Our National Guard: Too High a Price

    Almost Half of Soldiers Scheduled to Deploy to Iraq from National Guard



    Report Release: Our National Guard: Too High A Price - by Veterans for

America http://www.veteransforamerica.org



    WASHINGTON, July 15 /EMWNews/ -- Veterans for America

(VFA) releases the first of its findings on the impact of the Iraq war on

our National Guard troops and their families.







    At a time when it is widely accepted that there has been recent success

in the war in Iraq, a key question remains unanswered: at what cost has

this success been achieved?



    Veterans for America has worked with Guard members and their families

across the country as they bravely cope with long and often repeated

mobilizations. VFA is deeply concerned that:



    -- Between now and the end of President George W. Bush's term in

office, almost half of the Soldiers who are scheduled to deploy to Iraq

will come from the National Guard.



    -- More than half of the Army National Guard combat units deploying to

Iraq in this timeframe will be on their second tour.



    -- At least 35 states have deployed more National Guard troops to Iraq

and Afghanistan than to any war since World War II.



    -- States mobilizing their Guard over the next few months are: Hawaii,

Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.



    -- Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania

(again), Tennessee, Texas (again), Vermont, and Wisconsin are also

scheduled to deploy National Guard combat units beginning in spring 2009.



    -- The Department of Defense has found that members of the National

Guard who had been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are 25% more likely to

have suffered a combat-related psychological wound than members of the

active-duty Army who have been deployed.







    "As far as we are concerned, this is a showstopper," explains Bobby

Muller, President of Veterans for America. "The incredible sacrifices we

are demanding from our Guard members, their families, their employers, and

their communities are unconscionable. If we must rely so heavily on our

National Guard to maintain troop levels in Iraq, then the cost of success

is too great."







    REPORT FOUND AT: http://www.veteransforamerica.org