Blum: Guard 'never looked back' during transformation

Photo By 1st Sgt. Thaddeus Harrington | Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, speaks and answers questions from the audience of attendees at the 130th National Guard Association of the United States general conference in Baltimore on Sept. 21, 2008.  

UNITED STATES

09.26.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Sean McCollum 

National Guard Bureau

By Sgt. S. Patrick McCollum
National Guard Bureau

BALTIMORE – Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, congratulated National Guard members from around the country for their role in the largest military transformation in modern history.

"With no notice, from a standing start, you changed the National Guard from a strategic reserve to an operational force," he said, Sept. 20, 2008, during a speech at the 130th conference of the National Guard Association of the United States. "We became 21st century Minutemen and women and you never looked back."

At the beginning of his almost six-year tenure, Blum said it was necessary to evaluate how we did business. "[We] had to make hard choices to ensure we could both defend the homeland and support the war fight during a period of persistent conflict."

These hard choices paid off. "Your National Guard is better. It's better manned, better trained and better equipped," Blum said. "It is the most experienced and professional National Guard in our nation's history."

In July, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recommended Blum for nomination as the deputy commander of Northern Command.

"During his 37 years of military service, Gen. Blum has been a tireless advocate for America's Guardsmen and he has helped transform our often neglected strategic reserve into a fully operational force," Gates said during his speech at NGAUS on Sept. 22, 2008.

"Beyond recognition of a fine and deserving officer, I had a broader purpose in Gen. Blum's appointment: to place a senior Guard officer in a Combatant Command leadership role and thus position him potentially to succeed to command – a matter, of course, for my successor to determine."

Despite the positive efforts, Blum said more needs to be accomplished. "The National Guard must continue to meet the dual-mission commitments of state and federal, civilian and military leaders." Blum said we must remain ready to meet our community, state and nation's needs. "The record shows that on any given day an average of 17 of our governor's call out their Guard."

On one such day in recent months, the National Guard tackled wildfires, fought devastating floods and ferried drinking water to drought stricken communities among other missions, such as counterdrug and infrastructure protection, he said.

The National Guard must also remain essential to the warfight. "There's not a single combatant commander on the planet, who doesn't rely on the National Guard to accomplish the mission," he said. "Name the theater, the Guard is there. Name the operation, the Guard is there – and that's the way it should be."

Blum concluded that the American people will never be satisfied with a response from a National Guard that is ill-equipped and unable to perform its assigned missions.

"Gone are the days of a second-class, hand-me-down militia. The military capabilities and equipment needed ... must be in the hands of the Guard."

• Date Taken: 09.26.2008
• Date Posted: 09.26.2008 10:10
• Story ID: 24180
• Location: US