Governor asks Commission to protect Guard

N.C.'s Easley tells group that troops are needed in home states
Tim Funk and Scott Dodd
June 16, 2006

WASHINGTON - Though the National Guard in both Carolinas say they're ready for another hurricane season, N.C. Gov. Mike Easley warned a federal commission Thursday that escalating demands on the Guard at home and overseas could erode morale and readiness.

"It seems now that every time there's a problem in the country, they say, `Well, use the National Guard,' " Easley told the U.S. Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. "We've got border control problems? `Use the National Guard.' We've got a flood? `Call the National Guard.'... I just believe they're stretched too thin and they can't continue in this capacity."

The biggest strain in recent years has been the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with these part-time soldiers leaving families and careers to be deployed -- and often redeployed -- for many months, even years.

Easley told the independent panel, which is charged by Congress to review how the Guard and Reserves are used, that morale among Guardsmen is high -- for now.

"If you ask them if they're ready to go (to Iraq), they say, `Yeah, right now,' " said Easley, the National Governors Association's point man on National Guard issues. "But you and I know that at some point, they're not going to be ready and that they can't be abroad for long periods of time without it affecting morale and their ability to respond."

Beyond the stress on the troops, Easley told the commission, he and other governors worry that new and expanded duties for the Guard could leave them away from their states when an emergency strikes.

"We've been told (by federal health officials) that if there's a pandemic, the federal government is not going to be riding into town on a white horse to save the day," Easley said. "We're really going to be dependent on the Guard if that happens."

Easley's focus in Washington on Thursday was on the long-term picture. But back in the Carolinas, National Guard officers say they're in the best shape in years to tackle the biggest short-term threat: a hurricane season that could be severe.

Both states have a relatively small percentage of Guardsmen deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Out of 12,000 soldiers and airmen in the N.C. National Guard, 1,800 are engaged around the globe, a spokesman said. In 2004, more than half of the state's Guardsmen were overseas.

The most the state has needed after a storm is 6,600, in 1999 after Hurricane Floyd, which flooded much of Eastern North Carolina and stands as the state's costliest disaster.

"This year, we're actually in pretty good shape," said N.C. National Guard Capt. Matt Handley.

The only concern: Several of the units that have served in Iraq left important equipment behind, including Humvees.

Rather than bring them home, the state's Guardsmen were ordered to leave the armored vehicles behind for front-line units from other states to use.

Handley said that concern will be fixed before August, when the worst hurricane threat to the Carolinas begins. The National Guard Bureau is arranging to move Humvees from other parts of the country to the Southeast later this month, he said.

In South Carolina, only about 600 of the state's 10,000 Guardsmen are overseas. During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, about 4,000 S.C. Guardsmen were part of the war effort.

The state's Guard units have about 80 percent of their usual equipment available, said Lt. Col. Pete Brooks.

That should be plenty to handle a storm, Brooks said, but if not, South Carolina can use an emergency compact that is already in place to request equipment from other states.

A spokesman for S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford said the governor believes the state's National Guard is prepared for a storm but is always wary when other missions take manpower away.

During the hurricane season, neither coastal state is being asked to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border as part of President Bush's effort to reduce crossings by illegal immigrants.

Easley was invited to testify before the commission, which has been charged by Congress to recommend any needed changes related to the Guard.

He told the panel that he and other governors oppose Bush's budget proposal to fund only 333,000 Guardsmen -- instead of the current 350,000. The governors also don't like the Pentagon's idea of restructuring the Guard so that it would lose several combat brigade units in return for, say, engineer units.

Because of their training and hardware, Easley said, members of the N.C. Guard's combat brigade are "people who can do what we need done immediately: ... drive trucks, fly the helicopters, pick people out of trees, deliver the ice."