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After years of highly publicized equipment and money shortages, the funding for the National Guard has reached a record level, according to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
More than 80 percent of the Army National Guard equipment will be fully modernized by 2013, Gates said in his address to the National Guard Association in Baltimore on Monday.
“For the first time ever, the Guard will receive the latest equipment provided to the active force — a change that is long overdue,” he said. Gates projected that the government will spend $32 billion over the next four years to buy equipment that can be used in overseas wars such as Iraq and Afghanistan, but also at home to deal with natural and manmade disasters.
The National Guard has seen the largest mobilization level of citizen soldiers since World War II. The pressure on the Guard and its equipment is stronger because of its dual duties at home and overseas.
Over the last couple of years, many states and their governors, who are the commanders in chief of the Guard, have expressed alarm that the prolonged combat in Iraq and Afghanistan has left them with 60 percent or less of their authorized equipment to deal with crises at home.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) was one of the governors leading the charge. She expressed her concerns about the Guard’s capabilities in a letter to President Bush after Greensburg, Kan., was destroyed by a tornado last May.
About 52 percent of the troops that deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are from Guard and Reserve units. But the Guard has also been highly engaged at home, particularly with the hurricane season. For example, more than 16,000 soldiers and airmen from Florida to Texas responded when Hurricane Gustav hit.
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