State officials oppose National Guard budget cuts

State government leaders this week asked President Obama and members of Congress to reject federal funding cuts for the National Guard.

In a letter from the National Lieutenant Governors Association — co-signed by 25 lieutenant governors, senate presidents and secretaries of state — second-in-command state officials expressed uniform opposition to potential cuts to the Army National Guard in the fiscal 2016 U.S. Army budget proposal.

“As a unique state-based military force, the National Guard is the only military force that is shared by the states and the federal government,” the letter stated. ” It is a ready, reliable, and essential force that responds to national disasters and emergencies, and is critical to peace and security at home and abroad.  … However, the Army has proposed to eliminate more than 8,000 Army National Guard positions, including 1,700 full-time positions necessary to maintain the Guard’s readiness and transfer its Apache helicopters to the active component.”

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