In recent weeks the nation has heard of severe equipment shortages in National Guard units across the country stemming from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A congressional panel has reported that 88 percent of National Guard units nationwide are rated “not ready” for domestic emergencies due largely to huge equipment shortfalls.
It’s a sad state of affairs, and the U.S. Department of Defense ought to move quickly to remedy the situation.
Colorado’s condition is better than the average, but it provides a typical example of how the shortages occur. Some 2,500 of Colorado’s 3,500 Army National Guard soldiers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. Along with them have gone helicopters, humvees, trucks, artillery, radios and other communications equipment.
As the guard units have rotated back to the United States, they have been required to leave much of their gear behind in the combat zones. Major Gen. Mason Whitney, commander of the Colorado National Guard, said some of the equipment has been damaged by sand and harsh conditions to the point where it is “unmaintainable.” Some has been destroyed by enemy action. Other equipment has been left behind for the next crop of troops. In any case, the equipment has left the state and has not been replaced.
Still, while Colorado’s guard is experiencing shortages, Whitney said the situation is worse elsewhere. Colorado equipment levels are at 60 percent of normal, he said, while the average for guard units nationally is 38 percent. Even before the current report highlighted the problem, Whitney said that the U.S. Army “never funded the National Guard at the readiness level that was needed to send [large amounts of equipment] overseas.”
Despite shortages, Colorado currently has enough equipment to take care of state emergencies like blizzards and wildfires. Whitney said that the estimate of what it would cost to “reset” the equipment nationally is $24 billion. He did not have a number for Colorado
Later this year, additional strains might be put on Colorado’s guard. The National Guard Bureau is seeking additional troops for Operation Jump Start, President Bush’s effort to secure the border with Mexico. Colorado National Guard troops will be deployed to New Mexico to help with the operation, Whitney said, and will be taking their own equipment. Whether it will return with the troops is a question mark, but recent experience gives no cause for complacency.
