Conference bill strengthens role of National Guard chief

Congress is poised to approve legislation that would boost the stature of the heavily deployed National Guard within the corridors of the Pentagon, a much-anticipated change that drew praise Monday from both the nation's governors and the independent Commission on the National Guard and Reserves.

The final fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill, a policy measure slated for floor action this week, would elevate the chief of the Defense Department's National Guard Bureau to four-star rank, putting that senior officer on par with the nation's highest-ranking military officials.

While the bill falls short of making the National Guard chief a member of the elite Joint Chiefs of Staff as many Guard supporters on Capitol Hill have sought, the measure would make the chief a "principal advisor" to the Defense secretary on non-federal National Guard forces and other matters.

"This was a compromise which we reached, recognizing the ... huge reliance that we have placed on the National Guard and the responsibilities that they have,"Senate Armed Services Chairman Levin explained Friday, the day after Senate and House conferees signed the conference report on the authorization bill.

"We wanted to reflect that responsibility and that reliance with the increase to a four-star. ... This was the compromise that we reached without putting that person on the Joint Chiefs at this time," Levin said.

In addition, the defense bill includes a requirement that the National Guard chief certify whether equipment slated for the National Guard makes it into the hands of Guard units. And it establishes the Guard as a so-called joint activity within the Defense Department, which means the National Guard Bureau will no longer be completely subordinate to the Army and Air Force.

The National Governors Association issued a statement Monday praised the provisions in the bill, saying they "would enhance the National Guard, including objectives to ensure the Guard is well-organized, trained, equipped, compensated and supported to accomplish its federal and state missions."

The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, which submitted a report to Congress earlier this year that recommended many of the steps in the bill, likewise lauded the conference measure.

"This legislation updates the status, structure, and activities of the National Guard Bureau and its leadership, and improves its ability to fulfill its homeland obligations," Commission Chairman Arnold Punaro said in a statement.

Meanwhile, governors also applauded the defense bill for repealing language in the FY07 defense authorization bill that allowed the president to federalize the National Guard during emergencies and other domestic disasters without the consent of affected governors.

"This will ensure that the authority for responding to disasters and local emergencies, along with managing the Guard within a state, remains with the governor," the NGA statement said.