Lawmakers Disagree with Odierno’s Remarks
As the Iraq and Afghanistan wars wind down, the active army is struggling with organizational structure and manning. General Ray Ordierno has made disparaging remarks about the Army National Guard. In the Army’s proposed restructuring, they want to take the Arm,y Guard’s aviation assets and missions. The following is a NGAUS article about two congress members rebuttal. Be sure to use the link to read their entire letter.
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Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., who are co-chairs of the House National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus, also doubt the accuracy of some of Gen. Ray T. Odierno’s remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Odierno said the Army Guard and active-component Army are not interchangeable and claimed the Guard trains only 39 days a year compared to a full year of training by the active force.
Hunter, a former Marine still serving in the Marine Corps Reserve, and Walz, who retired as a command sergeant major after 24 years in the Army Guard, sent a letter Thursday to Odierno and Gen. Frank J. Grass, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, who spoke at the press club two days after Odierno.
They called Odierno’s remarks about training days “disingenuous,” adding, “From our own personal experience, we know for a fact that while 39 days may be the minimum that individuals will train, there are significant other training activities that take place that put the total number of training days upwards of 90 to 100 days in some cases.”
Plus, they wrote, active-component troops train about 200 days annually, not year-round, as Odierno said. The entire letter can be read here: http://www.ngaus.org/sites/default/files/Hunter_Walz_Odierno_Grass_Final.pdf.
They also noted the cost savings in an Army Guard infantry brigade. The annual cost to maintain and deploy a Guard brigade is $163 million, compared to $285 million for an active-component unit, they wrote.
Hunter and Walz reminded the two generals that the final decision on these issues rests in Congress.
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