All 50 Governors push back against National Guard Cuts

State governors and key players in the ArmyNational Guard community are pushing back against the Obama administration’s proposed defense cuts, saying they will hurt the number of guard members available to respond to emergencies inside the U.S. 

The restructuring — part of the Fiscal Year 2015 budget to be unveiled by the White House on Tuesday — calls for cutting the nation’s existing guard force by 20,000 soldiers, a move that the head of the National Guard Association of the United States says could result in states no longer being able to send reinforcements to each other within the first 24 hours of future natural disasters.

Read the Governors' Letter

The plan was simply “not well thought out,” retired ArmyNational Guard Adjutant General Gus Hargett told The Washington Times in an interview.

His assessment was echoed last week by governors of all 50 states, who wrote a letter to President Obama saying they could live with Guard force cuts of 5,000 soldiers that would bring the force back to levels before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But they would “strongly oppose” the administration’s plan to shrink the force from the current 355,000 down to 335,000 soldiers. 

While media attention has focused on other military cuts announced by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last week, state governors are seeking to draw equal attention to cuts proposed for the ArmyNational Guard and Reserves.

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