Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, addresses the 132nd general conference of the National Guard Association of the United States in Austin, Texas, on Aug. 21, 2010. "Maybe for the first time in our 364 years, we're more operational than we've ever been for a sustained period," he said. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

AUSTIN, Texas — Civilian and military leaders said here on Saturday that the National Guard is America’s solution in a time of constrained budgets, increased missions and the necessity of developing greater partnership capacity.

“The National Guard has repeatedly proven itself to be ready and a very accessible force,” Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, told about 5,400 people attending the 132nd general conference of the National Guard Association of the United States here this week.

“We validated the Total Force concept by showing that the men and women in our formations are ready to answer the call to be mobilized, to deploy overseas, to return home and then to become prepared to do it all over again,” he said.

“We … are facing a potentially momentous year,” Dennis McCarthy, the assistant secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs said. “There are going to be some decisions made this year that will have significant impact on the way the young men and women, who are wearing the uniform right now and those who will follow them are going to serve over the next couple of decades.”

Leaders sketched a picture of an environment in which budgets will be tight, the operational tempo will remain high and the Defense Department is looking for ways to boost partnership capacity worldwide.

“We’ve got challenging times ahead,” McKinley said.

All agreed on three key points: The National Guard has reached a peak of excellence since a transformation that began, arguably, with Desert Storm/Desert Shield and certainly since the 9/11 attacks.

Although senior level discussions and a dozen studies are underway about the future of the Guard and Reserve, no one wants to see it return to the Cold War-era strategic reserve.

And the National Guard is a key part of America’s solution to changing times. “We are one of the most efficient, effective organizations in our nation today,” McKinley said.

Army Maj. Gen. David A. Sprynczynatyk, the adjutant general of the North Dakota National Guard, talks with National Guard troops assigned to Kosovo Forces 12 (KFOR 12), Multi-National Battle Group - East (MNBG-E), at Camp Bondsteel, near Urosevac in eastern Kosovo, on May 23, 2010, during a visit by National Guard and Defense Department leaders. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

PRISTINA, Kosovo – More than a decade into a National Guard mission to support Kosovo’s security and stability, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said he saw significant progress in the young nation during a late May visit here.

 “The mission has evolved over the years from a hot, kinetic fight to supporting … NATO forces … to a point where Kosovo can continue to be an independent country and can stand on its own two feet with good governance,” Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley said during his second visit here.

 “The reason I wanted to come back to Kosovo was to thank these forces – predominantly from North Dakota, but with 13 additional states – for this mission, because I think at times it does drop off the average American citizen’s radar screen,” McKinley said.

 Through the 1990s, this Delaware-sized new nation was wracked by Serbian repression of the Albanian majority and by an insurgency bent on independence. NATO intervention in 1999 ended the violence.

 U.S. troops, including the National Guard, have been part of a NATO and United Nations police force on the ground ever since. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008.

 “The National Guard is a tremendous instrument for smart power,” Missouri Sen. Christopher Bond said in March. Smart power is the application of a range of diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural tools to foreign-policy demands.

 Here in Kosovo, the National Guard assists in keeping the peace and helping a fledgling nation find its feet. This is one of numerous domestic and overseas missions simultaneously executed by Guardmembers who have seen a greatly increased operational tempo since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the Guard’s transformation from a strategic reserve to an operational force.

Reporters surround Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, in Ramdan, Israel, on May 26, 2010. A National Guard delegation is visiting the country to strengthen a relationship with the Israeli Defense Force's Home Front Command and observe National Level Exercise Turning Point 4. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

TEL AVIV, Israel – Sirens wailed across Israel and residents took shelter today during a nationwide civil defense exercise carefully watched by a delegation of National Guard leaders.

The communication, collaboration and coordination National Level Exercise Turning Point 4 revealed between the Israeli Defense Force’s Home Front Command – roughly analogous to the National Guard – and local agencies set an example for the Guard, said Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

“While not exact – because our states and governors and adjutants general are really our commanders and they have a state affiliation, whereas the Home Front Command is a national member of the Israeli Defense Force – what I saw here was the integrated way in which the Home Front Command works with their local officials, down to the mayors of the cities,” McKinley said.

“We are doing the same missions,” said Israeli Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, the HFC commander. “We try to help and support the civilian population. Our main counterpart in the United States is the National Guard.”

