Murray questions readiness of National Guard units heading to war

WASHINGTON — Washington Sen. Patty Murray questioned a top general Wednesday on whether National Guard units are adequately prepared to fight the war in Iraq.

Murray, a Democrat and senior member of the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee, visited a National Guard base near Tacoma on Monday. She said the "stress and anger" among Guard and Army Reserve members "was at an all-time high."

Guard members are concerned about a lack of equipment and frustrated at the short notice they receive before being called to active duty, Murray said. In many cases they are simply not prepared — mentally or physically — to return to Iraq, she added.

"I'm concerned we are sending people back into conflict, especially with invisible wounds that they can't identify," Murray told the head of the Pentagon's National Guard Bureau during a Defense Appropriations subcommittee hearing.

Because of the short notification period, "those with invisible and visible wounds are not going to be ready to deploy," she said.

The lack of preparation time — in some cases just four weeks — poses significant problems for Guard and Reserve members in obtaining health care, preparing families for their departure and informing employers, Murray said.

Murray and other senators cited a study by the General Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, that found 90 percent of Guard units are not ready for deployment to Iraq due to a lack of training, equipment or rest.

Overall, Guard units in Washington state have a 45 percent shortfall in equipment, said Guard spokesman Lt. Keith Kosik. Washington state has about 8,500 troops in the Air and Army national guards.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Dierickx, of Klamath Falls, Ore., said he has completed three tours in Iraq with the National Guard. At home, his equipment dates as far back as 1953, said Dierickx, who attended Wednesday's hearing.

"If we left with what we have, we wouldn't be adequately prepared," he said in an interview.

Army Lt. Gen. Steven Blum told senators that although Guard units in the states face equipment shortages, they would not see such shortages in Iraq.

"Make no mistake about this," he told lawmakers, "no soldier, no unit for the National Guard, will go to war unready. It won't happen."

Blum said he and fellow generals in the Guard leadership already have held back units from going overseas when they thought they were not prepared. But he said there are problems with Guard units left at home because, among other things, they lack needed equipment.

Blum also said the Pentagon is trying to alert Guard and Reserve members "as far out forward as we possibly could [about redeployments] to give them some predictability in their lives."

Murray responded by saying that was not what she had heard at Camp Murray, the National Guard base south of Tacoma.

Blum told reporters it would take $38 billion over six years to bring equipment levels to 100 percent in Guard units in all the states and U.S. territories. At present, the overall average for fulfilled equipment needs domestically is 40 percent, he said.

"The National Guard, today, I am sorry to say, is not a fully ready force," he said.

But he said those problems can be solved if Congress made needed appropriations to buy new trucks, helicopters and night-vision devices.

Medill News Service reporter Laura Onstot contributed to this story.