The half-billion-dollar National Guard price tag to man the U.S. Capitol for more than five months following the Jan. 6 riot has emptied the Guard’s coffers and will affect readiness if Congress does not act, National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson said Wednesday.
National Guard members were deployed in 2020 for more than 21 million service days to respond to missions, including the domestic COVID-19 response, hurricane relief, fighting wildfires, protecting cities ravaged by the George Floyd protests, and overseas missions. But the Guard’s largest and most expensive mission was to protest the U.S. capital, including providing security for the presidential inauguration and the much-criticized militarization of the U.S. Capitol grounds with razor wire and 7-foot nonscalable fences.
The peak deployment in the nation’s capital required 26,000 service members from all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia.
The National Guard footed the bill to meet the request by the U.S. Capitol Police, Secret Service, Park Service, and others, which did not have adequate personnel or protective measures in place following the breach of the Capitol grounds by pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6.
NATIONAL GUARD’S POST-CAPITOL RIOT MISSION COST $521M BILL AS FINAL TROOPS HEAD HOME
Without the reimbursement, Hokanson said the National Guard will cancel planned training and exercises in August and September.
“It’s critical for us to get it this year because the funding will be required for us to complete not only our drills but all operations and training we have scheduled,” Hokanson told Pentagon reporters. “It will have a very significant impact on National Guard readiness.”
The Guard Bureau chief described how operations, maintenance, and pay accounts were used to compensate soldiers and airmen in the capital. Annual trainings, drill weekends, and operational maintenance will be canceled in the final two months of the year if the resources are not restored.
Hokanson told the Washington Examiner that adjustments had been made to reduce the burden on Guard members called for multiple missions on short notice last year, but a new normal can be expected.
“When we look at the future, however, we’re not really sure what it’s going to look like,” he said, noting advance trainings where gaps are predicted. “What we have to do is be prepared to meet whatever that demand signal is.”
Hokanson said he spent many nights walking the Capitol grounds and speaking to Guard members about the strains of the mission, which was extended in March for an additional two months. Often, Guard members had no idea when they would go home to families and jobs.
“Universally, they said, ‘Hey, this is what we signed up to do,’” he said, noting that the bureau attempts to balance the citizen-soldiers’ civilian careers, families, and Guard duties.
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The National Guard, a reserve force of 450,000 soldiers and airmen, nonetheless met its 2021 recruitment goals for reenlistment and new members in May, ahead of schedule. Hokanson said often that benchmark is not hit until late September, just before the fiscal year closes.
“Based on the ability for us to recruit and retain, that’s a good indicator,” he added.
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Tags: News, National Security, Department of Defense, Pentagon, National Guard, Defense Budget, Congress, George Floyd
Original Author: Abraham Mahshie
Original Location: National Guard threatens to cancel training and exercises if not reimbursed for $521M Capitol deployment
