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Article: National guard, reserves get help, but need more.(POINT OF VIEW)
- Article from:
- National Defense
- Article date:
- August 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 National Defense Industrial Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It has been widely recognized that the National Guard is over-committed and under-equipped. Many members of Congress also acknowledge that the challenges facing the National Guard go beyond equipment and personnel to include a lack of institutional power within the Pentagon and antiquated processes for organizing, training and compensating troops.
The equipment shortfalls in the Guard and Reserves have gone from bad to worse during the last six years. Chief of the National Guard Bureau Lt. Gen. Steven Blum noted that in September 2001, the Guard had 75 percent of its needed equipment. Today, that number is less than 35 percent. The recent tornado in Kansas ...