Costs Soar For National Guard Training

Despite $128M Price Tag For Revamp, Officials Say Training Is Being Done "On The Cheap"

(AP)  Revamping the Army National Guard training program so soldiers can spend more time at home will cost at least $128 million this year, and officials say they need nearly double that amount next year to properly train and equip their forces, The Associated Press has learned.

After struggling for more than a year and a half to condense the training process, Guard leaders have managed to chop months off the time citizen soldiers must spend away from their jobs and families due to deployments to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Until early 2007, Guard combat brigades were training for up to six months - much of it away from home - and then would spend 12 months to 15 months in the war zone. The average time has been slashed to a bit more than 13 months, including about a month of training at home, another 40 to 70 days at the formal Army training center and roughly 10 months on the battlefront.

Spurred on by the Pentagon's promise that Guard deployments would be limited to one year, military leaders pledged to spread some of the required pre-deployment war preparation into the soldiers' routine weekend and weeklong training exercises each year.

That would allow soldiers to train, get required medical tests and do some paperwork while at home for much of the 12 months prior to heading to one of 10 mobilization centers for their final prewar training and equipment.

Depending on the size and type of unit, soldiers now are spending anywhere from two weeks to more than two months at the mobilization center, where they get their final, most up-to-date training. The last weeks could include the latest data on counterinsurgency efforts and methods to find and defeat roadside bombs, as well as instruction on new weapons or the latest mine-resistant vehicles.

The spike in spending will fund the hiring of roughly 2,000 trainers for the Guard who will be needed to ensure that the Guard members get as much training as they can during that one-year period before they mobilize. Already, according to Col. Rob Moore, chief of training for the Army National Guard, nearly 1,500 of those slots have been filled.

Moore said it will cost at least $128 million this year to hire the additional trainers and set up a small command unit in each state and U.S. territory. All those units, which comprise a small number of people who are in charge of the trainers, already have been created.

As of now, he said, many of the trainers are in place. But because the active duty Army also has units constantly training to go to war, there is a huge demand for trainers and the services have been competing for them.

In addition, the Guard has spent about $5 million to buy cell phones, laptop computers and other supplies for each state.

"We're really doing this on the cheap," said Moore, who added that the current funding only allows units to begin training for their deployment a year before they are scheduled to go. It would be better, he said, if they could begin two years before deployment.

To do the full training required, he said, would nearly double the cost to about $250 million.

Early last year, military leaders warned that making the new training program work would require time, money and much more coordination among beleaguered states that already desperately swap equipment to handle hurricanes and other disasters.

"It took a little while to get the plans out and just how we were going to do this," Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, the Director of the Army National Guard, said in an interview. Now, he said, the changes are moving forward well, and states "are gathering confidence in the program."

According to Brig. Gen. C. Stewart Rodeheaver, 75 days is about the longest training session needed at the mobilization centers, and that would involve either high-tech or full combat operations instruction for a brigade or aviation unit going to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Rodeheaver, who as deputy commander at First Army oversees the training and mobilization of Guard forces, said the average training time is 40 to 45 days. And some smaller, specialized units - such as a postal company - may require even less.

One of the biggest changes, Rodeheaver said, has been to improve coordination with the states to schedule training when the unit is all together and the equipment is ready.

In previous years, training had to be delayed or repeated at times because all the equipment or personnel slots were not filled.

"A year ago, we didn't even have the equipment to move to the units," Vaughn said in an interview in his Pentagon office. "Modern equipment was in such short supply." Now, while there is still not enough to fully equip every unit, there is enough for the training, he said.

Even now, there may be some variations in the states, as Guard units begin preparing to go to Iraq and Afghanistan in the next year.

In some states, said Vaughn, the adjutant generals want to spread the training throughout the year, adding a few days to the regular weekend stints and extending the annual two-week session to three weeks.

In other cases, however, he said employers have urged the military to consolidate the training and do one longer session just before the soldiers leave for the mobilization centers.

"Some employers want a clean break," said Vaughn, adding that they don't want to have their employees keep leaving and returning for chunks of time over a 12-month period.

As of Aug. 12, First Army, which has more than 8,800 trainers working at the 10 mobilization centers, has trained nearly 79,000 troops, of which nearly 60,000 are Army Guard and Reserve soldiers. The others include Air Force, Navy and Marine forces, as well as some 1,500 Canadian troops.

Officials said they expect to train another 23,000 by the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30. The mobilization centers are located across the country, including heavily used sites at Camp Shelby, Miss., and Fort McCoy, Wis. The trainers can provide between three to 10 weeks of training depending on the size and type of unit heading to the war front.

