BALTIMORE, Md. - The National Guard is playing an essential role domestically and overseas, Gen. Craig McKinley said here Friday, challenging leaders to do more with the same amount of money.
The chief of the National Guard Bureau spoke to about 700 leaders attending the National Guard's 2009 Domestic Operations Workshop a day after he returned from visiting National Guard troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The thanks and the kudos from the senior leadership, both Army and Air, for the services of the National Guard was most humbling," he said. "How appreciative the senior military leadership is overseas for the contributions of the National Guard.
"This mission would not be done nearly as capably or as professionally or as ably or as timely without [our] Soldiers and Airmen."
McKinley said the Guard is making vital domestic contributions and making sure it's prepared for a smorgasbord of potential challenges ranging from a significant attack on the homeland to problems on the nation's Southwest border:
- Southwest border. "The Southwest border is one of the most critical areas in the nation right now," McKinley said. "The nature of the drug cartels along the Southwest border are becoming increasingly menacing, and the linkages between drug cartels through organized crime back to terrorist organizations cannot be disputed."
- Domestic attacks. "We can [put] together groups from all over the country to come up with a massive footprint of a National Guard response to a critical event," McKinley said. "Any type of weapon of mass destruction will be so catastrophic to our cities that we'll need all of us fully engaged, head in the game, ready to support local agencies. We're not going to have a dress rehearsal for one of these things. We have got to use the time we have now to make sure that if - and I hope we don't ever have to use it - but if we have to use it, we're ready and able to do those things."
During national economic challenges, the National Guard needs to be particularly fiscally prudent, McKinley said.
"The Department of Defense certainly will be asked to pay its fair share to help in the domestic financial crisis," he said. "We are not immune from doing things more efficiently, more effectively, and [the secretary of defense] has said that, for now, people are off the table - they are the most our most highly prized asset, our most critical resource - but that we're going to have to look everywhere for efficiencies, everywhere to cut costs and make sure that we don't sacrifice our readiness. We will do our part."
The National Guard has a reputation for squeezing every drop out of defense dollars, McKinley said.
The way to find money to improve programs the National Guard wants to grow is to use existing resources more efficiently, he said. "Do things smarter, and not more expensively," he told attendees.
McKinley singled out some domestic National Guard capabilities for their contributions to protecting the homeland:
- Civil Support Teams. In the 2008 fiscal year, the National Guard's 53 certified CSTs conducted 70 immediate responses and 211 standby missions, the highest operational tempo since 2004, he said.
- CERFPs. In 2008, CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosives) Enhanced Response Force Packages supported the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and the 9/11 memorial dedication at the Pentagon. CERFPs supported the presidential inauguration this year.
"Nothing can get done domestically without National Guard support," McKinley said. "CST and CERFP is just another example."
Reflecting on his recent CENTCOM trip, McKinley talked about the successes he saw in Iraq. "My sense was a great deal of progress is being made in Iraq. We've made great strides," he said. "I know each day we hear about incidents, but those incidents have gone down dramatically, and it's really because of the tactics, techniques and procedures that our services are using in Iraq to root out the insurgency and to actually not only take territory but to hold territory and then to give it off to the Iraqis so that they can govern themselves."
McKinley said he saw many challenges in Afghanistan. "(It) is going to be a very difficult engagement. It will test all of us. The nature of the war in Afghanistan is going to be far different from the war "¦ in Iraq," he said.
McKinley said he also was struck by the National Guard's contribution to the seamless, integrated, joint nature of overseas operations. "Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean as they're headed eastbound, our Soldiers and our Airmen understand what they're getting into," he said. "They understand what set of orders they're on. They understand the command and control relationships that they're going to fall in on as soon as they get on the ground, and they get it, and there's no doubt in anybody's mind that that professional force that you live and work with at home is that same dedicated workforce overseas."
The National Guard is a team. "I emphasize the word "˜team,' " McKinley said. "There is no room in the organization for a non-team atmosphere."
The National Guard also is a member of a joint team that includes U.S. Northern Command and numerous other local, state and federal agencies. "The seam between us and [NORTHCOM] has narrowed extensively," McKinley said, urging leaders to continue attending Joint Task Force training at the combatant command's Colorado Springs headquarters.
"In the event of a natural disaster, an American citizen doesn't really care what servicemember comes to his or her door," McKinley said. "They just expect us to be trained properly, they expect us to be competent, they expect us to be able to solve their problems and restore security and stability."