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9/19/2001 - Guarding America

Whatever it takes. However long that it takes.

Such is the resolve by National Guard men and women in New York and across the country to support President George W. Bush's Sept. 14 order to call up as many as 50,000 Guard and Reserve troops for as long as two years to help combat terrorism against the United States.

"We're behind the president," said New York Army Guard Sgt. 1st Class Larry Signer on Sunday. The New York state civilian employee was already on state active duty following the catastrophic attacks on Sept. 11 with hijacked jetliners on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the crash of the hijacked jetliner in rural Pennsylvania.

Many of the New York Guard troops supporting the massive recovery operation at "ground zero" in lower Manhattan where from the neighboring Bronx, observed Army Guard public affairs Sgt. 1st Class Paul Mouilleseaux. They were angered about how close to home that Tuesday's terrorist attacks had come.

"We're taking this personal," said Sgt. David Perez of the Manhattan-based 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry while issuing respirators, gloves, goggles and other supplies to people working among the massive piles of rubble.

In all, 9,600 Army and Air National Guard people were already on active duty throughout America when Bush, a former Texas Air Guard fighter pilot and Texas governor, called America's reserve forces to arms to help keep this country secure and to recover from its wounds.

The forces already serving included 5,000 Army Guard soldiers and 4,600 members of the Air Guard, according to National Guard Bureau officials.

"The National Guard is fully prepared for and is responding to the order of the president," stated Lt. Gen. Russell Davis, Chief of the National Guard Bureau. "The National Guard continues to serve and support the states and the nation and will see this tragedy through."

"We're prepared to provide whatever resources the secretary of defense would want to use," vowed Maj. Gen. Phillip Oates, Alaska's adjutant general. "We've responded to call-ups in the past, and we're prepared to do that again."

In New York, meanwhile, "not one Guard soldier is complaining about anything they have to do," Signer said. "Not everyone can get into ground zero, but everyone feels they're doing something to help."

President Bush's father authorized a partial mobilization of 265,322 Guard and Reserve troops for Operation Desert Storm against Iraq on Jan. 18, 1991.

But that military operation took place far from this country's borders.

This president's partial mobilization for a military operation on American soil is the largest of its kind since 1916, said National Guard Bureau historian Renee Hylton. That was when President Woodrow Wilson ordered the entire National Guard of 158,664 citizen-soldiers to seal off the Mexican border after Mexican outlaw Pancho Villa raided Columbus, N.M., and killed 17 people, including nine U.S. soldiers, in March.

Many of the Guard units remained on duty in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for a year, Hylton said, in what was the most extensive military operation in this country since the Civil War.

President Bush clearly meant business the day after a national day of prayer and remembrance when he put the United States on a war footing. "My message is for everybody who wears the uniform: Get ready," said Bush on Saturday at Camp David. "The United States will do what it takes to win this war."

By Friday, military leaders had identified requirements for up to 35,000 members of the seven reserve components, including the Coast Guard. The Army needs 10,000 Guard and Reserve soldiers, and the Air Force needs 13,000 Guard members and Reservists, according to the Department of Defense.

"These Reservists are being called upon to provide port operations, medical support, engineer support, general civil support and homeland defense," said a Defense official. "This partial mobilization demonstrates the vital role of Reserve forces in our national military strategy."

"While requirements for up to 35,000 members have been identified, those needs have yet to be translated into specific units or individuals for call up. We, like you, will have to wait patiently for the call," Lt. Gen. Davis told governors and adjutants general in the 54 states and territories. "When that call comes, be assured you will be immediately notified."

The additional troops will be welcome, say citizen-soldiers who are already on duty -- especially at the World Trade Center site where the air stinks of burnt rubber and oil and where the devastation defies the imagination.

"It is a million times worse than I expected it to be," said Mouilleseaux, who was sent from Washington to where two of the world's tallest skyscrapers once stood. "TV does not do it justice. You have to see it to believe it."

"It's an emotionally draining experience," said New York Army Guard PFC Jessica McIvor, a chaplain's assistant, about supporting the Guard soldiers serving there. "Soldiers are not immune to this, but we are here to try to help."

The catastrophe has accomplished one thing, observed Chaplain (Maj.) Bruce Morris. "America is finally coming together, and the National Guard is playing a large role in that."

Sgt. 1st Class Tom Roberts from the National Guard Bureau's public affairs office contributed to this report.