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August 23, 2010 · Thousands of National Guardsmen were in Austin this weekend for an annual conference. Many Texas National Guardsmen have been returning this summer after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan and more are gearing up to leave next month. Changes in the war are key challenges for the Texas National Guard.
The National Guard Association of the United States will be in town until Tuesday. Kevin McColaugh works for the organization lobbying Congress for more money.
McColaugh: "Military construction and modernizing our national guards' facilities is going to continue to be a big priority."
For example, several Texas National Guard units have come home but their equipment sometimes stays in Iraq or Afghanistan leaving the state with limited resources. McColaugh says they're also working to get more guardsmen who served after 9-11 to qualify for the G-I bill.
Governor Rick Perry spoke at conference Saturday.
Perry: "We want you to stay, here have a big time, spend your money; as a matter of fact, if about a thousand of you'd like to stick around here, I got some work down on the southern border of Mexico we could use you for!"
Governor Perry reiterated his call for more National Guard solider for border security.
A trade show at the conference displayed off the latest infrared, air support, communications and hardware private companies are working on.
Perry also hit on the heart of what the National Guard Association is concerned about.
Perry: "Military folks might have used the term 'Weekend Warrior.' That would have been a term to describe their counterparts in the Guard. We all know now that that's a real old term."
That's a very true statement especially for Texas National Guardsmen.
Linder: "We have fully deployed the Texas National Guard…about 21 thousand folks, so over the course of these past few years we've sent unit after unit there."
Ray Linder is the executive director of the National Guard Association of Texas. That's the lobby group for Texas Guards Troops.
Linder: "Now we have a tremendous number of our force, a percent of our force, are veterans. So now we're concerned with veterans benefits and tracking those because under the old rule, the Guard, you can serve and you'd never be a veteran."
Texas National Guard soldiers at Camp Mabry are gearing up for a tour in Iraq beginning in September to help with the drawdown. Because those guardsmen will serve as active duty to the President for more than 90 days – they too will be eligible for veteran benefits.
Congress also approved deploying 1200 National Guard soldiers to the border and whether that qualifies as federal active duty is another concern. |
