(New York- WABC, December 8, 2005) - Equipment shortages within the New York and New Jersey National Guard are raising serious questions about their ability to respond to disasters.
A month-long investigation by Eyewitness News has discovered large quantities of equipment to be used for "at home" emergencies, are now in Iraq.
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When national guard troops come home from Iraq, much of the critical equipment that makes them an effective force stays behind.
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Since the war, New Jersey National Guard has left one thousand humvees and trucks back in Iraq.
And during the past year, 16 of its 20 helicopters were in Iraq. They are now being shipped home, but it could be months before they're operational.
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A more revealing picture of New York equipment shortages are found in numbers we obtained from the House Armed Services Committee.
They reveal New York is authorized to have more than 900 humvees, but currently have only 266. They are also authorized to have more than one thousand night vision goggles, but have only 264.
Rep. [Steve] Israel [D-Suffolk]: "Humvees and night vision goggles are mission critical equipment. If the New York National Guard only has 25 percent of what it needs that suggest a real problem."
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Why do we have a National Guard anymore? We might as well put everybody on active duty and leave disaster response to the incompetents at FEMA. If the Guard has no equipment, the results will be the same.
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