Governor Protests Proposed Cuts to Army and Air Guards
Governor Protests Proposed Cuts to Army and Air Guards
Kulongoski and other governors urge President to reconsider massive reduction
SalemGovernor Ted Kulongoski and 51 other governors have urged President Bush to reconsider plans to inflict massive cuts on the Army and Air National Guards, the Governor's office announced Friday.
"If the proposed cuts go into effect, the Army National Guard alone will lose about 20,000 troops nationwide," Kulongoski said. "Though we cannot yet say with certainty exactly how these cuts will affect Oregon, we know that any reduction in strength will damage the Oregon National Guard's ability to serve the needs of Oregonians in times of trouble."
The Governor explained that in the past decade, the Oregon Guard's strength has dwindled from about 7,500 troops to 6,100 - a reduction of more than 18 percent. Nationwide, the National Guard has lost almost a quarter of its personnel during the same period.
The governors wrote to President Bush late this week, reminding him that National Guard units have provided nearly 50 percent of the combat forces in Iraq, and the bulk of the U.S. personnel in the Balkans and the Sinai Peninsula. Fulfilling the mission of the National Guard at home and abroad requires both manpower and equipment, the letter acknowledged, but when National Guard men and women return from foreign deployment, they leave their equipment overseas, which creates a hardship for Guard units at home.
The letter urged the president to pay attention to re-equipping National Guard units with the resources they need to carry out their homeland security duties and domestic disaster duties, while also "continuing to fine-tune their wartime mission competencies."
"Oregon cannot afford more cuts to its National Guard," Kulongoski said. "We always face the possibility of floods, wildfires, earthquakes and other natural disasters that could require help from the Guard. The possibility of terrorism or other manmade disasters require a robust and capable National Guard. I'm proud of the contribution Oregon's Guard has made to national security, and I'm proud of the work these fine men and women have done here at home. I must vigorously oppose any proposal that further reduces their strength and makes their jobs more difficult."
For the text of the letter, go to: http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/pdf/NGA_guard020306.pdf
http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/p2006/press_020306.shtml