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Mobilizing the National Guard

The transformation and current state of the National Guard was the main topic of discussion at the Center for National Policy on June 1st. CNP hosted General Craig McKinley, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, to give his insight on this subject at a lunch-time discussion.

General McKinley, the first four star general to head the National Guard, began by briefly noting the responsibilities of the National Guard. The Guard is comprised of 460,000 men and women who serve at the state level to provide security and emergency aide. Recently the National Guard aided in providing security during President Obama's inauguration; thereby expanding the role of the Guard to be more than solely ceremonial in this event. The National Guard also deploys forces all over the world, with 1,200 peacekeepers in Kosovo in addition to the 30,000-35,000 people deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

McKinley discussed how the role of the National Guard has changed in response to post-September 11 demands. He noted that before 9/11 the Guard would have gone through a lengthy mobilization and training process before it could be deployed overseas. 21st century threats move more quickly however and the Guard is now able to mobilize, train, equip and deploy in less than 90 days. McKinley argued that this is the "new normal" and that the Guard would not revert back to being a strategic reserve or second team player.

In response to questions, General McKinley noted that the equipment for the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard is quickly wearing out as a result of heavier than anticipated utilization rates over the last decade. Despite the ongoing recapitalization efforts of the Air Force, McKinley said it would be dishonest to say there wouldn't be gaps in the future. However, to mitigate the coming gaps the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard are changing the way they doing business by realigning their forces and switching to unmanned platforms. The Army side of the National Guard is making steadier progress on equipment issues and McKinley suggested that the equipment shortages of the past are now working themselves out with the support of members on the Hill. Ultimately, the Guard will have to explore new and innovative ways to remain effective at disaster response. As an example, McKinley suggested that equipment might have to be shared across state lines.