Veterans For America

A congressionally mandated commission has recommended in its final report that the National Guard and Reserve forces need to be transformed into an operational reserve and states bluntly that “[w]e don’t have the capacity remaining to deal with these homeland defense threats in an adequate way.”  The commission also recommends that the Pentagon have greater control of the US military’s reserve components, a suggestion that rankled Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Kit Bond (R-MO), the co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus, who believe that such measures would undermine the National Guard.  

The Army has authorized special-duty bonuses for soldiers serving as platoon sergeants and squad leaders in its Warrior Transition Units (WTUs).  This is an extremely welcome step.   As has been reported before, staffing the WTUs has been one of the major obstacles the Army has faced.  VFA recommended in its report Trends in Treatment of America’s Wounded Warriors that service in a WTU be made more attractive to high quality personnel.

Finally, President Bush has once again indicated that troop levels in Iraq will not continue falling.

For the rest of today’s news, please visit the Our Troops Newsladder.