Gov. Kathleen Sebelius made national news last year when she complained about Kansas National Guard equipment shortages. Much of the equipment had been sent to Iraq and wasn’t available to respond to disasters here, such as the Greensburg tornado. So what is the equipment status these days? “Fair but guarded condition,” Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting (in photo with Sebelius), the state’s adjutant general and Guard commander, told the Lawrence Journal-World. “We’re better than we were.” The Kansas National Guard has a few more helicopters than it did last year, though they are older and the Guard barely has enough of them, Bunting said. It continues to be significantly short on trucks and Humvees, and also doesn’t have the radar equipment it needs to train soldiers.
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42 Comments
Meanwhile…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071703161_pf.html
your tax dollars hard at work. Isn’t that nice.
Hey, at least we’re safe from gay marriage…
Mama Mia!
When the Governor first made her stupid remarks, she was proven wrong.
Nothing has changed, since then.
Question, if the States Gaurds had proper equipment to cover their levels of personel when they where stationed in these other States? Where did this surplus go when the Troops were transfered here? Supplies transport with Troops. When the bases cut back and closed and they transfered here, where did their supplies go? If you say IRAQ your wrong! The Soldiers have been complaining for 4 years in IRAQ that they dont have equipmment. If they dont have the equipment, and the States transferd it here with their Soldiers, where is the equipment and surplus? Their Soldiers deployed to IRAQ thru Kansas. Where did their surplus get deployed to?? Governor Sebelius is killing our soldiers to pump up false media coverage to become Baracks VP. How many dead soldiers does it cost to run a Presidential Campaign know adays? We are all told we have to sacrifice for the WAR effort. We dont have, the soldiers dont have, where is the stuff we are not getting? We dont see it, they dont see it. Who does see it??? Herbert West 3rd, Democratic Candidate for Sheriff, Miami County Kansas. Please dont punish me for being a Democrat, I am not Obama nor am I Seblius, I am an American for America!! HLW#RD http://www.HerbertWest3rd.com west.herb@yahoo.com wen2k.com God Bless our Troops!!!! We will do what we can to keep home, home!
Speaking of such, take the time to send a care package to a troop in the field in Afghanistan or Iraq.
It’s not Christmas I know, but it means so much to the young men and women to receive news and goods from home.
“When the Governor first made her stupid remarks, she was proven wrong.”
Proof, Rosseel?
So no need for learning the equipment again. Read especially the ” Unlimited Bandwidth ” disclaimer that is printed in the equipment. You can quickly and easily establish Afghanistan or Iraq by using her stupid remarks’ built in the equipment.
Governor Sebelius is a political hack taking crude advantage of tragedy to support her political ambitions:
“Sebelius works without a carefully crafted game plan about as often as Ashton Kutcher finishes a novel. She’s calculating and cautious, which is a big part of why she’s won two terms as governor in a Republican state.
The timing of Sebelius’ remarks also gives rise to skepticism. After drawing a stinging response from the White House, where press secretary Tony Snow said equipment was available but Sebelius didn’t follow procedures to get it, Sebelius’ office said equipment shortages weren’t an issue in Greensburg.
“We are doing absolutely fine right now,’’ said the governor’s spokeswoman, Nicole Corcoran. “What the governor is talking about is down the road.’’
Why, then, was the issue brought up so early? This is the time for rebuilding, healing and grieving, not for politics.
Too bad Sebelius’ remarks have already steered the tragedy in that direction.”
http://blogs.cjonline.com/index.php?entry=3127
Rosseel, you are the most partisan liar imaginable - Diogenes the Cynic would definitely pass you by.
And, by the way, Rosseel, Snow had to admit HE was wrong…………….
Oh, and Paul the Partisan Hack, quoting from a BLOG does not constitute proof………..
It was the words of a journalist that I quoted, WS.
The fact that I lifted those words from a Blog, another Kansas Newspaper Blog, does NOT change who said it or what was said.
EVERY time you ask me to back something up, I do.
Then, you attack the source.
Predictable.
And, it looks like Governor Kathleen HERSELF backed off! Our governor ADMITTED that the Kansas National Guard was fully equiped to handle the Greensburg tornado!
