– Over 267,000 men and women of the National Guard have been deployed since September 11, 2001.
– 35 states have deployed more troops to Iraq and Afghanistan than to any war since World War II
– From now to the end of Bush’s term in office, almost half of the troops deploying will be from the National Guard and of those, nearly half will be from units on their second tour.
Of all the statistics and stories I have read on this issue, many from the work I do with Veterans For America, one sticks out.
This fall, half of New Jersey’s National Guard will be in Iraq, half.
What happens if there is another attack this fall at the end of the election cycle and half of New Jersey’s National Guard is gone?
What happens if a hurricane strikes the Jersey Shore?
What happens if the National Guard is needed and they simply aren’t there?
Other issues with Iraq get more attention, but the silent destruction of our National Guard and the impact of this administration’s policies on the future of the guard are often over-looked. As this administration breaks with long-standing Guard policy, like the fact that the Guard used to give five times as much time at home as deployed, morale and enrollment in the Guard will surely decline.
It could get worse. John McCain’s plan for Iraq means continued deployment of our National Guard overseas. The fact that rates of PTSD are higher among National Guard members or the fact that so many National Guard families have to rely on food stamps to survive, none of that matters to John McCain.
Thanks to a man who wouldn’t go overseas when he was a member of the National Guard, we now have torn apart our nation’s oldest military force and will be paying for it for years to come.
Here is the document George Bush checked and signed when he joined the National Guard.
“Never before in our country’s history or in its own 370 year history has the National Guard been a front line force in a foreign war.”
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p>Say what you want about W and the war without end, but don’t dishonor the National Guard. The Guard fought in the Mexican American War, Spanish American War, First World War, Second World War, Korean War and the First Iraq War. These men, and later women, served on the front lines of American forces overseas.
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p>Give them their due.
That’s the point of the post!
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p>Under this administration, instead of having five years between one year deployments, they are being sent every other year.
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p>But never before have we relied on them as the “front line” force in a foreign war is not a criticism of the Guard but a fact as it relates to the overuse of the Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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p>In World War II, for example, the Guard fought but at no point during the war were half of the troops being deployed members of the National Guard and at not point were National Guard members doing back to back tours.
…you’ll wind up like the prez.
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p>“In World War II, for example, the Guard fought but at no point during the war were half of the troops being deployed members of the National Guard and at not point were National Guard members doing back to back tours.”
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p>Where’d that stat come from? Our own Yankee Division deployed in both WW I and WW II.
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p>”Tours”? The idea of “Tours” started with the Vietnam War. The soldier was in for the duration in other wars.
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p>”Over There, Over There
Send the word, send the word,
Over There
That the Yanks are coming,
The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum tumming everywhere
So prepare,
Say a Prayer
Send the word,
Send the word to beware
We’ll be over, we’re coming over.
And we won’t be back till it’s over over there!“
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p>-George M. Cohan
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p>