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.

Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, right, chief of the National Guard Bureau, confers with Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, director of the Air National Guard, during the National Guard Association of the United States’ General Conference in Albuquerque, N.M. Blum told the group that the Guard’s domestic resources need to be significantly improved. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The National Guard’s domestic equipment levels must be significantly improved, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said here Sept. 16.

“We are superbly equipped overseas,” Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum told the 128th National Guard Association of the United States General Conference. “The soldiers want for nothing as far as equipment in the combat zone, and that’s the way it should be.”

But the domestic picture is less rosy. “We are now in a dangerously low resourcing level for missions back here at home, and that must be seriously addressed,” Blum said.

Talking to about 2,500 National Guard officers and others attending the conference, the general used the analogy of a small-town fire department that needs people, training and equipment to fight fires. Americans would not tolerate inadequately equipped fire departments, he said.

“Nobody would accept that from their fire department in any hometown in America, and we should not allow that to be accepted in any (National Guard) armory or readiness center,” he said. “The American people are not going to be happy with a response from the National Guard that has not been fully equipped for the mission it has been assigned.”

The comments were the one note of warning during Blum’s hour-long “State of the Guard” address that highlighted five years of extraordinary change.