KidRocks
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2005
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Think we're safer from terrorists attacks because we took the fight to them instead of the other way around? Well, we could be wrong, dead wrong and it seems hurricane Katrina has exposed our weakness in our ability to protect our own American soil.
Iraq is proving to possibly become a huge drain on our ability to fight two wars at one time if such a major attck by terrorists ever were launched. Thus, President Bush has indeed put America in harms way, not only in Iraq, but alas, here in our own back yard. President Bush has demorilized, depleated, and dangerously spread thin our fighting-forces.
What hath ye wrought President Bush?
Guard relief hurt by obsolete equipment
WASHINGTON — Hurricane Katrina exposed serious weaknesses in the National Guard's communications systems, particularly a shortage of high-tech radios and satellite communications gear, the Guard's top general said Monday.
If it's going to protect the USA while also fighting overseas, the Guard needs better equipment, Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, head of the National Guard Bureau, said in an interview with USA TODAY.
"We were underequipped," Blum said. "We don't need tanks and attack helicopters and artillery, but we must have state-of-the-art radios and communications."
Much of the Guard's best communications equipment was being used by troops fighting in Iraq and wasn't available for units helping Gulf Coast states recover from the hurricane, Blum said.
Many Guard military police in New Orleans were patrolling with obsolete radios as they sought to restore order, he said. That, combined with a crippled civilian communications network, made it harder for them to communicate. Many also lacked night-vision goggles.
After Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, about 50,000 Guard troops were sent to states battered by the storm, the largest such domestic response in its history, said Blum, who oversees Army and Air National Guard units in all 50 states.
The active-duty Army, which helps equip the Guard, recognizes the deficiencies, said Blum, who has met with Pentagon officials to find more money for new equipment. "The leadership of the Army is committed to addressing the problem," he said.
Last week, Sens. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., wrote President Bush asking for $1.3 billion to buy new equipment for the Guard.
Long-standing shortages and the stress of fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have left the Guard with "a perilously low level of equipment available for natural disasters," the senators wrote.
Only 34% of the Guard's equipment is available for use in the USA, the letter said, with the worst shortages in trucks, night-vision goggles, engineering equipment and communications gear. The Guard has historically used hand-me-down equipment from the active-duty military. For example, the Army Guard is using Vietnam-era radios while it needs 37,000 newer radios, according to a recent Guard budget briefing paper posted on its website.
Two wars and a recruiting shortfall have taxed the 350,000-member Army National Guard this year. At one point, about 40% of the 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq were from the Guard or Reserve.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-09-19-guards-equiptment_x.htm
Iraq is proving to possibly become a huge drain on our ability to fight two wars at one time if such a major attck by terrorists ever were launched. Thus, President Bush has indeed put America in harms way, not only in Iraq, but alas, here in our own back yard. President Bush has demorilized, depleated, and dangerously spread thin our fighting-forces.
What hath ye wrought President Bush?
Guard relief hurt by obsolete equipment
WASHINGTON — Hurricane Katrina exposed serious weaknesses in the National Guard's communications systems, particularly a shortage of high-tech radios and satellite communications gear, the Guard's top general said Monday.
If it's going to protect the USA while also fighting overseas, the Guard needs better equipment, Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, head of the National Guard Bureau, said in an interview with USA TODAY.
"We were underequipped," Blum said. "We don't need tanks and attack helicopters and artillery, but we must have state-of-the-art radios and communications."
Much of the Guard's best communications equipment was being used by troops fighting in Iraq and wasn't available for units helping Gulf Coast states recover from the hurricane, Blum said.
Many Guard military police in New Orleans were patrolling with obsolete radios as they sought to restore order, he said. That, combined with a crippled civilian communications network, made it harder for them to communicate. Many also lacked night-vision goggles.
After Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, about 50,000 Guard troops were sent to states battered by the storm, the largest such domestic response in its history, said Blum, who oversees Army and Air National Guard units in all 50 states.
The active-duty Army, which helps equip the Guard, recognizes the deficiencies, said Blum, who has met with Pentagon officials to find more money for new equipment. "The leadership of the Army is committed to addressing the problem," he said.
Last week, Sens. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., wrote President Bush asking for $1.3 billion to buy new equipment for the Guard.
Long-standing shortages and the stress of fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have left the Guard with "a perilously low level of equipment available for natural disasters," the senators wrote.
Only 34% of the Guard's equipment is available for use in the USA, the letter said, with the worst shortages in trucks, night-vision goggles, engineering equipment and communications gear. The Guard has historically used hand-me-down equipment from the active-duty military. For example, the Army Guard is using Vietnam-era radios while it needs 37,000 newer radios, according to a recent Guard budget briefing paper posted on its website.
Two wars and a recruiting shortfall have taxed the 350,000-member Army National Guard this year. At one point, about 40% of the 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq were from the Guard or Reserve.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-09-19-guards-equiptment_x.htm
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