[usclimey]

87 Percentage of Humvees in Iraq not equipped with armour capable of stopping AK-47 rounds and protecting against roadside bombs and landmines at the end of 2003.

Posted by IOWEIGN

5 seconds - the amount of time it''ll take me to sign my son''s British Nationality papers if anyone even thinks about bringing the draft back over Iraq.

[grandesign]

Quit letting the Pentagon drag us all over the world when others should defend themselves.
Posted by linymo at 12:37 PM : Aug 19, 2008

I heard McCain at Saddleback. "We must confront and eliminate evil where ever it is." He said so in a passionate voice, telling us with his conviction level that it is America''s task to resolve the world''s problems. Follow the axis of evil, and that is where we shall go. Onward Christian Soldier.

[ioweign]

Training? How much training does bullet-catching take?

Here, put on this uniform and body armor, say "Yes sir," a lot and ride around in an up-armored Humvee until attacked.

There! I just trained the next deployment to Iraq. Posted by Nancy_Naive at 01:28 PM : Aug 19, 2008


OMG you really live up to your name. And to think my son risked his life for the likes of you!

Posted by GrammaWhamma at 05:11 AM : Aug 20, 2008



And to think Nancy was on active duty serving when you were *** around...

[ioweign]

George Bush:A soldier''s best friend

40,000 Number of soldiers in Iraq seven months after start of the war still without Interceptor vests, designed to stop a round from an AK-47.

$60m Estimated cost of outfitting those 40,000 soldiers with Interceptor vests.

62 Percentage of gas masks that army investigators discovered did Not work properly in autumn 2002.

90 Percentage of detectors which give early warning of a biological weapons attack found to be defective.

87 Percentage of Humvees in Iraq not equipped with armour capable of stopping AK-47 rounds and protecting against roadside bombs and landmines at the end of 2003.

[ioweign]

George Bush: Military man

1972 Year that Bush walked away from his pilot duties in the Texas National Guard, Nearly two years before his six-year obligation was up.

$3,500 Reward a group of veterans offered in 2000 for anyone who could confirm Bush''s Alabama guard service.

600-700 Number of guardsmen who were in Bush''s unit during that period.

0 Number of guardsmen from that period who came forward with information about Bush''s guard service.

0 Number of minutes that President Bush, Vice-President *** Cheney, the Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, the assistant Defense Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, the former chairman of the Defense Policy Board, Richard Perle, and the White House Chief of Staff, Karl Rove - the main proponents of the war in Iraq -served in combat (combined).

0 Number of principal civilian or Pentagon staff members who planned the war who have immediate family members serving in uniform in Iraq.

8 Number of members of the US Senate and House of Representatives who have a child serving in the military.

10 Number of days that the Pentagon spent investigating a soldier who had called the President "a joke" in a letter to the editor of a Newspaper.

46 Percentage increase in sales between 2001 and 2002 of GI Joe figures (children''s toys).

[grammawhamma]

Training? How much training does bullet-catching take?

Here, put on this uniform and body armor, say "Yes sir," a lot and ride around in an up-armored Humvee until attacked.

There! I just trained the next deployment to Iraq. Posted by Nancy_Naive at 01:28 PM : Aug 19, 2008


OMG you really live up to your name. And to think my son risked his life for the likes of you!

[eddom949]

Interesting, but we''re in a free market economy, last I checked the military did not have control of the means of production, and the government control over the markets, so no, it''s not Communism, and besides, if the Accountants decide to tally that up, what they may not count, is that people are willing and able to help, and some even don''t accept money for their technological services (such as Open Source software).

[wogerwabbit]

$128 million? In this day and age? That''s pocket change. Good Lord... I must have at least that much hidden here in my pocket lint. God forbid our government should spend some money on something that actually benefits the American people in general. We can''t be having any of that "fact" based BS in this neocon fantasy world we''re living in... that would only confuse the little people.

Note: deacon20081 ... we were apparently in the army at the same time ... you''re right, they were the privileged ones ... and I envied and loved them at the same time ... as I love today''s brothers in arms (If you don''t know what I''m talking about, then you should just be silent and suitably humble that we have outstanding citizens such as these defending your undeserving a$$es). NG''s are frontline troops in the new world order and are not available for domestic emergencies in any capacity ... which is why we paid Blackwater in New Orleans to do their job. I''ll admit, I felt a little resentment then, but I can''t imagine the s**t they''re going through now. God bless them all ... and have vengence upon the war makers in drycleaned suits. Amen.