“It was the words of a journalist that I quoted, WS.”
A journalist that CONveniently left out a great deal of pertinent information, Paul the Partisan Hack.
Do you want to go back to trying to prove that Obama is 44% Arab?
WS
So you now claim that the Topeka Capital Journal is full of “right wing political hacks”
“So you now claim that the Topeka Capital Journal is full of “right wing political hacks””
Well, Asshole, copy and paste where I made such a claim or admit that you are just another LYING Republican.
And don’t TRY to tell me what I think, you phucking idiot.
Christ.
Kathleen Sebelius was wrong.
The Kansas Guard is and always has been in a very good “readiness” position.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=33080
Did you expect that the US Department of Defense to say “yeah, we have screwed state National Guards all over the country?”
…………. nothing but a lying partisan hack, Rosseel, you are nothing more than that.
Christ.
“Brownback said Tuesday that local officials and the Kansas National Guard commander all told him they have the resources needed to respond.
“That’s what really got me, is her saying that,” Brownback said in an interview.
“So I asked, privately and publicly, the adjutant general, do you have the equipment you need?” he said. “Because if you don’t, we’re going to hit Fort Riley and McConnell (Air Force Base) and other places to make sure we have all the equipment we need to respond to disasters. Everybody there said no, we have the equipment we needed.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18553576/
And, Partisan Paul, you quoted a columnist, not a journalist. He was expressing his OPINION.
Dumbass.
“Fair but guarded condition,” Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting
I’ll take General Bunting’s word over Anderson and Brownback any day.
Our Governor was clearly talking about the total picture, not just Greenburg.
Idiot.
WS
A columnist IS a journalist.
“A columnist IS a journalist.”
Was he expressing his OPINION or reporting facts?
If he was expressing his OPINION, then he was operating as a COLUMNIST.
Damn.
WS
The COMMANDER of the Guard has the authority to request Regular Army and Regular Air Force equipment and supplies, in an emergency.
No requests of that type were ever made.
The Commander of the Kansas Guard never refuted Senator Brownbacks comments, posted above.
Brownback quoted Guard officials as saying they had the equipment that they needed.
Still waiting for your copy and paste proving this LIE.
“So you now claim that the Topeka Capital Journal is full of “right wing political hacks””
Put up or shut up.
“Brownback quoted Guard officials as saying they had the equipment that they needed.”
I guess your reading skills are slipping, Partisan Paul, the issue was not JUST Greensburg, and many, many governors have expressed concern about equipment, and not just Democrats.
“Columnist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Topics in journalism
A columnist is a journalist who writes material on a regular basis for publication in a series. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columnist
Columnists are still bound by journalistic ethics. They are not to make up their own “facts”.
When a fact is cited, by a journalist, whether a columnist or news reporter, such a fact should have the same reliability.
That columnists are allowed to offer opinion is beside the point.
You told me that my quote was NOT from a “journalist” —
You were absolutely, pathetically, predictably wrong, once again.
WS
Kathleen Sebelius was trying to score political points.
She was called on it.
Nobody with any authority backed up what Sebelius said.
Not one single person.
You lost, again.
Get over it, again!
Point One……………
Still waiting for your copy and paste proving this LIE.
“So you now claim that the Topeka Capital Journal is full of “right wing political hacks””
Put up or shut up.
Point Two…………….
“They are not to make up their own “facts”.”
They interpret FACTS to express their OPINIONS.
Dumbass.
Also, Partisan Paul, still waiting for your PROOF that Obama is 44% Arab.
You know, proof that does not require ASSUMING that his father and grandfather were Arab.
“Nobody with any authority backed up what Sebelius said.”
“Fair but guarded condition,” Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting the state’s adjutant general and Guard commander, told the Lawrence Journal-World. “We’re better than we were.”
“Franklin” does not know what he’s talking about. Straight from the GAO’s 2005 (BEFORE the 2006 Democratic takeover):
“Worsening equipment shortfalls affecting the Army National Guard illustrate the need for DOD to reexamine its strategy and plans for the Army National Guard. As we noted in our report, National Guard Bureau officials estimate that the Guard’s nondeployed units had only about 34 percent of their essential warfighting equipment as of July 2005, after subtracting equipment that has been left overseas, substitute items that may be incompatible with the active component’s equipment, or items that are undergoing maintenance after being overseas.
