The State January 16, 2007
No slowdown for S.C. Guard
Renovations, recruitment among Spears' goals
By Chuck Crombo
When Stan Spears signed up for the S.C. National Guard, he didn’t expect that this month he would be settling into his fourth term as adjutant general.
“When I joined, the game plan was that I would serve my six-year obligation and then get out,” said Spears, a major general. “Forty-seven years later, no one has told me my time is over.”
The 69-year-old Spears, who took the oath of office for the fourth time Wednesday, said there will be plenty to keep him busy during his new four-year term.
At the top of his to-do list are:
• Deployment of the 1,800 soldiers in the 218th Brigade Combat Team to Afghanistan. It’s the largest, single unit to head overseas in S.C. Guard history.
• Finding money to repair and renovate most of the state’s 65 armories. Officials estimate the bill could total $60 million.
• Keeping up recruiting and retention figures for both the Army and Air National Guard
• Ensuring the state’s Emergency Management Division is ready for potential disasters, a must for a coastal state like South Carolina
But Spears, who’s only the third adjutant general in the past 60 years, might find himself in a battle with the Legislature and Gov. Mark Sanford over whether his job should be elective or appointive.
Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to give the governor the power to appoint constitutional officers, including the adjutant general. South Carolina and Vermont are the only states where the governor doesn’t appoint the adjutant general.
FAREWELLS, NEW JETS
This spring’s departure of the Newberry-based brigade for Afghanistan is just the latest chapter in the role the Guard has played since Sept. 11.
About 80 percent of the 10,500 soldiers and airmen in the Guard have been mobilized for federal duty as S.C. units have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Spears, who’s been to Afghanistan twice to visit S.C. troops, said the 218th’s soldiers will be challenged by the extreme hot and cold weather, mountainous terrain, and an enemy that vows to retake the country.
“We want them to take care of themselves, take care of their buddies and make sure all of them come home safely,” Spears said.
Despite the Pentagon’s reliance on the Guard and Reserve to fight two wars, recruiting and retention of soldiers remains high, Spears said.
The Army side of the S.C. Guard is at 100 percent of its authorized strength of 9,200 soldiers, ranking it among the top eight states in recruiting, Spears said.
The S.C. Air Guard, which has been hit with a recent wave of retirements, is at 93.4 percent of its authorized strength of about 1,200 airmen.
The Air Guard, though, is growing. It expects to add 325 more airmen to maintain and fly 10 F-16 fighters that are being added to the 169th Fighter Wing. The Air Guard also will be training junior airmen under a new Air Force program that’s to be up and running by the fall of 2011.
On the Air Guard’s horizon, Spears added, is switching to the Air Force’s newest stealth fighter, the F-35. “I’m 99.9 percent certain we’ll get the F-35,” Spears said.
The Air Force expects to field its first F-35s from “2009 to 2025 and beyond,” said Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Thomas.
Although the S.C. Air Guard is “early in the list to get the aircraft, it is likely still years out,” Thomas added.
APPOINT VS. ELECT
Spears, a Republican who won re-election last November with 58 percent of the vote, believes the present practice of electing an adjutant general has served South Carolina well.
Adjutants general don’t have to meet the military service or education requirements of active-duty general officers, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a military think tank. Governors even can appoint junior officers.
Spears, who’s the longest-serving adjutant general in the United States, said he and his most immediate predecessors, T. Eston Marchant and James Dozier, were general officers before being elected.
The adjutant general should be appointed because he reports to the governor, not the Defense Department, said Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer.
“The governor effectively becomes commander and is in charge of the Guard anytime a state of emergency is declared,” Sawyer said. “We don’t think it makes sense to have them separate.
“It brings up the whole issue of accountability,” Sawyer said. “Who’s the Guard accountable to?”
Republican Rick Quinn, a consultant to Spears’ latest campaign and a former House majority leader, said tradition and voter preference side with Spears.
Various polls over the years show “many people like the opportunity to vote for constitutional officers,” Quinn said.
And, Quinn added, South Carolinians would have to approve elimination of voting for constitutional officers.
“It’s an interesting dynamic,” Quinn said.
© Copyright 2007, The State
