Between overseas deployments and ­disasters at home, the National Guard has been stretched thin—but is it breaking?

This past May and June, more than 100 people were killed by the most violent of the dozens of tornadoes that created swaths of destruction in more than half a dozen states. It was the largest loss of life from tornadic activity in a decade—or in any shorter period of time. And it was only the beginning of the year’s official tornado season, although tornadoes can drop out of the sky in any state at any time of the year.

On average, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide in any given year, resulting in 70 deaths and over 1,500 injuries.

But 2008 quickly set a new record.

There was so much annihilation in so many states that the National Guard in these states had to be called upon to not only help in search and rescue and debris removal, but also to enforce curfews, security perimeters and, in some cases, evacuations in advance of rapidly worsening super cells that create tornadoes.

It was a grand-scale test of the Guard’s readiness following

a year of contentious wrangling between governors and the administration of President George Bush over our citizen ­soldiers’ means to respond to catastrophes.

But although the Guard largely received passing grades in meeting these crises, the force could again become strained. The Pentagon announced that, amidst all the tornadoes swirling around the nation in May, about 14,000 National Guard units from tornado- and hurricane-vulnerable states have been alerted for combat mission in Afghanistan in the fall.

The Army has conceded that it is “increasingly a challenge” to provide the level of soldiers it needs to fight the war on terror in both Afghanistan and Iraq, while trying to reach its goal of giving troops at least 12 months at home between combat tours.

When HSToday last examined the Guard’s—and US Army Reserve’s—problems in the August 2007 report, “The State of the National Guard: Doing More with Less and Less,” the prognosis for the Guard’s readiness—at least in the short term—looked pretty bleak by many accounts.

But much has changed during the last year. The administration, Department of Defense (DoD), Congress and Guard have all taken measures to reinforce the Guard’s disaster response capabilities at home, while maintaining its fighting force role overseas. Still, there’s much more to be done.

Surprising good news

To the delight of top defense leaders and the surprise of Democratic critics in and out of Congress, the Guard has been meeting its recruitment goals and attrition has slowed. This time last year, attrition and recruitment numbers were not looking good, leading some lawmakers and think tank analysts to forecast a gloomy future for the Guard.

“We are retaining members of the National Guard at extra­ordinary rates,” the National Guard chief, Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, told lawmakers in mid-May during the latest round of hearings probing Guard and Reserve readiness. “Our recruiting numbers are equally as impressive. Right now, the Army and Air National Guard are contributing to the overseas warfighting in staggering numbers, approaching 513,500 mobilizations as of December 31, 2007.”

Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 80 percent of the 350,000-strong Guard has been mobilized and deployed overseas, many units several times.

The Guard forces are capped at 352,000, but Congress is being asked to authorize a force of 360,000. The Guard is allowed to exceed the cap by 3 percent, but must find offsets to pay for the additional service members. If Congress raises the threshold, then it would provide the Guard with the necessary funding for the additional citizen soldiers.

In fiscal year 2008, the Guard has funding for 351,111 personnel and, with the 3 percent margin, has recruited and been able to pay for 358,193.

This hasn’t been without a hitch, though. The Guard has been able to pay for the additional personnel in part through the supplemental spending bills for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. But with the wars’ funding on shaky ground, the Guard needs Congress to authorize the expansion of its forces in order to continue to pay them.

And there needs to be an increase in full-time personnel to help ready the part-time units for deployments.

“We must have the resources to train the force so that we don’t have to waste time when these forces are separated from their families and their businesses to get training they should receive before they are called up for the service of this nation,” Blum emphasized.

Then there’s the issue of “the quality of the people you’re getting. I mean, that we still don’t know,” HSToday was told by Lawrence Korb, former assistant secretary of defense for manpower, reserve affairs, installations, and logistics. “Yeah, the numbers look good, but did we get the people we wanted … their educational and their aptitude standards and all that type of thing? We find out that last year they took in 860 people with felony convictions. I mean, yeah, the Guard and Reserve numbers are looking better, no doubt about it … but it’s not just numbers; you want to get the right people.”