Despite shortfalls, Guard confident in disaster preparedness

Cy Jamison addresses Columbus County Commissioners on Monday. (Deuce Niven photo)

Cy Jamison addresses Columbus County Commissioners on Monday. (Deuce Niven photo)

The Guard left more than $250 million in equipment behind, including tanks, armored Humvees and radio systems ? a shortfall so severe that Guard commander Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett said last October that if there was an earthquake in West Tennessee, his troops would have to hitchhike.

But now the state has been reimbursed about $170 million for new and replacement equipment, and state and Guard officials say they are confident in the Guard’s ability to respond to a major disaster.

?We did have concerns before but there has been progress,? said Gov. Phil Bredesen?s spokeswoman, Lydia Lenker said Thursday. ?The governor is very satisfied with National Guard staffing and equipment needs should a weather event hit Tennessee.?

Questions about whether Guard units had the equipment to respond to weather or terrorist emergencies first emerged after Hurricane Katrina and were renewed after last week?s tornado in Kansas.

The biggest equipment shortages in Tennessee are the latest model M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, up-armored Humvees, radio systems and night vision devices, said Guard spokesman Randy Harris.

?The improved M1s and Bradleys are critical for war-fighting,? Harris said, but he points out they may not be necessary to respond to local disasters.

The equipment most needed for disaster cleanup ? heavy trucks, generators, front-end loaders, dump trucks and bulldozers ? is at 100 percent, according to the Guard.

Furthermore, much of the equipment left behind will be replaced with modified and newer models designed to be easier to move for combat and natural disasters, Harris said.

?If the forces are lighter and easier to move, we can respond quicker than we could with heavy armor,? Harris said.

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said states have been complaining about the heavy toll of Guard deployments on emergency preparedness since Katrina.

?At one point during the war, half or more of the troops in Iraq were Guardsmen,? Cooper said. ?We?re involved in two wars, we have troops stationed in 118 other nations, the stress and demand on our Guard has been extraordinary.?

Replacement of old equipment, such as armored vehicles and weapons, also contributes to the state?s shortages, Cooper said.

?You?re seeing entire classes of vehicles that are becoming obsolete in the war we are fighting,? Cooper said. ?When the new equipment comes, it?s going to be better and newer stuff.?

But Cooper said the progress for states to recoup those losses is slow.

?We?ve dramatically increased funding, but so much has been sucked into the war in Iraq and Afghanistan,? he said.

The Tennessee National Guard has also physically reorganized its units to more evenly distribute their resources. The biggest unit, the combat 278th, has been shifted from East Tennessee to statewide, Harris said.

Col. Jeff Holmes commands about 3,800 soldiers with the 278th Armored Combat Regiment based in Knoxville, which alone left behind $163 million in equipment after deploying in 2004. He said he feels confident the changes will help overcome any equipment shortages.

?Looking at a natural disaster, in theory, we have the flexibility to shift what equipment we need to the affected areas,? Holmes said. ?We have stretched the regiment from Kingsport to Memphis, and other major commands have done the same.?

Leaving equipment behind in Iraq makes economical sense, Holmes said, but there are concerns about the sustained effect.

?Fighting a war this long is going to take a toll on the equipment. The critical component is this: Is there enough equipment to go around?? Holmes said.