Military Officer - August 2006 - (Page 55)

★★★ four months later, President George W. Bush requested 6,000 National Guard servicemembers for southwest border support, and critics immediately balked at his plan, claiming the National Guard already was stretched too thin. One side is calling for reductions while the other side is asking for more. Led primarily by active duty officers who were not experienced working with local jurisdictions, NORTHCOM wasn’t prepared to coordinate with the National Guard Joint Force Headquarters in multiple states to organize military resources for the Hurricane Katrina response. Having an experienced National Guard officer filling the NORTHCOM deputy commander position would have provided the knowledge and savvy to develop the situational awareness and the relationships with the states. The nation can ill afford to leave unattended incongruities uncov- ered since Sept. 11, 2001 — homeland security and war ﬁghting can no longer be separated. Changes are needed to ensure the nation’s militia is ready for the “away game” and “home game.” The National Guard Empowerment Act will shore up key discontinuities in the seam between civil and military planning — the sooner the better — by giving National Guard senior leadership a more powerful voice in DoD. MO Maj. Gen. Roger P. Lempke, ANG, is president of the Adjutants General Association of the United States and adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard. DOD’S POSITION Representatives from DoD declined to comment directly for this feature. They did, however, refer MOAA to testimony that was given May 17 before the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Gen. Peter Pace, USMC The process that [Congress has] set up to recent legislation that allows the head of the National Guard Bureau to wear three stars, to have two two-star ofﬁcers on my staff, one representing the Guard, one representing the Reserves, worked extremely well during the [Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR)]. During the entire QDR process, General Blum and my two general ofﬁcers were at the table. Three-stars, majors, whomever it is representing and has the knowledge base is what we’re looking for. I’m not looking around a table counting stars; I’m looking around a table for the expertise. Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, USA, chief, National Guard Bureau The secretary of the Army and the chief of staff have to be well-represented in the Joint Chiefs, and we have to [ensure] that we have those linkages that work and are effective. But to begin taking segments of the Army or the Navy or the Air Force or the Marines and add them in, I think, is not the best idea. Pace Sir, we have worked really hard for the last 20 of the Army have come in here and told this committee in their own words that they are committed — and certainly this secretary and this chairman of the Joint Chiefs are committed — to not repeating the long and sordid past that the Guard has had with its parent services. They’re committed to a different path. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld I think the way we look at it is that the Army includes the total Army and the Air Force, the total Air Force, and that to begin to segment them inside the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not a good idea. The Guard and the Reserves years under the leadership of the Goldwater-Nichols legislation to kluge together a joint force. And we have one Army, one Navy, one Air Force, one Marine Corps, and they are working extremely well together now. To divide our Air Force, to divide our Army, by having an additional member of the Joint Chiefs who represents a segment of both of those services would do a disservice to the country. That does not mean that we do not need to have a robust representation of the Guard. And this committee and the Congress, in recent legislation, increased the rank to three stars of Lieutenant General Blum’s position, gave the chairman two two-star positions, both of which are ﬁlled by quality ofﬁcers. I recommend from the standpoint of the rank structure that we look to the Guard and Reserve commission to see what responsibilities they have, how many stars are appropriate, and how that might impact the other Reserve and Guard forces. But as far as being a member of the Joint Chiefs, sir, I would ﬁnd that disruptive, not helpful. AM O N T H 2 0 0 6 UGUST 5 MILITARY OFFICER 55

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - August 2006

Military Officer - August 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapter Activities Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Changing of the Guard Four-Star Rating Long Term Care Kryptogram Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - August 2006

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