National Guard plans to consolidate Air, Army
By Robert Burns
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Air National Guard and Army National Guard will reduce by two-thirds the number of their headquarters in 54 states and territories, according to the chief of the National Guard system.
Advertiser library photo • July 20, 2001
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum said the consolidation plan was to be presented at yesterday's spring conference of the Adjutants General Association of the United States in Columbus, Ohio.
Hawai'i Army National Guard CH-47D Chinook helicopters lift heavy equipment at Wheeler Army Airfield to fly to Kaua'i. The Army Guard, Air Guard and area command headquarters may be consolidated.
The plan will apply to Air National Guard and Army National Guard headquarters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
"The National Guard cannot remain the way it is," Blum said.
Like the active-duty force, the reserve force must transform from Cold War-era practices to the reality of today's defense needs, he said. That includes organizing itself in ways that bring the Air and Army elements closer together.
Blum said that in each of the 54 states and territories, the National Guard has three separate headquarters — one for the Air Guard, one for the Army Guard and one for the "area command" run by the state's adjutant general. By Oct. 1, the three will be consolidated into one, Blum said.
He had no estimate of how much money would be saved, but said the difference would be used to make the Guard units more combat-ready.
Blum, who became chief of the National Guard Bureau in April, said he had not briefed the adjutants general on his plan, but was confident they would accept it.
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"I'm leaving them enough room" to determine how their states or territories will execute the consolidation, he said, "which takes lots and lots of the angst out of it."
Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, the adjutant general of Hawai'i, said he had been looking at a joint staff for the Hawai'i National Guard before Lt. Gen. Blum came on board.
"Looks like we are thinking alike," Lee said by e-mail.
About two dozen Guard personnel are located together at the state Defense Department headquarters on Diamond Head Road under commands including the adjutant general, Air Guard and Army Guard. That would not change.
Some command positions are joint, meaning they can be from either the Army or Air Guard side. If further consolidation is pursued, other positions could follow.
"It pays just to take a look at (a joint staff)," said Guard spokesman Maj. Chuck Anthony. He said there would be no immediate staff impact.
Brig. Gen. David Greer, Tennessee's deputy adjutant general, said in a telephone interview that he had not seen details of Blum's plan and would withhold comment. He said he favored streamlining communication between the Army Guard and Air Guard.
Blum said other elements of his Guard transformation plan include expanding its role in national missile defense and creating 10 groups capable of responding to chemical and biological incidents.
The Army National Guard has about 350,000 members; the Air National Guard has about 105,000.
The Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve do not have the same state-based structure as the National Guard and are not affected by the plan.
Advertiser staff writer William Cole contributed to this report.
Correction: Hawai'i Army National Guard CH-47D Chinook helicopters were shown in the photo. The caption misidentified the type of helicopter in a previous version of this story.
