Military Is Called Unprepared for Attack
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States military is not prepared for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces do not have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a new report.
The study of the military’s readiness to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear weapons attack found “an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk.”
The report was released Thursday by the Commission of the National Guard and Reserves, which is charged by Congress to recommend changes in law and policy concerning the those forces.
“Right now we don’t have the forces we need, we don’t have them trained, we don’t have the equipment,” the commission’s chairman, Arnold L. Punaro, a retired Marine Corps general, said in an interview. “Even though there is a lot going on in this area, we need to do a lot more.”
General Punaro added, “There’s a lot of things in the pipeline, but in the world we live in, you’re either ready or you’re not.”
Because much of the military is fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq, the commission said, the country has “no reasonable alternative” to relying heavily on the Reserves to supplement the active-duty forces both at home and abroad.
(Continued here.)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States military is not prepared for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces do not have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a new report.
The study of the military’s readiness to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear weapons attack found “an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk.”
The report was released Thursday by the Commission of the National Guard and Reserves, which is charged by Congress to recommend changes in law and policy concerning the those forces.
“Right now we don’t have the forces we need, we don’t have them trained, we don’t have the equipment,” the commission’s chairman, Arnold L. Punaro, a retired Marine Corps general, said in an interview. “Even though there is a lot going on in this area, we need to do a lot more.”
General Punaro added, “There’s a lot of things in the pipeline, but in the world we live in, you’re either ready or you’re not.”
Because much of the military is fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq, the commission said, the country has “no reasonable alternative” to relying heavily on the Reserves to supplement the active-duty forces both at home and abroad.
(Continued here.)
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