Vermont Guard patrolling skies above New York City

Vermont has a unique history of citizen soldiers that goes back to the beginning of the country. Tracing their legacy to the Green Mountain Boys of the Revolutionary War, today's Vermont National Guard is as relevant today as it carries on the militia tradition in our nation's defense. Within the state, the Guard can be called up by the governor in state emergencies. This happens during floods or the massive ice storm that hit Vermont in January of 1998.

In that storm, our Guard units played an essential role in clearing roads, restoring power, and bringing normalcy back to Isle LaMotte and Grand Isle. Governor Dean activated several Guard units on January 10, and by that afternoon, despite the damage sustained to some of their own houses and property, 450 troops were at work. The ice storm mobilization was the Guard's largest disaster operation since the great Winooski River flood in 1973. A grateful out-of-state utility worker told me when I visited Isle LaMotte immediately after the storm that it would have taken a month longer to restore electricity without the Guard's vital help.

If the country ever goes to war, Guard units can be federalized and become a part of the active duty military. Under Presidential Selective Reserve Call-Up (PSRC), the President can call a unit up for up to 270 days of active duty service. In the past, Vermonters have played key roles in both World Wars, Korea, and Desert Storm. Since the end of the Cold War, our defense strategy has come to rely more and more on National Guard forces because of their cost effectiveness and flexible response. Today, 58% of the nation's Army ground forces come from the National Guard, yet the cost of an Army Guard unit is less than half of its active duty counterpart. With only 7% of Air Force funding, the Air National Guard provides 100% of interceptors, 33% of Air Force fighters, 45% of tactical airlift, and 43% of air refueling aircraft. In these times of balanced federal budgets, the Guard gives us more bang for our taxpayer bucks.

I am particularly proud of our Vermont Guard units. The professionalism and dedication that they show has paid off time and again. Our Air Guard F-16's placed third in the 1994 William Tell competition, which pits the best fighter units in the world against each other. The 2nd Tank Battalion of the 172nd recently became only the second National Guard unit to qualify on the Army's tough tank platoon gunnery test in Fort Knox, Kentucky. Our Army helicopter unit has gone nearly 20 years without a major accident. And finally, last Christmas, our Air Guard unit earned a coveted 'outstanding' grade on the Air Force's toughest and most comprehensive inspection, the Operational Readiness Inspection.

Despite their impressive accomplishments, our Guard has absorbed their share of budget cuts and equipment cutbacks since the end of the Cold War. To make matters worse, the Pentagon regularly under-funds the Guard, knowing that Congress will try to make up the difference during the annual budget process. For many years now, I have used my position as a senior member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to give the Vermont Guard the resources it needs.

One important victory came in March of 1998, when I got the Army to agree to modernize our aging helicopter unit. The following year, Vermont received the first of nine modern Blackhawk helicopters to replace our eight Hueys, some of which were older than their pilots.

I also fought Pentagon cutbacks that would reduce the number of our F-16 fighters in our Air Guard unit. Despite overwhelming evidence that 15 or 18 fighters is the minimum necessary to accomplish their mission, the Pentagon attempted in 1995 and 1996 to cut our unit to 12 fighters. In both 1995 and 1996, I led the effort in the Senate to keep 15 F-16's in our unit and every other Air Guard F-16 unit.

Similarly, in 1995, Vermont's only engineer unit, the 131st Engineer Company, was scheduled to be deactivated because of an arbitrary Pentagon decision. I realized that this cut would deal a serious blow to Vermont's ability to respond to state emergencies, and once again used my position on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee to save the 131st. Since then, the 131st has been used in nearly every state emergency.

Finally, in 1991 the Pentagon hatched a plan to eliminate the 1/86th artillery battalion, one of the finest units in the whole Army, while at the same time creating a whole new artillery unit in Massachusetts. I finally got the Army to retreat from this ill-advised plan.

In addition to these achievements, I have fought to make sure that our Guard has modern facilities in which to train. I have successfully battled for money to build a new security station at the Burlington Airport, a new operations building for the Air Guard, an NCO school at Camp Johnson, several small arms ranges in Jericho, a tank training range in Fort Drum for our Vermont tank units, and a maintenance center in Colchester, among others. The total value of all these facililities is more than $35 million. I also successfully put a floor on the number of civilian technicians employed by the Guard, and I supported a movement to elevate the head of the National Guard Bureau to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

This year, I am an original cosponsor of the National Guard and Reserve Components Equity Act of 1998, a piece of legislation which, if enacted, will bring a wide range of new resources to our Guard. I will work hard toward getting the Senate to vote on this legislation this year.