Report: Guard, Reserves using hardware their grandfathers used David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Thursday February 7, 2008



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Print This Email This The final report of the independent Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, released last week, warned that the United States is unprepared for natural disasters or terrorist attacks because the Guard and Reserves lack adequate training and equipment. According to 13 News in Hampton Roads, VA, "The Commission on the Guard and Reserve says soldiers use hardware their grandfathers used, and that so much gear is in Iraq, nine out of ten units do not have what they need to do their jobs, so they cannot defend against a major attack here at home." Units are even less combat-ready now than they were a year ago, when the Commission reported that 88% of units were unprepared for combat. The report, which is the result of a comprehensive two-year study mandated by Congress, urges that "Congress and the Department of Defense must make major changes in laws, rules, regulations, personnel, and funding systems in order to sustain an operational reserve." Seeing "no reasonable alternative to the nation's continuing increased reliance on its reserve components," the Commission recommended that those components be upgraded to serve as a fully operational part of national defense. However, it warned that the price tag would be high. The Pentagon has already promised that the Guard and Reserves will get more up-to-date equipment. However, that alone will not address the further strains that the war in Iraq has caused for the entire Armed Forces.

This video is from 13 News, WVEC Hampton Roads, broadcast February 7, 2008.









