Guard mission to remain relatively the same

Dear Editor,

I read the recent commentary by Dick Trail ("Helping our neighbor," July 12, 2016) with interest and offer the following in response:

First, he is correct that our Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve volunteers play an extremely important role in helping us educate our National Guard and Reserve members' employers and helping address any issues or concerns when they arise. As Mr. Trail noted, in Nebraska this is a rare occurrence due to a number of factors including the patriotism of our employers, the education we provide our service members regarding their rights and obligations - to include keeping employers informed of future training requirements or deployments, and the timeframe in which they are expected to return to work once these exercises and deployments end -- and the extremely important work our ESGR volunteers do in our local communities and across the state.

There is no doubt in my mind that if any of these three factors weren't in balance we would not be able to perform in the way that we do today. We are grateful for Mr. Trail and others like him who volunteer with the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve in Nebraska.

With respect to the current transformation of the Nebraska Army National Guard that Mr. Trail noted, our organization is indeed undergoing a massive change to meet the new and evolving needs of the Total Army. This change is the result of the Army's decision to eliminate battlefield surveillance brigades from their force structure, which in turn affected Nebraska's 67th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade. The 67th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade is now reorganizing into a maneuver enhancement brigade made up of a number of Nebraska Army National Guard units that the Army currently needs.

This transformation gave the Nebraska Army National Guard a somewhat rare opportunity to examine our total force structure to determine if it still met the needs of the Total Army and the changing demographics of our state, and make any changes that might be required. After months of studies, it was determined that through this transformation process -- which affects roughly one out of every three Nebraska Army National Guard Soldiers in the state -- we could bring some much-needed additional diversity of military service options into Nebraska, particularly in the western and central parts of our state.

Mr. Trail was indeed correct that up until the mid-1990s, the local McCook unit was part of an armored battalion, which was part of the Nebraska Army National Guard's larger 67th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized). Following Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-91, the Army conducted a study and found that it needed more logistics and transportation resources. That in turn led to a decision by Nebraska National Guard leaders to replace the 67th Infantry Brigade and its associated infantry, artillery and armor units, with logistics and transportation units.

Make no mistake, this decision was extremely sound at the time. While it meant Nebraska had to deactivate many of its historic combat units, it in turn allowed the state to organize new units that were open to women, which in turn led to increased opportunities for all Nebraskans to serve in our ranks while also meeting the needs of the greater Total Army. This proved crucial during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when thousands of Nebraska Army National Guard Soldiers were mobilized and deployed to the Middle East where they provided extremely important support to our national efforts there. And again, the work that our ESGR volunteers did helped ensure that when these service members returned to Nebraska, their civilian careers awaited them.

Which brings us back to today. When we conducted this study of our current force structure, we realized that we did not have as much military occupational specialty diversity in western and central Nebraska as we would like. While transportation units are -- and will continue to be -- extremely important, having three transportation companies stationed in seven communities in the western half of the state -- and really nothing much else -- did not allow us to attract as many new Soldiers into our ranks as we would've preferred. Through our transformation activities, we are now bringing additional units into this region that will include military police, engineering, field maintenance and logistics support units. When complete, our state's young people will have many more options to choose from when considering whether to join the Nebraska Army National Guard.

In the case of McCook, contrary to Mr. Trail's assertion, the mission will not be changing. Instead, soldiers within the local area will continue to be part of a transportation company located in McCook, Sidney, North Platte and Broken Bow. While the name of McCook's Detachment 2, 1074th Transportation Co. will be changing to be part of a new, reconsolidated 1075th Transportation Co., the basic mission and equipment of the McCook unit will remain relatively the same.

As the adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard, I am extremely proud of the work that has been done to prepare our units for this major transformation. I am equally proud of the extremely patriotic service of our men and women in the Nebraska National Guard, their families, employers and the ESGR volunteer community who have collectively enabled us to not only build the extremely effective force we enjoy today in Nebraska, but also put us into a position in which we will continue to be an extremely relevant and effective member of our Total Force into the future.

Maj. Gen. Daryl L. Bohac

Nebraska National Guard adjutant general