The Missouri native who heads the entire Army National Guard says recruitment is running strongly….but Guard units are under-equipped.
Lieutenant General Clyde Vaughn has told the U-S Senate Defense Appropriation Committee that Guard enrollment bottomed out a few years ago at 330-thousand. He says the numbers have been growing steadily since and reached the goal of 350,000 late last month. Vaughn thinks Guard membership could reach 356,000 by the end of the year.
But Vaughn says the National Guard is under-equippped for its domestic mission, and he has asked the Congress to follow through on commitments to provide 36-billion dollars for the Guard in the next five years.
Vaughn is a native of Dexter. He’s the only Missouri National Guard officer to reach the federalized rank of three-star General.
Download portion of testimony of Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn (3:29 mp3
