COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Readiness, people and innovation are priorities for the National Guard, Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel told Guard supporters Sunday.
They are the National Guard's priorities because they support the priorities in the National Defense Strategy released earlier this year, the chief of the National Guard Bureau told members of the National Guard Association of Colorado.
"We are an integral part of the Joint Force in ensuring the National Defense Strategy is efficiently executed," Lengyel said.
The National Guard is the most operational it has been since the nation's oldest military force was established in 1636, Lengyel said. "It is not the same National Guard that I joined," he said. "We are indisputably an operational force."
The Guard's three primary missions support the National Defense Strategy priorities, Lengyel said: The Guard fights America's wars, it secures the homeland and it sustains enduring partnerships.
"In the warfight, because we're an operational force, we need to stay ready to continue to deploy on a regular basis," Lengyel said. "It is the first and most important thing we offer to the Department of Defense, and to our nation."
As he spoke, about 25,000 Guard members were deployed in support of every combatant command on every continent. An additional about 9,000 Guard members were on duty in the homeland, conducting missions ranging from safeguarding air sovereignty to support to the Department of Homeland Security on the Southwest border.
"As long as we keep our deployments predictable, we're going to be able to sustain that," Lengyel said. "When we deploy, we build our readiness. When we deploy, the active component is able to rebuild their readiness. So it is very important we continue to deploy our Air and Army formations."
Predictability is important to respect Guard members' families, civilian careers and employers, Lengyel said. "We've got to treat our Soldiers and Airmen, their families and their employers right," he said.
The National Guard builds partnerships at the local, state, federal and international level. Longstanding domestic interagency partnerships make the Guard more effective supporting civil authorities after natural or manmade disasters. And, last week, the Guard announced the 80th country to join the 25-year-old National Guard State Partnership Program, as Qatar was announced as a new partner with the West Virginia National Guard.
When it comes to the National Defense Strategy's emphasis on reform, the Guard also has much to offer, Lengyel said. "Because of who we are, because of the high-speed people we have in our formations, because of those civilian-acquired skills, we have the ability to be the most innovative force in the Department of Defense. Our special ingredient is the Citizen-Soldier and Citizen-Airmen that bring the unique skillsets they have."
The United States faces competition every day, Lengyel said, including cyber attacks, competition in the information domain or attempts by other countries to weaken our partnerships and alliances.
"It's a whole-of-government approach, not just the Department of Defense," he said. "We have to engage diplomatically, we have to engage economically, we have to be ready to engage with a military that is strong."
Lengyel is the 450,000-strong Army and Air National Guard's senior officer and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.