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| | **Guard Demonstrating Versatility, Capability, Chief Says**      |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA\                                          |  |
| | American Forces Press Service                                    |  |
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| | WASHINGTON, May 4, 2006 -- Over the past year, the National      |  |
| | Guard has demonstrated not only its ability to be the nation\'s  |  |
| | \"minutemen\" and respond to calls immediately, but also its     |  |
| | ability to sustain several different missions at once, the chief |  |
| | of the National Guard Bureau said here yesterday.                |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | \"It is a different National Guard than existed five or six      |  |
| | years ago,\" Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum said at the second      |  |
| | hearing of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves.    |  |
| | \"It is not only not your grandfather\'s National Guard, it\'s   |  |
| | not your older brother\'s National Guard. It\'s not the same     |  |
| | National Guard that existed on the 10th of September, 2001.\"    |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Since the war on terror began, the National Guard has sent       |  |
| | soldiers and airmen to Iraq and Afghanistan to participate in    |  |
| | all aspects of combat, support and training, Blum said. The      |  |
| | Guard also provides counterterrorism forces in the Horn of       |  |
| | Africa and stability and support operations for all the regional |  |
| | geographic combatant commanders around the world, he said.       |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, the    |  |
| | Guard produced 50,000 servicemembers in a little more than a     |  |
| | week to respond to that disaster while still maintaining its     |  |
| | contributions to the war on terror, Blum said. On Sept. 2, 2005, |  |
| | when President Bush visited New Orleans, the National Guard had  |  |
| | more than 135,000 soldiers and airmen deployed in Mississippi,   |  |
| | Louisiana, and around the world, he said.                        |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | \"It was probably the Guard\'s finest hour,\" he said.           |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | The National Guard\'s ability to respond to Katrina was not      |  |
| | negatively affected by its commitments to the war on terror.     |  |
| | During the height of the relief efforts, the Guard still had     |  |
| | more than 100,000 available servicemembers around the country,   |  |
| | Blum said.                                                       |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | \"I don\'t want somebody to think that we can only do            |  |
| | hurricanes, or we can only fight the global war on terrorism,\"  |  |
| | he said. \"I think we\'ve demonstrated we can do all of those    |  |
| | things simultaneously rather well.\"                             |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | The National Guard should not become a separate service, but     |  |
| | should remain a federal reserve and maintain a balanced mission  |  |
| | of defending the nation at home and abroad, Blum said.           |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | \"Defending the homeland is a noble mission, and we consider it  |  |
| | our number-one priority, but it\'s not the only thing we do, and |  |
| | it should not be the only thing we should prepare to do,\" he    |  |
| | said.                                                            |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | The National Guard has a presence across the nation, wherever    |  |
| | there is a significant population buildup, Blum said. In each    |  |
| | state, the Guard has pledged to make sure governments have       |  |
| | access to 10 essential capabilities: command and control,        |  |
| | aviation, engineering, civil support teams, security forces,     |  |
| | medical, transportation, maintenance, logistics, and             |  |
| | communications. The component is meeting this commitment and,    |  |
| | right now, no state has less than 50 percent capability in these |  |
| | areas, he said.                                                  |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Deploying to support the war on terror has had an effect on the  |  |
| | National Guard, but it has been a positive effect, Blum said.    |  |
| | The Guard is now seeing its best-led, best-trained,              |  |
| | best-equipped, combat-experienced troops of all time, he said.   |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | \"They can take that experience, that training, and that kind of |  |
| | know-how and commitment and apply it to a problem here,\" he     |  |
| | said. \"That\'s quite powerful when the governor calls.\"        |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | The fiscal 2005 National Defense Authorization Act created the   |  |
| | Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. The commission is |  |
| | charged by Congress to recommend any needed changes in law and   |  |
| | policy to ensure that the guard and reserves are organized,      |  |
| | trained, equipped, compensated and supported to best meet the    |  |
| | U.S. national security requirements.                             |  |
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