Golan said the HFC – which also is a reserve force – respects the professionalism of the National Guard, which has many of the same capabilities as the HFC.

Geopolitical reality has forced a high level of readiness on the HFC. “This is a very dangerous neighborhood,” McKinley said. “They’re under constant threat of attack. Being ready next month or next week is not an option. You must be ready today for any eventuality.”

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, right, listens as Army Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, acting director of the Army National Guard, testifiies before a March 24, 2010, hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON – With 2010 suicide numbers slightly above last year’s and coming off the worst January on record, the Army National Guard is emphasizing resilience, transition programs and the importance of asking for help.

“We are alarmed by the suicide rates we’re seeing inside the Army National Guard,” Army Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, the component’s acting director, told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense in March 24 testimony.

Suicide confounds easy explanation, and deployment might not be the whole answer.

“Almost half of the suicides we’re experiencing are from soldiers who haven’t even deployed,” Carpenter said. “There’s more to this than just the mobilization and deployment piece.”

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond talks with Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, director of the Air National Guard, before a March 24, 2010, hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense at which Wyatt testified in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON — National Guard leaders were on Capitol Hill Wednesday with a message from Guardsmen: we want to remain an operational reserve.

“The National Guard has repeatedly proven itself to be a ready, accessible force,” Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Defense.

“We have validated the Total Force concept by showing that the men and women in our formations are ready to answer the call to be mobilized to deploy overseas, return home and then become prepared to do it again and again.”

The Total Force concept includes a seamless integration of the active force, the Guard and the Reserve.

“The Citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen of your National Guard are adding value to America every day,” McKinley said. “Today’s men and women volunteer … fully expecting to be deployed.

“This shift in expectation is a central aspect of the National Guard’s shift to being a fully operational force and no longer merely a strategic reserve. Indeed, the Soldiers and Airmen of your National Guard now serve with that expectation and are proud of it. They want to remain central players in the nation’s defense and would indeed be resistant to any move to return to a role limited to strictly strategic reserve.”

Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, the director of the Air National Guard, right, briefs the Advisory Panel on Department of Defense Capabilities for support of Civil Authorities After Certain Incidents in Arlington, Va., on March 17, 2010, while Army Maj. Gen. Mike Sumrall, the director of the National Guard Bureau's Joint Staff, left, and Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, listen. A new threat environment means a transformed National Guard should maintain its force following draw downs in Iraq and Afghanistan, McKinley told the panel. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. – A new threat environment means a transformed National Guard should maintain its force following drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Guard’s highest-ranking general said here Wednesday.

“The National Guard must remain a full-spectrum force, available to our governors to assist when disaster strikes and available to the president to execute his duties as commander-in-chief,” Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, told the congressionally mandated Advisory Panel on Department of Defense Capabilities for Support of Civil Authorities After Certain Incidents.

The Air National Guard has been at war almost 20 years – since Desert Storm and the no-fly zone enforcement that followed until the Iraq War – while the Army National Guard has fought almost a decade, since the attacks of 9/11. The National Guard has transformed from a strategic reserve to an operational force.

“We have proven we can operate side-by-side with our active component brothers and sisters on the battlefield,” McKinley said, “and, in doing so, have built a National Guard that is better-trained, better-equipped and better-led than at any other time.”

Throughout its 373-year history, the National Guard has typically been put back on the shelf following major conflicts. Training fades, skills atrophy, equipment ages, and readiness recedes.

Not this time, McKinley urged.

“The current threat environment does not allow us to accept this risk,” he said. “Our enemies can strike us here at home. We are unlikely to get advance warning.”

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON – U.S. senators applauded the National Guard’s domestic and overseas contributions at a Thursday morning breakfast here on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Patrick Leahy and Sen. Christopher S. Bond co-hosted the 2010 Senate National Guard Caucus Breakfast, which also included newly elected Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, a current Army Guard lieutenant colonel, who joked that he needs to get a haircut before he attends his monthly drill with the Massachusetts National Guard this weekend.

“The National Guard is a tremendous instrument for smart power,” Bond said.

Smart power refers to the use of both soft and hard power. At the 2009 Senate hearing that confirmed her as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “We must use what has been called smart power – the full range of tools at our disposal – diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural – picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation.”