The Colorado National Guard has a long-standing equipment shortage, but its ability to respond to emergencies has not been hampered by the assignment of equipment to Iraq, officials said.
Col. Ken Sanchez, spokesman for the Guard, said Colorado is not facing the wartime equipment shortage that cuts as deeply into force readiness as in neighboring Kansas.
“If there’s an emergency in Colorado, can we respond?” Sanchez said. “The answer is ‘Yes. Absolutely.”‘
Based on current staffing levels of about 5,000 troops, the Colorado National Guard has equipment levels that match about 60 percent of the need, Sanchez said.
Capt. Robert Bell, also a spokesman for the Guard, said he is not allowed to disclose an exact equipment inventory for security reasons. He added that the equipment is deployed in strategic locations around the state in preparation for storms, wildfires and other emergencies.
The issue of Guard readiness surfaced last week after Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius talked about the lack of equipment in her state available to help tornado-ravaged Greensburg.
Sebelius, a Democrat, said about half of the state’s National Guard trucks had been diverted to Iraq.
“The issue for the National Guard is the same wherever you go in the country,” she said. “Stuff that we would have borrowed is gone.”
The federal government has deployed Guard regiments from across the country into the war zone – requiring those units to provide their own equipment. Because of damage sustained, many states report that their National Guard forces are under-equipped.
The independent Commission on the National Guard and Reserves reported to Congress in March that Guard units are not properly funded and prepared for emergencies.
And a Pentagon official in charge of its National Guard bureau told a U.S. Senate panel that many states have less than half of the equipment they need.
After those reports, Major Gen. Mason Whitney, who at the time was commander of the Colorado National Guard, told The Denver Post editorial board some Guard equipment had been redeployed and damaged.
Equipment shortages are nothing new for the Colorado National Guard.
“We have had (a) historical equipment issue that goes back decades,” said Sanchez. “What it really affects is training. It doesn’t affect our ability to provide services.”
Gov. Bill Ritter has not encountered equipment-shortage problems when relying on Guard troops for help, said Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer.
Last year, all 50 governors signed a letter to President Bush asking for the immediate re-equipping of Guard units sent overseas.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-954-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
Panel moves to return Guard power to states
A congressional panel moved this week to repeal a 2006 law that made it easier for the president to federalize state National Guard units. Last year, Congress gave the president an extraordinary power to bypass governors in calling up Guard troops for domestic law- enforcement purposes.
Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., sponsored the amendment – approved by the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday – that repeals the law.
The 2006 law was “bad policy” and “bad politics” said Brig. Gen. (ret) Stephen Koper, president of the National Guard Association.
The National Governors Association also backs repealing the law. Gov. Bill Ritter agrees with the NGA position.
The bill now heads to the full House for debate.
– Mark P. Couch
