Commandant highlights changing focus of Iowa National Guard

DES MOINES - Just 150 Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen are deployed around the world - the lowest number since the start of operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom - but new, emerging mission continue to make the Iowa National Guard 'even more relevant today at home and abroad,” Major General Timothy Orr told legislators Thursday.

And the 9,200-member force has no units identified for potential future overseas deployments in 2015 - a first since 2000, Orr told a joint session of the Iowa House and Senate.

In his sixth Condition of the Guard address, Orr, the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, highlighted the changing mission of the force as it has seen a 'significant decline” in the demand for Guard soldiers and airmen.

'We are now at a point where current and projected demands for Army and Air Force assets around the globe may continue to decrease,” he said, adding, 'depending on the needs of the nation.”

That fact was driven home recently when the West Africa Ebola deployment of members of the 294th Area Support Medical Company based in Washington, Iowa, was canceled, he said.

He reminded lawmakers that over the last 13 years, the Iowa National Guard has mobilized more than 17,000 soldiers and airmen for combat and combat support duties in Iraq and Afghanistan, peacekeeping duties in the Balkans and on the Sinai Peninsula, and for other operational missions around the globe. They have operated in more than 35 countries since Sept. 11, 2001.

Over the past year, Orr added, 18 wounded, injured or ill Guard members back from deployments have received medical care at military facilities or health care providers in their communities.

Approximately 3,700 Guardsmen and Guardswomen are combat veterans, more than 42 percent of our force, the highest percentage in modern history.

Orr also highlighted the economic impact of the Iowa National Guard. The 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City has an $80 million impact on Siouxland, he said. The 132nd Fighter Wing in Des Moines provided a $70 million infusion in central Iowa and current and future military construction necessary at the Des Moines Airport will provide a $15 million to $20 million impact.

He complimented the Legislature for its support of the all-volunteer Guard to make Iowa the most veteran-friendly state through the Home Base Program.

He also singled out the support through the Iowa National Guard Educational Assistance Program, a program funded in its entirety by the state of Iowa. In the past year, nearly 1,200 Guard members received up to 100 percent of their tuition paid at the state regents' rate to attend Iowa colleges, universities and community colleges.

'This critical recruiting and retention tool helps ensure our readiness and provides an invaluable benefit,” Orr said, and helps keep Guard members in Iowa.

Moving forward, Orr noted the transition at the 132nd from F-16 aircraft to remote piloted aircraft, or drone, operation, intelligence surveillance reconnaissance and cyber security.

The medical simulation training center at Camp Dodge reached full operating capability in 2014 and is offering emergency medical training to military and law enforcement personnel.

Vigilant Guard, the Iowa National Guard's cyber security initiative, is partnering with state agencies to exercise and assess responses capabilities to multiple disaster scenarios, Orr said. Last week, the Iowa National Guard hosted a cybersecurity workshop to begin developing a comprehensive cyber security response system for the state.

In closing, Orr said he hoped legislators were comfortable that the Iowa National Guard 'is in good hands and is moving in the spirit of one.”

'The Iowa National Guard is postured to rise to new challenges, but we will remain focused on the fundamental mission of the Iowa National Guard: Defending America at home and abroad,” Orr said.