US Guard strained by Iraq, but ready for more

LEXINGTON, Ky, Jan 12: Lt Col Tony Sims is getting ready to go to Iraq with the Kentucky National Guard. He's told his pregnant wife and two daughters, age 4 and 6, and his employer, Microsoft, that he'll be gone by summer.

Sims said it doesn't matter that US President George W Bush wants a surge in troops, or that state governors complain about the war's strain on homeland security, or even that there isn't always enough equipment for training.

''We know we're going, so surge or not, we're going,'' said Sims, 39. ''Does anyone want to be away from their family longer than they have to be? No. But if we've got to go and stay a year, we stay a year. If we've got to go and stay five years, we stay five years.'' Bush's decision to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq will put further pressure on the National Guard, whose 458,000 citizen-soldiers have a dual mandate to protect the nation both at home and abroad. The plan would call some Guard troops into action again as the Pentagon speeds up active-duty deployments and extends the tours of some units in Iraq.

The Guard has already played a big role in Iraq. Ten per cent of the 130,000 US troops there are Guard members. Of the more than 3,000 killed, nearly 400 were in the Guard, according to widely tracked Web site icasualties.org.

While a poll by ABC News and the Washington Post conducted after Bush announced his decision to send more troops found 61 per cent of Americans oppose the increase, Sims supports the war. That attitude is shared by most Guard soldiers, according to Kentucky's commanding general.

But Maj Gen Donald Storm, whose Kentucky National Guard has about 1,060 troops in Iraq, said the regular military is not big enough to protect the country, and more resources are needed to fill the gaps.

''We don't have the troops on active duty that makes it convenient for fighting the global war on terrorism, in my opinion,'' Storm said in an interview. ''I would hope the National Guard gets bigger -- that's the more efficient and cost effective way to increase the size of the US military.'' US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday he would recommend to Bush increasing the Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 troops over the next five years.

Defense analysts and commanders alike say the Guard will also need to extend the length of time a part-time soldier can be on active duty. Currently, troops can be active for no more than 24 months in a five-year period. Defense analyst Lawrence Korb, who was assistant secretary of defense under former President Ronald Reagan, said the Guard's problems ''are manifold'' -- from retention and recruitment to equipment shortages.

Virginia National Guard spokesman Lt Col Chester Carter said the loss of equipment in war zones has made it hard to train the next batch of troops for deployment.

''The shortages have not precluded training. But it has given us the opportunity to take creative approaches to conduct that training,'' said Carter. He said troops may have to share equipment or travel to other bases to find gear.

But Korb said the biggest problem facing the Guard is at home.

''The Guard is supposed to be focused on homeland security. If they're not doing homeland defense, who's doing it?'' State governors were already complaining about the wars' burden on the Guard when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. With more than 7,000 Guard members from Louisiana and Mississippi deployed overseas, the states could not cope with the storm's aftermath.

While some governors, including Kentucky Gov Ernie Fletcher, a Republican, said there has not been a gap in coverage, tensions between the states and Washington are ratcheting higher.

Ohio Gov Ted Strickland, a Democrat, said Bush is being ''terribly insensitive'' to the needs of the states.

''I think the president is misusing the National Guard,'' Strickland said in an interview. ''He needs to face the fact that we need a larger permanent military.'' Still, Guard members echo Bush when they say they're ready to do whatever it takes to win in Iraq.

''Anybody who was thinking 'Hey I just got into it for the college money,' those people are gone. Everybody that's still here is a volunteer and got into this with wide-open eyes,'' said Sims.

''Some get upset when they're not chosen to go. They're looking for adventure and high drama.'' Like most in the Guard, Sims trains one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. He was on long-term active duty for five months in 2003 in preparation for an Iraq mission that was canceled, and for a month in 2005 to help New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

This summer, he'll be called up for about four months of full-time training before heading to Iraq for a year.

''And I'll be back when I get back,'' he said.

REUTERS