The National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) is calling for an exemption of dual-status military technicians who this week begin furloughs one day a week through the end of September in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Colombia.
“These soldiers and airmen perform day-to-day administrative, logistical and maintenance functions, said NGAUS President Gus Hargett, a retired major general. “The Pentagon exempted in the name of military readiness all other uniformed personnel from furloughs due to automatic budget cuts, yet curiously extended no such protections to a nearly 50,000-member force critical to National Guard readiness.”
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| National Guard Association of the United States |
Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-Miss.) introduced a bill to ensure National Guard dual status military technicians are exempt from furloughs. H.R. 1014 was introduced in March and referred to the Budget Committee. It would amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to provide that dual-status military technicians be included in military personnel accounts for purposes of any order issued under the act. As of July 8, the measure had 47 co-sponsors.
Palazzo has been a member of the Mississippi National Guard since 1997.
Hargett pointed out that as the military’s first responder at home, and providing overseas warfighting capability for the Army and Air Force, furloughs will increasingly make fulfilling these obligations difficult.
“There also is a human cost here,” Hargett said. “The nation is telling men and women who serve their state and nation–most of whom have deployed into harm’s way at least once and remain subject to future deployment–to take a 20 percent pay cut over the next 11 weeks.”
Hargett said the furloughs of National Guard dual-status military technicians must stop before they “take a toll on Guard readiness and personnel,” he said. “Now that the furloughs are a reality, Congress must move quickly to ensure that, indeed, all uniformed military personnel are exempt.”