “but must not be left
to degrade our return to a strategic reserve.”
Moving forward, the general said, finding the right balance
in the military -- active, Guard and reserve -- will be more critical than it
has been in history.
“Your National Guard is a proven option for rapid, cost-effective
and seamless expansion of our armed forces,” Grass said. “Modest but necessary
investments in training, manning and equipment will maintain the readiness of
the National Guard as an operational force.”
Air National Guard
Air Force Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Clarke III, director of the
Air National Guard, said he sees no slowdown for his component in the next
year.
“We have up to 105,500 consistently deployed members of the
Air National Guard,” he said. “In fact, over 2,000 are deployed today across
the globe doing a variety of operations.”
Clarke said the Air Guard supports combatant commanders
around the globe, and continues to be a proven choice for the war-fighting
operations they support.
The general also noted that the Air National Guard provides
multiple capabilities used at home and abroad on a daily basis, including
firefighting, explosive ordnance disposal and rescue operations.
Security Cooperation
With regard to security cooperation, Clarke said the Air
National Guard continues to support the National Guard Bureau’s State
Partnership Program around the globe.
“We also have bilateral relationships that don’t even exist
inside the State Partnership Program that we support,” he said.
“An example of that would be what we do for the air forces
of Iraq -- we’re doing the training for the C-130J’s at one of our units,”
Clarke said. “Additionally, the F-16 foreign training is all done at Tucson
[Arizona] by the Air National Guard.”
Air National Guard Priorities
Clarke discussed the Air Guard’s priorities, an assessment
he noted always begins with “taking care of our airmen.”
“That always stays at the top of my list,” he said. “I look
at that from a variety of lenses. Whether it’s preventing sexual assault,
diversity -- those kinds of programs are important.”
Other priorities Clarke emphasized were the modernization
and recapitalization of the legacy force, and maintaining a strong operational
reserve force through funding for exercises with the Air Force.
Clarke also noted his concern with the future of funding for
military personnel programs needed to sustain the force.
“That is an important funding stream,” he said. Those funds
are critical, Clarke said, to get service members to required schools and
follow-on courses for future education and training to ensure they’re good
partners with the Air Force and the joint community.
No comments:
Post a Comment