Culver pleads case for harried Guard
Jane Norman, the Des Moines Register
Iowa’s governor tells the chairman of the joint chiefs that deployments have strained soldiers.
Washington, D.C. - Iowa Gov. Chet Culver asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday to do more to address problems with a National Guard that’s stressed by multiple deployments overseas.
Culver, in town for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association, joined other governors at a White House event that included President Bush as well as Adm. Mike Mullen, head of the joint chiefs.
Culver told Mullen that young members of the Iowa National Guard need more help with medical and mental health problems upon their return from deployment. The Iowa National Guard is also strapped by equipment shortages, Culver said.
“He was exceptionally open and understanding; he’s heard this, he’s heard it time and time again,” Culver told reporters afterward. “My point is, we need this administration to coordinate more effectively a National Guard strategy so that everyone is on the same page.”
Culver said that in a state like Iowa, the return home is particularly tough for young veterans because there is no active-duty military installation. Veterans Affairs facilities in the state are not set up to deal with the kinds of problems that are being presented. “We’re doing everything we can, but we need the feds to help us,” he said.
In addition, the governor was critical of a Department of Defense policy instituted last year that grants days off, rather than extra pay, when service members return from an extended deployment.
“They’re giving them time off, but what they need is money,” Culver said.
Culver said he and Mullen discussed a move to make the head of the National Guard a four-star general, which would give him an equal place at the table with the other branches of the armed services. Mullen indicated that “that was moving forward,” Culver said.
In the year that he has been governor, the state has had to provide $4 million in assistance for veterans’ mental health problems as well as housing, Culver said. “We’re concerned this is only going to get more challenging as these men and women come back,” he said.
Military equipment has left the state and has not been replaced, which is a problem for training new Guard members, Culver said. There has not yet been an impact on the state’s ability to respond to natural disasters, but left unchanged, there could be, he said.
“If they take a number of vehicles and trucks that are deployed with the unit, which is what happens in most cases, we want to be reimbursed for that,” Culver said.