"You lead the best men and women the Guard has ever produced," Army Maj. Gen. Frank Grass, director of operations for U.S. Northern Command told National Guard officers attending a domestic operations workshop in National Harbor, Md., on March 23, 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – U.S. Northern Command and its sister command North American Aerospace Defense Command are inextricably linked to the National Guard, NORTHCOM’s operations director said here Tuesday.

“I don’t think you’ll ever see a day where NORAD and NORTHCOM can be separated from the National Guard,” Army Maj. Gen. Frank Grass told National Guard leaders gathered for a weeklong domestic operations workshop. “It behooves us to stay very closely tied with the Guard.

“Starting back in 1636, and going all the way up to [Hurricane] Katrina, the Guard has been involved in every homeland mission. The Guard set the stage for the homeland.”

On Monday, 72,520 Army and Air Guardmembers were serving in federal Title 10 status; 6,082 more were serving in domestic missions like homeland defense air sovereignty alert, Counterdrug or in support of their governors.

“The Guard … is truly outstanding,” Grass said. “You lead the best men and women the Guard has ever produced. The best Citizen-Soldier or -Airmen and women that serve across our land every day are led by the best [noncommissioned officers] and the best senior enlisted in the nation.”

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, stresses domestic readiness, squeezing the most from resources and operating jointly at the National Guard's domestic operations conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on March 22, 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The National Guard must squeeze the most from limited resources; structure its manpower and equipment so that it can give the most effective domestic response possible; and operate jointly, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said Monday.

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley challenged National Guard leaders gathered here for a week long domestic operations workshop to prepare for the worst-case scenario — natural or manmade disasters in the homeland — right now.

“We will be judged by how well we handle the domestic operation,” McKinley said. “As well as we’re performing in our mission overseas, [we] will be judged by how well we’re performing here at home.”

More than eight years of the heightened domestic and overseas operational tempo that followed the manmade disaster of Sept. 11, 2001, have transformed the National Guard from a strategic reserve to an operational force.

McKinley’s message: The National Guard cannot let up.

“We can do better,” he said. “We’ve got [Guardmembers] … at the highest state of readiness that they’ve ever had, but we’ve got to give them the tools to succeed,” he said.