WASHINGTON — The Pentagon, bearing the brunt of criticism for shortfalls in National Guard supplies after last week's devastating tornado in Kansas, acknowledged Wednesday that Army National Guard units had only 56% of their required equipment.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a Senate hearing that equipment levels were the lowest since the Sept. 11 attacks. He said that the Bush administration's defense budget request, which asks for $22 billion for the Army National Guard over the next five years, would take Guard units up to 76% of their authorized equipment levels.
"There's no question that there's been a drawdown of equipment in the National Guard," Gates said, adding that even before Sept. 11, Guard units normally were equipped at about 75%. "Clearly we need to follow through with this program to rebuild the stocks of equipment that are available to the National Guard."
At the hearing, a bipartisan group of senators confronted Gates with pointed questions on Guard readiness. The lawmakers argued that repeated deployments to Iraq were causing shortages in equipment needed for domestic security and national disaster response.
The issue moved back into the spotlight after Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, noted the shortfalls after a tornado flattened nearly all of Greensburg, Kan. Guard shortfalls delayed the state's emergency response, she said.
President Bush visited the town Wednesday as administration officials continued to insist that Sebelius had all the resources needed to respond to the crisis. R. David Paulison, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he had been in repeated contact with the Army general in charge of Kansas' Guard units, who assured him the Army had what it needed.
"He said he has plenty of equipment for this disaster," Paulison told reporters traveling with Bush to Kansas. "I've asked probably at least 20 times, 'Is there anything that you need that you don't have?' The answer is no. And that's from the governor, the general, the mayor and the city manager."
Sebelius reiterated the criticisms during Bush's visit. She said the state had mustered the resources to deal with the Greensburg disaster but would be hard pressed to meet any other contingencies.
"If we have another incident ... that needs Guard support, I will be in a situation where we have to choose what we do -- and that's a terrible choice to make," she said. "After four years [of war] there's no question that, year after year, Guard supplies are depleted not just in Kansas but all over the country."
