|
Page 2 of 2
 States have been left shorthanded in national emergencies. More to come?
When thousands of Kentuckians lost power for a week following devastating ice storms that hit at the end of January, some 4,600 members of the Kentucky National Guard were deployed around the state. Guards rescued two teenagers from icy waters, saved an elderly couple from carbon monoxide poisoning during a door-to-door check on residents, and worked for weeks removing fallen trees from roads and delivering food and other essential supplies to tens of thousands of residents who were left without electricity following the winter storms.
Some Oregonians are today left wondering if their state would be able to respond as effectively should a natural disaster occur in their mountainous region.
The Oregon National Guard's entire fleet of 12 Black Hawk medevac helicopters and 135 pilots, crew chiefs, maintenance and support staff are training in Oklahoma before heading to Iraq for a 400-day deployment. It leaves the mountainous state with only four pilots and one borrowed helicopter to cover the state's emergency calls, according to a report in the Oregonian. "I do not know who will fill the void," said mountain rescuer Michael Leming. "Even in perfect conditions it can take hours and hours to get people off the mountain. The reality is people are going to get seriously hurt, and some are not going to make it." Since 2003, many states have been unable to respond effectively to national emergencies – underscored by the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina – but also during California wildfires and mudslides, and hurricanes and floods in other regions around the country. Cash-strapped states have also lost many billions of dollars in equipment through federal appropriation for overseas military operations. “The governors looked to the National Guard for support in their domestic missions … and in some cases they were handicapped because they didn’t have the equipment necessary to respond,” admitted Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, special assistant to the director of the Army National Guard, said at a recent meeting. Since 2003, state equipment valued at almost $24 billion has been appropriated for the Army Guard, with another $5 billion expected to be appropriated for overseas missions this year, said Carpenter.
But another Guard official said using the National Guard and Reserves is more cost-effective “in these tough budgetary times.”
More causalities anticipated as U.S. engages in Afghanistan
”Afghanistan has deteriorated due to a failure to provide sufficient economic, political and military resources, as well as a lack of coherent policy among allies involved there,” said Vice President Joe Biden on Jan. 26. The Taliban are in "effective control" of significant parts of the country, he added. An estimated 25,000 additional U.S. forces are expected to deploy to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months, according to defense officials. Some 34,000 U.S. service members currently are there. "It's going to require ... some additional military forces. There are going to be additional efforts to train their police and to train their Afghan army," said Biden. "And all of that means we're going to be engaging the enemy more." And the war within ourselves and our communities will increase. Volunteer soldiers are not immune from the horrors of war. Three and four nearly back-to-back deployments into combat and extended tours have become commonplace for National Guard troops. Changing the contract the military has with its citizen-soldiers calls into question whether they are still “volunteers” or hostages to evolving policies. “When these guys come home they are totally changed,” said a parent* of a Minnesota National Guard member whose son has served two tours in Iraq. (*The parent wished to withhold her name. She received anonymous threats after speaking out previously and her son was warned by his superiors to tell his mother to keep silent.) “The same guys are being deployed over and over – four and five times. It’s destroying them and their families. For the first year and a half when they come home they’re numbed out. After a year they start to feel the horrible things. There’s a flood of emotions that start coming through. “Before it gets better it gets really bad for soldiers and their families,” she said. “Reintegration is an unbelievable hell. It’s like being in the eye of a hurricane.” Some of them don’t make it through the storm. The Salt Lake Tribune reported Feb. 5 that suicides by Utah Guards outnumber those who died in combat. “Since 2005, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the lives of two soldiers from the Utah National Guard. Suicide has claimed 10.” As of January 2008, National Guards represented 15 percent of the military serving in Afghanistan, according to a Congressional Research Report presented to Congress in January.
With the massive deployments now underway, the percentage of National Guards fighting in Afghanistan will soon reach or exceed 25 percent of the total military force.
Deploying National Guards for the express purpose of safely moving personnel and equipment out of Iraq makes some sense. Americans fighting the current deployments on the state level know that it makes absolutely no sense for a bankrupt nation in freefall to expand an open-ended quagmire in Afghanistan.
 Kathlyn Stone is a Twin Cities, Minnesota-based independent journalist who has covered general news, and business, international trade, and health care news and policies for public and professional audiences since 1980.
Articles by Kathlyn Stone at MWC News http://mwcnews.net/KathlynStone |
|
This_Category |
|
Category:: Political Views |
Recommend this article...
 Quote this article on your site | Views: 1079
Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.4
Tags: Kathlyn Stone National Guard Middle East
|
Commentary 
