Panel says Pentagon must improve relations with states
Governors have been kept out of the loop on Guard equipment and personnel issues, independent commission finds in preliminary report.
To avoid repeating recent missteps that have frustrated relationships with state governments, the Defense Department and other federal agencies must better collaborate with governors on matters of national security and homeland defense, an independent commission said Monday.
The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, a panel authorized by Congress to examine military reserve forces and missions, made the recommendation in a 55-page preliminary report, which the panel released after completing the first three months of what will be a year-long review.
"This 90-day report is the road map we'll follow to arrive at a final report that is comprehensive, cogent, simply told, clearly argued, well documented, and that hopefully will be judged worthy of implementation," Commission Chairman Arnold Punaro said in a statement.
The report is relatively short on specifics but includes language critical of federal government decisions that the report said have kept governors out of the loop on major decisions affecting National Guard forces.
The commission cited only "anecdotal evidence" that the federal government has not regularly consulted with governors on Guard equipment and personnel issues.
But in the last year, the Bush administration has not alerted states of decisions to strip aircraft from Air National Guard bases, or its plans, now overturned, to trim the size of the Army National Guard, the report said. The commission also urged better collaboration between active-duty military and Guard units during domestic emergencies.
"We agree with the commission about the need to clear away bureaucratic cobwebs and to strengthen the Defense Department's relationship with the governors," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., co-chairman of the Senate's National Guard Caucus. "A fuller partnership would bring the Guard's relationship with the Pentagon into the 21st Century and would facilitate the way the Guard performs its missions."
House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee Chairman John McHugh, R-N.Y., said he is pleased that the commission's initial report provided a "stark description" of the challenges facing the military's reserve forces.
The report does not, however, offer any guidance on legislation moving in both chambers that would promote the chief of the National Guard Bureau to a four-star general and add this officer to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Congress created the commission in the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill, mandating an extensive review of the reserves.