Treat members of guard respectfully

2/25/07

There are few people from which our society asks more than members of the National Guard. In addition to serving a variety of rescue and relief functions at home, they stand a greater-than-ever chance of being called to serve in Iraq. With regular forces pushed to the limit, the Guard has been used to fill the gaps. And because insurgents and improvised explosive devices don't discriminate between different services, it is a potentially deadly mission every time they are sent overseas.

But as was reported last week, more than one-fifth of the 500 Connecticut National Guard soldiers of the 102nd Infantry currently serving in war zones are owed thousands of dollars in incentive pay that is months overdue. Guard officials have vowed quick action, but it never should have come to this point. The troops have to deal with enough as it is.

Some people join the Guard as a chance to serve their country without (hopefully) going too far from home. But money often plays a major part in the decision-making process. People who volunteer to extend their duty beyond the customary 24 months are helping an armed forces that is depleted and facing an increasingly hard time attracting recruits. But these are the very people who are being short-changed their bonus pay.

With the dangers of Iraq and Afghanistan well known, just finding people to volunteer for duty has become costly and time-consuming. The Army has repeatedly lowered standards, accepting people into the service who wouldn't have merited a second look in peacetime, all to fill in for our beleaguered troops overseas. The National Guard as well has had to shoulder far more burden than would otherwise be expected.

Unlike with members of the regular armed forces, families of Guard troops are often unprepared for extended overseas deployment, and support systems for people back home can be harder to come by. They deserve the support of their government or, barring that, at least timely paychecks.