$870 MILLION NEEDED TO ADDRESS GUARD AND RESERVE EQUIPMENT SHORTFALLS

The co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus are requesting an additional $870 million to help the National Guard and reserve address critical equipment shortfalls.

In a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leaders, Caucus Co-Chairs Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Kit Bond, R-Mo., outlined some of their more-pressing concerns.

The Army National Guard, for example, faces a $5.2 billion shortfall in its truck inventory and needs at least $200 million for new Blackhawk helicopters for medical evacuation missions. The letter also states that the Army National Guard soldiers need $75 million for Improved Outer Tactical Vests.

Bond and Leahy have asked for added funds for the National Guard and reserve to be included in the Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2011. The increased funding would go toward equipment needed for both domestic and overseas missions. The Senators have a successful track record in securing added funding over the last several years. They obtained more than $1 billion fiscal in 2009 and $950 million in fiscal 2010.

With the National Guard and reserve heavily engaged in responding to natural disasters, domestic emergencies and overseas operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other foreign locations, both forces have greater equipment needs in order to achieve full readiness. Despite the variety of roles filled by the Guard and reserve, and the increases that Leahy and Bond have achieved in each of the last several years, both forces still face equipment shortfalls.