Bond wants $1.3 billion for Guard equipment

Equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan has left a shortage in U.S., officials say.

U.S. Sen. Kit Bond is urging President Bush to provide an additional $1.3 billion to boost National Guard equipment, saying Monday that military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have drained Guard resources to "perilously low" levels.

"These missions are putting a tremendous strain on the Guard equipment," Bond told a group of soldiers, media and others Monday at the National Guard armory in Cape Girardeau.

"As our citizen-soldiers, you have answered the call to duty," he said. "As our government continues to ask more from you, it is only fair that we provide the resources and equipment you need to do your job."

Bond and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Republican and Democratic co-chairmen of the Senate's National Guard Caucus, sent a letter to Bush on Sept. 13, asking him to provide $1.3 billion in the next applicable supplemental spending bill.

Bond stressed that since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Guard has taken on greater responsibilities and risks.

The Air and Army National Guard forces make up almost 50 percent of the combat force and more than 40 percent of the total force in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are currently 86,000 National Guard troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been 7,300 Missouri National Guard troops sent to Iraq, including the 2,000 that are there right now, he said.

Much of the equipment is overseas with the troops, leaving armories across the country without enough equipment to handle homeland emergencies like the Gulf Coast hurricanes or a potential large-scale terrorist attack.

The National Guard has only 34 percent of its equipment available for use in the U.S., with serious shortages in trucks, engineering equipment, night-vision goggles, information systems and communications equipment, Bond said.

Additional national emergencies like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have placed unrealistic burdens on the Guard, he said. The Guard has almost 50,000 troops engaged in the Gulf states region representing all 50 states, making it the largest such domestic response in history.

Soldiers who were sent to aid the hurricane relief were underequipped, according to Guard leaders.

"The limiting factor to Katrina was not personnel, it was equipment," said Brig. Gen. King Sidwell, the adjutant general for the Missouri National Guard. "Because of the missions we have overseas, there was equipment we needed that was just not available in many cases."

Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, head of the National Guard Bureau, confirmed Bond's concerns in a briefing before the U.S. Senate last week, emphasizing a particular need for communications systems.

Much of the Guard's best communications equipment was being used by troops fighting in Iraq and wasn't available for units helping Gulf Coast states recover from the hurricane, Blum said in a published report.

Many Guard military police in New Orleans were patrolling with obsolete radios as they sought to restore order, he said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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