Inhofe says demands on Guard still too heavy
Speaking to leaders of the Oklahoma National Guard, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Wednesday that the nation was still demanding too much from Guard units but that the situation was getting better.
“You're still in a position where you're taking on more of a burden than part time should be . ... It's getting better. It's not solved,” Inhofe, R-Tulsa, said at a lunch meeting at the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma's adjutant general, Major General Michael C. Thompson, hosted the lunch with top leaders from the Army and Air National Guard and members of the National Guard Association of Oklahoma. Inhofe is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Thompson, who said Oklahoma Guard units served in seven different countries in 2018, asked Inhofe about the future role of the Guard.
“It's a supply and demand thing, and that's why you guys are in there,” Inhofe said.
“We know that during the time that we had all the deployments, the Guard and Reserve were both overworked. You can't expect employers to shoulder all the burden when their employees are in the Guard and Reserve.
“And for that reason, we were able to — I think — make things more attractive. And we changed our recruiting efforts so that we are actually recruiting more now to try to build us back up.”
Asked about legislation currently before Congress to give financial incentives to the employers of Guard members, Inhofe said he was opposed.
“I don't want to get to the point where there's a public perception of (employers) doing it for financial purposes,” Inhofe said.
“A better solution — we think — goes back to supply and demand. When you have more (personnel), people are not going to be shouldering quite the percentage of the burden. I just don't want to take away from the very proud employers the contribution that they're making.”
Thompson said the deployments to seven different countries last year was “an extraordinary amount.” About 500 troops were sent to Afghanistan, and another 500 sent to the Ukraine. The deployments typically last nine to 10 months, he said.
Thompson said he would not call the deployments excessive but “there does come a point where we need to be selective.”
He said young people were still signing up knowing that they were likely to be deployed.
“I'm encouraged by the fact we still have people signing up every day,” he said.