Costs Increase for Revamping Nation Guard

The AP reports that overhauling the U.S. Army National Guard training program, allowing for soldiers to spend more time at home, will cost $128 million this year and nearly double that next year to equip and train their troops, say officials.

The Guard has been trying for over a year and half to shorten the training process. Leaders have managed to shave months off the time these citizen soldiers are required to spend away from home due to deployments in Afghanistan or Iraq.

From the article:

Until early 2007, Guard combat brigades were training for up to six months — much of it away from home — and then would spend 12 months to 15 months in the war zone. The average time has been slashed to a bit more than 13 months, including about a month of training at home, another 40 to 70 days at the formal Army training center and roughly 10 months on the battlefront.

Spurred on by the Pentagon's promise that Guard deployments would be limited to one year, military leaders pledged to spread some of the required pre-deployment war preparation into the soldiers' routine weekend and week-long training exercises each year.

The boost in funding will pay for the roughly 2,000 Guard trainers to ensure Guard members will receive as much training as possible while at home for much of the year before deploying to one of the 10 mobilization centers for their final, prewar training.

-Dippold

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