[deacon20081]

Just let the fat guys like me protect our country! I can scream pretty loud.
Posted by truthislife1

I Love the New Army..so did they give you a Stress Card? Oh Drill Sargent... I am stressed...I have to go sleep now...... ( Dead in Nam in 72 Hours )

[deacon20081]

While I was ARMY we trained National Gaurd troops. They attended basic Training and Advanced Individual Training with along with Regular Army. After which they went home to mama and we went to Viet Nam.
Two weeks a year and two days a month did not prepare them for combat!!!!!! So what is different now?

[truthislife1]

Just let the fat guys like me protect our country! I can scream pretty loud.

[middleman8]

All this costly, fancy war machine is ridiculous.
Just get with the modern world and start training Suicide bombers.
cheaper and you won''t have to supply a return ticket.

[flajoe1]

Is the guy in the background of the picture wearing a Vietnam era helmet? If he is the Nat Guard is really hurting for equipment.

I saw an interview with Warren Buffet the richest man in America in which he stated the wealthy should be paying the bulk of the taxes because they are receiving maxim benefit from our system of government.

But what does he know%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026 Crazy rich guy%u2026%u2026 betcha he%u2019s a closet commie..

[missingamerica]

@ ibsteve2u,

You do realize that IRS data indicate that the wealthiest 5% of taxpayers (ranked by Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), counting only returns with positive AGI) paid roughly 60% of all income taxes; the bottom 50% of taxpayers account for just 3% of income taxes paid.[17]- IRS Statistics of Income Division. "Tables 5 and 6, Individual Income Tax Rates and Tax Shares". [IRS]

These are facts. You obviously dont know what your talking about.

Posted by infe5 at 03:15 PM : Aug 19, 2008

Are you intentionally being dense? My point was and remains that those "wealthiest" receive the most benefit from our nation''s infrastructure and defense.

And so they SHOULD bear the most burden.

Let me use an analogy: If you sell insurance, are you going to charge the guy who drives the 2008 Bugatti Veyron the same as you charge the guy who drives the 1974 Ford Pinto?

It is all about value received...the "wealthiest 5%" that you refer to have MUCH more to lose in the event we cannot defend them.

Likewise, they use our infrastructure much more heavily - if not personally, then third-person as those corporations whose stocks they hold punish our highways with truck traffic moving raw materials and finished goods...and on and on and on.

Again, think value received...particularly that value they receive from our national defense, because you KNOW the wealthy make fabulous chickenhawks, but they and their offspring are ALWAYS conspicuously absent from the battlefront.

[bobnjersey]

[You do realize that IRS data indicate that the wealthiest 5% of taxpayers (ranked by Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), counting only returns with positive AGI) paid roughly 60% of all income taxes; the bottom 50% of taxpayers account for just 3% of income taxes paid. These are facts. You obviously dont know what your talking about.]
[Posted by infe5 at 03:15 PM : Aug 19, 2008]

but not all the facts.

who is paying the remaining 37% that''s not accounted for in your stats above?

and what percentage of total wealth does that top 5% represent? is it greater than or less than 60% of all wealth in the us?

[sistatee-2009]

"Revamping the Army National Guard training program so soldiers can spend more time at home will cost at least $128 million this year,"

Cheney siphons that much out of the Iraqi/Halliburton prostitute fund every day.

[lewiston14]

How much of our hard earned money will be used in the name of protecting us instead of providing for us?

If we can spend 7 trillion dollars killing foreigners, we can surely spend some of it taking care of our own right here at home.

Bush cant hear you nor does he care. Just keep sending that money. We all ready in the worlds eyes look like fools so act the part

[infe5]

@ ibsteve2u,

You do realize that IRS data indicate that the wealthiest 5% of taxpayers (ranked by Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), counting only returns with positive AGI) paid roughly 60% of all income taxes; the bottom 50% of taxpayers account for just 3% of income taxes paid.[17]- IRS Statistics of Income Division. "Tables 5 and 6, Individual Income Tax Rates and Tax Shares". Internal Revenue Service.

These are facts. You obviously dont know what your talking about.

[notfooled]

This bottomless sewer pit where our leaders throw our money away keeping us endlessly in a state of war or near war for the sake of funneling money to the military industrial complex is simply ridiculous.

How much of our hard earned money will be used in the name of protecting us instead of providing for us?

If we can spend 7 trillion dollars killing foreigners, we can surely spend some of it taking care of our own right here at home.

[lovegetpeace]

Viva Private Enterprise - the Profiteers!