The Pentagon will call up 12,000 National Guard soldiers for service in Iraq to fill gaps in the overworked army, a news report said Thursday.
The National Guard is a volunteer militia, but, said NBC News, they will receive an involuntary call-up to report for duty in Iraq.
The Pentagon told AFP it had no immediate comment on the report.
Guard units are based in each US state. Four states will provide the troops from four brigades, the television network said, citing unnamed Defense Department sources.
Where to begin?
The Army National Guard exists to support the active army. It is a reserve component of our military.
And yes, the soldiers are being involuntarily called up. That is how we mobilize our reserves to support the active component.
And yes, the Guard's combat brigades are helping the stretched active Army and Marine Corps. Just as they have since participating in the invasion in 2003. Indeed, in 2004, the National Guard provided 40% of the ground forces in Iraq. This was done to help the active component reorganize into the current brigade combat teams. And during 2004, our military held off the enemy counter-offensive in the spring, put down the second Sadr revolt in August, and went on to crush the enemy stronghold at Fallujah.
Right now, I believe there is one combat brigade of the Guard in Iraq.
I heard one military analyst who should know better go on about how the National Guard was not trained well enought to be committed to Iraq. I can only ask what does he think the Guard has been doing the last four years?
The National Guard is an outstanding reserve force. Man-for-man, few active ground forces could stand against it. The Guard is actually composed of large numbers of active duty troops who moved into the Guard after completing their active duty commitment. Some just put in two years to complete their contract while others will stay in until they reach retirement. And even those who enlist directly into the Guard (like I did) receive the initial training that the active component receives.
Yes, the Guard trains but 40 days per year instead of 365 for the active component, but soldiers in the units stay together for years building a team that the active component usually doesn't match. At the company level and below, Guard units can often be superior to active component companies and platoons. In my signal unit, we'd get active duty soldiers transfering in who felt they were demoted--until they'd been there awhile. One soldier who knew his stuff admitted that our platoon was as good in the field as any he'd seen in active duty. It is at the battalion level and above that the active component outshines the Guard since the Guard can rarely exercise in large units. But that is what six month of active duty before being shipped overseas helps correct.
And in Iraq, with the enemy mostly fighting in small groups when they directly engage at all, the Guard units will not be matched by the enemy. The National Guard suffers only because it is compared to the active component it supports--the best army in the world right now in equipment, training, and combat experience. We would be lucky if our allied active ground forces that are committed to standing about in Afghanistan were as capable as our National Guard units.
So as you hear stories about the National Guard returning to Iraq with analysts whining about the stretched military and the shortcomings of the Guard, please remember that the Guard is ready and doing what it has been designed to do and what it has been doing throughout the Long War.
You will hear lots of idiocy on this topic based on the early reporting. Brace yourself.
UPDATE: I could not find an old post where I thought I'd mentioned that the Guard provided 40% of the combat brigades in Iraq during 2004, but I did find this post that discussed that about half of all forces in Iraq at one time were reserves and that the Guard's combat brigades were taking a heavier load so that our active component could reorganize. Also, my memory was faulty on the year--it was 2005. So our Guard was not a big part of holding off the enemy in 2004. But it was a big part of the key year of 2005 in which the Iraqis held elections from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. The post also discussed the amazing way our reserves are treated as hapless victims and not soldiers.
Still, if we are only looking at our pool of Guard enhanced separate brigades and have not been able to ready the other Guard brigades in our Guard divisions to prevent a repeat deployment of the separate brigades, I still want to know why we haven't addressed this issue.
UPDATE: Of course, it isn't just the Guard that is treated as victim of our government rather than warriors defending us all:
As disgusted as I am by the absolutely misleading nature of Mr. Thompson's article and how it affects the general public's perceptions, I am far more sickened by these vultures not explaining to the families of men like PVT Zeimer that their son was a hero, not a victim to be used in creating a political talking point for shoddy journalists and opportunist politicians. Army officials should explain what the standards of deployment training are to the families of our brave soldiers before rotten tomatoes like these convince them that heroes like Matthew died for lack of training.
Our press corps pretends to explain the military to us. Our press couldn't pour piss out of a combat boot if the instructions were written on the heel.
UPDATE: Arthur K. reminds me that in the Persian Gulf War, we heard complaints that the National Guard combat brigades weren't ready to fight. Then, Guard units still "rounded" out a number of active component divisions that had only two of their three combat brigades on active duty. But the Army didn't certify any of the Guard combat brigades mobilized for the war until it was too late to participate (I can't remember if it was right before or right after the ceasefire). Now, our Guard is capable of taking its place on the line and some complain.
But given that some complain about active component training, equipment, and readiness, you have to know that the real complaint is that our troops fight at all.
