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Guard tells lawmakers it’s ill-equipped

WASHINGTON — The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll on the National Guard’s readiness, leaving some units with insufficient equipment to respond to a domestic catastrophe such as Hurricane Katrina, top Guard officers told lawmakers Thursday.

“While most adjutant generals believe they have sufficient equipment to deal with single disasters common to their states, they fear ... having to send equipment to support a regional disaster such as Katrina,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke, president of the Adjutants General Association of the United States.

Lempke was among four Guard officers who testified before the House Homeland Security Committee about the readiness of the National Guard.

State Guard units have suffered equipment shortages because of overseas deployment. Units often lose hardware in combat or are required to leave equipment behind when they return home. That has resulted in a loss of “dual-use” equipment that can be used both in combat and to respond to domestic emergencies.

A Government Accountability Office report released earlier this year said the Mississippi Army National Guard has only about 50 percent of the “dual-use” equipment it needs.

“No matter what your political beliefs about the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, certain facts are undeniable. The conflicts abroad have left our citizen-soldiers at home without enough equipment and stretched too thin,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the head of the House Homeland Security Committee.

But Mississippi Air National Guard Adjutant Gen. Harold Cross said the shortages would not affect the ability of Mississippi guardsmen to respond to a hurricane.

He said the Mississippi Guard has enough trucks and other hardware it needs to respond to a storm and the ability to lease equipment from other states. But the loss of combat-related equipment in overseas deployments has hurt the Mississippi guard’s training ability, Cross said.

Bush administration officials say equipment-sharing agreements among the states would ensure the availability of adequate hardware to handle any disaster. Forty-eight states, including Mississippi — belong to an emergency assistance compact, an agreement to help one another in emergencies.

About 50,000 National Guard troops, representing all 50 states, responded to Katrina.

When federal forecasters predicted another busy hurricane season this week, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director David Paulison said he was “very confident” the compact system will ensure a rapid and effective National Guard response to a major disaster.

But Lempke said he would “think longer and harder before recommending to my governor that Nebraska send equipment out of the state” to help another respond to a major emergency.

Army Maj. Gen. Robert P. French, Pennsylvania’s deputy adjutant general, said the Pennsylvania Army National Guard has participated in nearly 1,000 water rescues during floods.

“Our worry is what would happen if an even more widespread emergency arose at a time when the Army National Guard’s helicopters were deployed overseas?” French said.

The Bush administration is asking Congress for $22 billion for the Army National Guard over the next five years, which would raise Guard equipment levels up to 76 percent of full capacity.