Wish Upon a Star

By Marjorie Censer / March 4, 2010 at 5:00 AM

The co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus are calling on Defense Secretary Robert Gates to nominate a new Army National Guard director.

In a March 3 letter, senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Kit Bond (R-MO) write that the "vacuum of leadership at the three-star level places the Army National Guard at a disadvantage, not only in the day-to-day decision making process inside the Army, but also during deliberations regarding future budget, force structure, equipping, and personnel issues.

"If this vacancy in senior-level leadership and advocacy is allowed to persist, the future decisions may be made in ways disproportionately and inappropriately disadvantageous to the strength and capabilities of the Army National Guard within the Total Force," the document warns.

The president of the National Guard Association today released a statement backing the senators' effort. "Ten months would be a long time for the Army National Guard to go without a director even in peacetime," writes retired Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett. "But we are a nation at war. We rely on the Army National Guard every day -- at home and abroad."

He notes that Maj. Gen. Ray Carpenter is acting director of the Army Guard.

"General Carpenter is doing an outstanding job under difficult circumstances, but he is a two-star general functioning in an interim capacity," Hargett writes. "The Army National Guard urgently needs a permanent, three-star director."

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