Photo By Master Sgt. Jim Greenhill | Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, co-chair of the Senate National Guard Caucus, addresses...... read more read more
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The nation needs the National Guard to exercise "smart power," the co-chair of the Senate National Guard Caucus said here Sept. 16.
"Smart power recognizes that before a person can choose his politics and live a good life, he has to have enough to eat and a stable community in which to live," Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond told the 131st National Guard Association of the United States General Conference meeting here.
"Smart power recognizes that helping other societies become more stable makes Americans safer — and there is no entity in a better position to execute our nation's smart power than the National Guard."
National Guard Agribusiness Development Teams of Citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen with agriculture-related expertise serving in Afghanistan are one example of smart power.
"The population is heavily dependent on agriculture, and that means we need to help them develop their agricultural infrastructure [and] practices, which some observers described ... as 17th-century practices," Bond said.
A concept proven in two decades' work in Central America, National Guard ADTs have been deployed in Afghanistan since 2008.
Bond's home state of Missouri pioneered the use of National Guard ADTs in Afghanistan. "They immediately began achieving results," he said.
Missouri ADTs built irrigation systems and wells, helped increase cotton yields and provided alternatives to poppy production. A half-dozen other Guard states have sent ADTs, and more are deploying.
"Our strategy going forward in Afghanistan has important civilian aspects as well as military aspects," Bond said. The National Guard bridges both. "We need a combination of military force ... but also, for sustainable, long-term success, we need economic development, educational and diplomatic strategies.
"Looking ahead, I see tremendous opportunities and need for what the National Guard so uniquely provides. ... The Guard's unique structure — its civilian/Soldier/Airmen skills — make it possible to think outside the box."
The senator advocates the use of National Guard security and economy stabilization teams in Afghanistan and challenges every state to provide teams for every province in Iraq to provide economic development assistance.
"Whether it's fighting militants in Afghanistan or continuing our counterinsurgency role in Iraq, there are great opportunities for the Guard to bring their civilian backgrounds as well as military training to bear," he said.
"This, friends, is something that you can do that nobody else can do," Bond told more than 4,000 active and retired Guard members and their guests, including military and political leaders from each of the 54 states and territories and the District of Columbia, attending the NGAUS conference.
The National Guard has been empowered and equipment shortfalls have been addressed, but urgent work remains, he said.
"We simply had to give the Guard more muscle inside the Pentagon so they would not continually be receiving second fiddle in policy and budget debates," Bond said. "To be part of the big plays, you need to be in the huddle."
The elevation of the office of the chief of the National Guard Bureau to a four-star position, ensuring the CNGB is the secretary of defense's primary advisor on Guard matters and the requirement that either the commander or the deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command be a National Guard general are among changes that have already enhanced the National Guard's position, Bond said.
Future goals include adding a three-star deputy to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, he said, and enhancing governors' ability to use troops to tackle emergencies.
"We need to give state governors tactical control of federal troops responding to an emergency," Bond said. This would allow the quick use of all available federal forces, he said.
Equipping has improved in the Army National Guard, but serious shortfalls remain, Bond said, and more progress is needed with Air National Guard equipment.
"These shortfalls are so substantial that Congress absolutely must intervene," Bond said. "For the Guard to continue its future missions, it must have the tactical fighters and equipment it needs. ... We're asking more of you than ever before so we have a responsibility to support you in your unique dual mission of providing military support abroad and homeland defense stateside."
The military services have asked for additional Guard equipment, and senators have allocated money to the Guard for high-water trucks, Humvees, communications equipment and night-vision goggles, but equipment shortages remain, and a particular focus is needed on the Air Guard, which he said faces a tactical fighter shortage.
"You in the Air Guard provide the vital air sovereignty alert mission," he said. "That's key to defend our homeland. ... If we do not get the Guard now new F-15s, 16s ... when the next Cessna bogey or maybe even a bigger plane ... flies in, it will be tracked not by an F-16, but by a National Guard Cessna with an M240 Bravo [machine gun] sticking out the window, and that's not the way we want to protect our air sovereignty."
While the nation is in an era of budget constraints, "We should not be looking to reduce the Guard but rather fully maintain, fully equip and grow the Guard," Bond said. "The need for the National Guard is greater now than ever before."
In his fourth term in the Senate after a career that also included two gubernatorial terms, Bond said that he expects to serve for about another 16 months before retiring.
From almost his first day as Missouri's youngest-ever governor (he was 33) in 1973, "Nature conspired to make me a close partner with the National Guard." Bond called out his Guard to respond to floods, tornadoes and prison unrest.
Since he entered the U.S. Senate in 1986, Bond has seen the National Guard's national and international contribution up close.
"More than 200,000 Guard troops have left their homes, their jobs and their families to participate in the war against terror in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. "The National Guard has provided as much as half the combat force and 40 percent of the total force there.
"You've always been there for us, whether fighting for us in foreign wars or helping us respond to domestic disasters. We in this nation are deeply in your debt. We are in your families' and in your employers' debt, also."
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2009 14:53 |
| Story ID: | 38877 |
| Location: | NASHVILLE, US |
| Web Views: | 312 |
| Downloads: | 286 |
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