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NGAUS continues to lead the charge of National Guard and Reserve associations urging Congress to help pay service members during the government shutdown, which is now in its fourth week.
More than 1.3 million U.S. service members on duty around the world, including members of the Active Guard Reserve program, did get paid Oct. 15.
That happened after President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to pay troops with any funds “that remain available for expenditure.”
It had been unclear in Washington if that directive would apply to the next scheduled payday Oct. 31, but today Vice President J.D. Vance said “the troops” would be paid.
However, it appears Guard technicians (both dual-status and civilian) who Guard leaders consider critical to readiness, would continue going unpaid.
It would also have no effect on drill-status Guard. Most unit training assemblies were canceled in October, taking away valuable training time and a paycheck from drill-status Guardsmen.
The chief executives of four associations that combined represent all the nation’s more than 1 million Guardsmen and Reservists today urge Senate leaders again to find a way to end the government shutdown.
And if that is not possible soon, the association leaders implored the Senate to come together on a stand-alone bill to pay all involved in force readiness.
That would include not just active-duty troops, but full-time Guard and Reserve technicians and drill-status Guardsmen and Reservists.
“The government shutdown hurts all government employees but the impact on the Guard and Reserve is uniquely painful,” the four association leaders wrote.
Retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, the NGAUS president; Maj. Gen. Francis J. Evon, the president of the Adjutants General Association of the United States; retired Maj. Gen. John B. Hashem, the president of the Reserve Organization of America; and retired Command Sgt. Maj. John Gipe, the executive director of the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, signed the Oct. 28 letter.
The letter went to Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the Senate Majority Leader; Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the Senate Republican Whip; Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate Minority Leader; Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate Democratic Whip.
“Undue hardships have been placed on both service members and their families to include some providers denying TRICARE healthcare coverage for dependents during shutdown,” the association leaders shared with Senate leaders.
“It is crucial that we fund our National Guard and Reserves to ease their financial burden and maintain strategic readiness,” the letter concluded.
NGAUS has also asked association members to contact their elected representatives in Congress and urge them to support either the Pay Our Troops Act (H.R. 5401) in the House or the Pay Our Military (S. 3002) in the Senate.
This can be done with the Write to Congress feature at www.ngaus.org.
—By John Goheen
