“It’s like synchronizing an opera,” said Tony Skivo <strong>of</strong> the working group. “Everyone has to be brought in at the right time.” It’s been an opera with little drama so far for the North Carolina <strong>National</strong> <strong>Guard</strong>. New equipment has been arriving at an accelerating pace for about a year, said Austin, the state logistics director. The state was pushed to the front <strong>of</strong> the new equipment receiving line because its 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team is preparing to deploy to Iraq this spring. A steady stream <strong>of</strong> new gear for the 30 th includes night vision equipment, thermal sights, radios and new trucks. The state has received some armored Humvees for training purposes, as well as WIN-T communications equipment and Prophet electronic warfare gear for the coming deployment, Austin said. “We have been building new maintenance shops” to accommodate new maintenance requirements and because some new equipment wouldn’t fit into old work bays, she said. “It’s been challenging,” Austin said, but North Carolina <strong>Guard</strong> leaders are determined to make it work. “If parking is an issue, we’ll find a place to park it. If security is a problem, we’ll find a way to secure it. North Carolina’s not going to turn away any piece <strong>of</strong> equipment the Army throws at us,” Austin declared. Second in the equipment receiving line after states with units that are preparing to deploy to war are states with C-CMRFs — Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear-Consequence Management Response Forces. These units are critical for responding to terrorist attacks and other disasters in the United States. Hurricane-prone states are third in line, Fortune said. They’re followed by states with units that are likely, but not yet designated, to deploy overseas. This $34 billion equipment tidal wave was a long time coming. It took years for Blum and Lt. Gen Clyde Vaughn, director <strong>of</strong> the Army <strong>Guard</strong>, to convince the Army and “educate” the Congress about the <strong>Guard</strong>’s dire equipment needs, Brown said. The <strong>National</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> Association <strong>of</strong> the United States was part <strong>of</strong> that effort, too, returning to Capitol Hill year after year with long lists <strong>of</strong> unfunded <strong>Guard</strong> equipment requirements. “The <strong>National</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> is being used more that at any time since World War II,” Brown said. Finally, the Army now recognizes that <strong>Guard</strong> units “have to be equipped just as well as the active component,” he said. Defense Secretary Gates has been convinced, too. “Spending on <strong>Guard</strong> equipment, critical because <strong>of</strong> its dual use for overseas and homeland missions, is projected to be at $32 billion over the next four fiscal years,” Gates told cheering <strong>Guard</strong>smen at the <strong>National</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> Association conference in Baltimore last September. “As a result, nearly 80 percent <strong>of</strong> Army <strong>National</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> equipment on hand will be fully modernized by the end <strong>of</strong> fiscal year 2013. For the first time ever, the <strong>Guard</strong> will receive the latest equipment provided to the active force, a change that is long overdue,” Gates said. With Gates on board, what could go wrong? Well, the defense budget for one thing. With the U.S. economy in recession and a new president in <strong>of</strong>fice, how solid are the promises to spend tens <strong>of</strong> billions <strong>of</strong> dollars on <strong>Guard</strong> equipment over the next five to seven years? “You can really only count on the execution year,” Brown said, referring to the 2009 budget that’s already been locked into law. The 2010 budget seems pretty safe, too. It’s in the final stages <strong>of</strong> drafting and is probably far enough along that it won’t be changed dramatically, he said. It will be sent to Congress in early February. But 2011 and beyond are a lot less certain. “In the out years, things could be at risk,” Brown conceded. n 46 at ease
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