Gov. Easley testifies before National Guard Commission
WSOCTV
June 15, 2006

WASHINGTON - Many of the troops fighting in the war in Iraq are in the National Guard.

North Carolina’s Governor Mike Easley said that asking the troops to fight for so long was spreading them too thin.

Thursday, Governor Easley, along with other supporters, took this message to Capitol Hill. He told a Congressional Commission that he and all 50 governors are in agreement that President Bush’s budget for the guard isn’t enough.

More than 10,000 of North Carolina’s 12,000 guardsmen served overseas for the War on Terror. Almost a thousand helped with Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Now, if needed, they will head to help patrol the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

"We're seeing more of our soldiers deployed for longer periods of time and we're seeing more security issues at home that governors have to respond to everything from manmade disasters to something such as a pandemic, Easley said.

Gov. Easley said the guardsmen are willing to help out, but they are having more and more taken away from them, monetarily.

Easley said that before Sept. 11, 2001, the guard had 74 percent of the equipment it needed; now that number has dropped to 34 pecent.

And the governor is nervous about the lack of manpower and supplies in North Carolina, in the middle of hurricane season.