The Associated Press June 12, 2004
South Wire: Critics say Army relying too heavily on National Guard combat troops
By Matt Gouras
Soldiers from the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment in east Tennessee never expected to be sent to fight in Iraq. Like other National Guard combat units, they had been kept on the sidelines for 50 years.
"We'd heard rumors, but we haven't been used like this since 1953," said Sgt. Melissa Sands, in charge of supply at the Knoxville armory. "We just thought we'd get passed over again."
Now the pressure is on National Guard infantry and armor units like the 278th, sometimes derided by the regular Army, to prove they can go to war for the first time in decades.
Critics say the increased use of Guard combat units - seven of which are either in Iraq or getting ready to go - is another sign that the Army is being stretched too thin. And they say those units are being set up to fail because they haven't been properly trained to fight.
"They are nowhere near the level of proficiency that active troops are," said retired Army Col. David Hackworth, a critic of current Pentagon policy.
Hackworth and others say that dropoff is the reason the Army has in recent decades decided to leave Guard combat soldiers at home, and use other Guard troops primarily in supporting roles, such as truck drivers and mechanics.
Now, he says, the Guard is being asked to do too much and he cited the Abu Ghraib prison as the most disastrous example.
"That's what you get when you hire part-time help," Hackworth said. "I'm not putting down the Guard. There are patriotic soldiers in the Guard trying their best."
David DeBatto, a retired Army counterintelligence agent and senior editor of the CI Advisor, said the Guard simply doesn't get enough money to train.
"The National Guard gets the leftovers, both in training dollars and in equipment," he said. "When you don't have the training dollars, you're not going to train. You're going to sit around the armory."
Once in Iraq, the morale among National Guard troops is far lower than their counterparts in the regular Army, according to a December survey by Northwestern University sociologist Charles Moskos. Guard soldiers also felt less prepared than regular Army troops, and reported disliking full-time Army life.
Guard troops feel like Army commanders treat them as second-class soldiers, said Moskos, who noted that the Army is trying to fix the situation by getting them new equipment.
But others analysts say the National Guard combat troops can fit right in and handle the security missions and small platoon-level strikes required in Iraq because there won't be any complex battlefield maneuvers.
"It's pretty straightforward infantry," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, an Alexandria, Va., research center. "Doing routine security, guarding a gas station, there's not too much to that. It's not rocket science."
Pike said the Army doesn't have enough combat troops - just about 200,000 out of roughly 500,000 active duty soldiers - for a multiyear war. He says they need about 140,000 combat troops in Iraq.
"The Army is moving heaven and earth to increase the number of combat soldiers in the active component," Pike said.
The average Guard soldier is older, with a fair number in their 50s. And while an Army unit is cross-section of America - a unit from the 278th is a cross-section only of Tennessee cities such as Knoxville or Athens or Cookeville.
Older, part-time soldiers aren't as fit as younger troops in the Army, but age has its advantages, said Lt. Col. Wayne Honeycutt, second in command of the unit.
"An older person in a lot of cases is going to be a lot more seasoned; he's lived some life," said Honeycutt, an enlisted sailor in the Navy during the Vietnam War. "They're not as apt to get excited as a young person when things get exciting."
But at the 278th earlier this month, excitement filled the air as 3,000 soldiers prepared to deploy. New machine guns and rifles rolled in faster than they could be stacked, while welders put last-minute touches on cages to hold equipment.
"I'm ready to go and get back," said Spc. Michael Earles, a Guard cavalry scout of 15 years.
The realization is also sinking in for school teachers and health care workers who could soon be patrolling faraway streets for an angry and elusive enemy. Dental X-rays are being taken to help with the identification of bodies.
"Statistics say someone isn't coming back," said Honeycutt, a network engineer for Sprint before the order came down in March to get ready.
The unit is making stops in Mississippi and California at the National Training Center to make sure soldiers are trained to fight insurgents. It could be six months before they see Iraq.
"There's no doubt in my mind we'll be equipped properly and trained to standards," Honeycutt said. "For me, it's an opportunity to do something I've trained for most of my life."
Policy-makers will be closely watching how well the Guard combat units do in Iraq, Pike said. Mixed results in the Korean War set policy for decades - and the guard combat units were passed over in Vietnam and the Gulf War.
So far, three National Guard combat units with about 15,000 soldiers have been deployed in Iraq this year, according to the National Guard. Another four units, including the 278th, are on the way.
Earles, who was a Marine grunt before joining the Guard, dismisses the notion that Guard combat units aren't ready.
"We've got plenty of veterans here," he said. "This is one of the best groups you'll ever see."
On the Net:
National Guard: http://www.ngb.army.mil/
Global Security: www.globalsecurity.org
© Copyright 2004, The Associated Press
