Guard, Reserve chiefs claim progress in resetting force - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Guard, Reserve chiefs claim progress in resetting force

The Army National Guard and Army Reserve need more than $50 billion to eliminate their equipment shortages, but the components’ top leaders said April 3 that the multiyear effort is on the right track.

“It is a major effort,” said Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army Guard. “This is about a 3.8 million-item issue spread across [the U.S.]. Our percentages aren’t where we want them to be, but to get this force where we want it to be, we have to continue on this track.”

On average, Army Guard units at home have about 61 percent of their required equipment, said Col. Mike Fortune, chief of materiel programs for the Army Guard.

About $45 billion was earmarked for Army Guard equipment between fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2013. Of that, $28 billion is designated for fiscal 2008 through fiscal 2013, Fortune said.

The Reserve needs $22 billion for equipment, said Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve. The component is supposed to get almost $16 billion between now and fiscal 2013, he said.

“We’re programmed by year 2013 to get to 70 percent of what we’re authorized,” he said. “That still leaves us short $6.8 billion. The problem I’ve got is I’m trying to recruit and train a force right now, not wait until 2013 to do it.”

Vaughn and Stultz testified April 3 in front of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on air and land forces. They outlined the progress made by their organizations but also discussed their concerns and what still needs to be done.

“We’ve got to get the equipment flowing,” Stultz said. “We’ve got to get the dollars flowing so we can get the production lines going.”

Stultz said most of the Reserve’s equipment is outdated. For example, the 2.5-ton trucks in its inventory are, on average, 37 years old, he said. The average life of the truck should be 20 years, he said.

In 2002, the Reserve had 78 percent of its authorized equipment, but only 22 percent was the right, modern equipment, Stultz said. This year, the component has 66 percent of its authorized equipment and only 20 percent of the right, modern equipment because $1.2 billion of its equipment has been left in the combat zone for follow-on units, he said.

“Does that mean we’re broken and falling apart?” he said. “No, but we need to get the proper equipment for our soldiers.”

Stultz said he’s also concerned about competing for money and equipment.

“We’re in competition with other priorities out there, and every time those priorities come up, we lose,” he said.

Between 1998 and 2007, the Reserve was supposed to get about $800 million for the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles; it got $128 million, Stultz said. The Reserve has 15 percent of its authorized FMTVs; the rest are authorized substitutes, he said.

“If we’re going to be an operational force and you expect me to train this force, then we’ve got to be able to have the equipment to give [to soldiers],” he said. “I don’t want to paint a totally dismal picture. We’re getting record resourcing in terms of dollars being applied to us. [But] it’s going to take a few years for that equipment to show up in our formations.”

The Army Guard has left $3.2 billion worth of equipment in theater, Vaughn said.

And while the focus is to provide troops in theater with the best available equipment, “it is part of a hole that’s created,” he said.

The Guard had “lots and lots” of equipment that wasn’t deployable, Vaughn said.

“By the time we deployed, what little bit of modernized equipment we had was left in theater … and when we came back to home station, what we had we couldn’t use to train on,” he said.

The primary shortfall in the Guard is trucks, Vaughn said.

“We desperately need this,” he said about the effort to re-equip the Guard.

The Reserve is projected to be at 100 percent of its equipment needs by fiscal 2019, Stultz said.

Vaughn said the same timeline applies to support formations in the Guard. The component’s brigade combat teams are scheduled to be fully equipped by fiscal 2015, he said.

As the equipment flows in, Stultz said the Reserve and the Guard must be diligent in how they use the much-needed equipment.

“We’ve got to do better in getting more equipment,” he said. “Then we’ve got to use our own diligence to make sure we get them in the right place so the soldiers can train on them before they go into theater.”