Deployments hurt state's readiness

There’s no end to the sacrifices asked of our armed forces to fight the war in Iraq. While the U.S. Senate considers revoking President Bush’s authorization to wage the war, the fighting slogs on, with troops dying, rotations extended and breaks cut short. The armed services are pushed to the limit.
These sacrifices affect everyone, but often in unseen ways. As Gov. M. Jodi Rell made clear in her recent trip to Washington, D.C., for the National Governors Association meeting, the state is making do with fewer National Guard troops and less equipment. The people and paraphernalia are needed overseas, and so Connecticut does without.
The situation is untenable. “We’re finding that many times, the remaining equipment that is left in our state is not enough to continue to do the exercises that we deem necessary for training,” Rell said. So if an emergency hits, not only could manpower be in short supply, the state might have to get by with undertrained personnel.
A common criticism of the war effort is that our leaders ask no common sacrifice. The entire burden of what the president has called the great struggle of our time is borne by our troops and their families, while the rest of us are told only to keep the economy going strong — a trip to the mall in the flag-adorned SUV is all it takes. There’s plenty of truth to this argument, and clearly a disproportionate share is put on the shoulders of an unlucky few. But as Rell points out, the extended deployments of people and equipment affects everyone.
Connecticut is not tornado-prone, not in a hurricane zone and not often hit by mudslides or avalanches. An earthquake is not likely to shake People’s Bank’s Bridgeport headquarters. But emergencies happen, whether it’s a debilitating snowstorm (still possible this season) or an overwhelming flood (ask people who have lived in the Valley their whole lives about that one), and citizens count on their government to help them in times of crisis. It’s up to our national leaders to figure out a way to allow our National Guard to fulfill its promise while tending to its obligations overseas.
Rell said she was shown sympathy, but nothing concrete in terms of dollars or promises. This is not good enough. According to reports, about 950 of the state’s 5,000 Guard troops have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and three of six units have taken their equipment, which could include helicopters, engineering equipment and other gear, depending on the mission. Guard officials insist they have enough troops and materiel to respond to a crisis, but concede training could be a problem. That acknowledgement alone ought to be enough to spur action.