As of July 2005, the National Guard had transferred more than 101,000 pieces of equipment from nondeploying units to fully equip deploying units. This practice has depleted the Army National Guard’s inventories of more than 220 critical items, such as armored humvees, and reduced the Guard’s remaining inventory of other mission-essential items. In addition to planned equipment shortfalls, another key reason why the equipment condition of nondeployed units has worsened in recent months is that the Army has required units returning from deployment to leave significant quantities of equipment overseas for use by follow-on forces. As of June 2005, Army National Guard units had left more than 64,000 pieces of equipment, valued at more than $1.2 billion, overseas to support continuing operations.
Moreover, the Army cannot account for over half the equipment Army National Guard units have left overseas and has not developed replacement plans for the equipment as, DOD policy requires. Further, extensive use of the Guard’s equipment overseas has significantly reduced the amount of equipment available to state governors for domestic needs.
National Guard officials believe that the National Guard’s response to Hurricane Katrina was more complicated because significant quantities of critical equipment, such as satellite communications equipment, radios, trucks, helicopters, and night vision goggles, were deployed to Iraq. In the absence of a plan and funding strategy that addresses the Guard’s equipment needs for all its missions, DOD and the Congress currently do not have assurance that the Army National Guard will be well prepared for future missions at home or abroad, particularly those that arise on short notice. “
All you need to find the facts is a little quality time with the Google, and more than two braincells to rub together.
Whoops, left off the link to the above quoted report:
http://www.gao.gov/htext/d06170t.html
So who pays for all that stuff and why the shortage?
“So who pays for all that stuff and why the shortage?”
Pay attention, “Wiseman,” the equipment, paid for by the taxpayers, went to Iraq, part of the Bush “hidden war costs” agenda.
Rosseel is a typical Republican - makes false statements without logic, claims “victory” and then runs away as if he has accomplished something.
He’s a bit like George WMD Bush.
She, along with Brownback and some congressional staffers, was told by Bunting in
Greensburg that there was plenty of equipment and that he lacked nothing. She went out and made an ass out of herself so she could curry favor with the “Remember Katrina” types. Now Bunting has to help her. Simple. This is so tired…kind of like her.
*shock*
The issue of equipment lost to the War is a bipartisan issue, not just Democrats trying to make the administration look bad.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20070511/ai_n19117610
“Governors complain of National Guard shortages”
“We are not going to be able to continue to rely on the National Guard as a full-time operational force,” North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley said.”
“The California National Guard is missing 700 Humvees and over 1,100 high-water vehicles. nearly half the number it’s supposed to have, according to documents reviewed by The AP. The Guard also has just 1,301 M4 machine guns, or less than a third of its required stockpile.”
“Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe acknowledged that his state, with much of its National Guard equipment in Iraq, could have similar problems as Kansas if disaster struck.”
“A lot of equipment has gone to Iraq and the equipment doesn’t come back when the troops come back,” California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday.”
“The Pentagon acknowledged this week that Army National Guard units had only 56 percent of their required equipment, the lowest levels since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”
Golfnut,
You’re right to be shocked. Shocked that your Republican Party has lied to you about how much National Guard resources are left: 34%, according to the factual GAO report.
I know how shocked you are, because I was shocked too. Not shocked that your party would lie to me - I’m used to that. No, Golfnut, I’m shocked that so many fools still believe their spin and bu!!$hit.
Does anyone know what happened to the 891st Engineers Battalion, Kansas National Guard, that was formerly located in the National Guard armory on the west side of Manhattan, Kansas? I initially joined that unit in 1958 while attending K-State. Later after Army active duty, I joined a Civil Affairs Army Reserve unit in Kansas City. I thought a knowledgable National Guard person might be watching this blog.
Jerry- I was retired in 05, and since then there has been so much reorganizing that I can’t keep up with it. I think the 891st is still up and running, I’ve read about it in the Plains Guardian, the State Guard publication, , but I wouldn’t swear to it.