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NGAUS has requested Congress fund several items in its fiscal 2025 defense appropriations bill that would "significantly impact" the National Guard.
Retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, the NGAUS president, detailed the association’s priorities in a Nov. 13 letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees.
McGinn urged lawmakers to fund major vehicle acquisitions and modernization efforts for the Guard.
The letter was directed to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the committee’s vice chair; Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the committee’s ranking member.
McGinn also sought lawmakers’ support for the House’s $140 million funding level for the Army Guard’s High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle modernization program.
"This funding positively affects units across the 54 states and territories, and without it the aging fleet is at risk of not being operationally ready," McGinn wrote of the Army Guard’s HMMWVs, or Humvees.
The Army Guard has more than 40,000 Humvees, many of which are over 25 years old and beyond their useful life without modernization.
Congress has provided at least $100 million annually over the last 12 years — including $140 million in fiscal 2024 — to rebuild these legacy vehicles.
Today, more than 4,000 of these "recapitalized" HMMWVs are in the Guard.
McGinn then asked the lawmakers to retain the House’s $240 million appropriation level to procure MQ-1C Gray Eagle 25M unmanned aircraft systems for the Army Guard.
Gray Eagles assist division commanders with target acquisition and battlefield intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The Army’s active divisions have had Gray Eagles for 15 years, while the Guard’s divisions still lack them.
The first 12 of the Guard’s Gray Eagles were funded in fiscal 2023 defense appropriations.
These Gray Eagles are enough for one Guard division that is currently unannounced but will be fielded in fiscal 2026.
"This ensures the Army National Guard Divisions are structured like the Active Component and provide depth and modular structure to the Total Force in order to meet global demands," McGinn said.
Another NGAUS priority McGinn mentioned is support for the Senate’s $1.25 billion funding level to acquire eight C-130J Super Hercules cargo aircraft and parts for the Air Guard.
The Air Force has never asked for a C-130J for the Guard in any budget requests. This has made Congress the Air Guard’s only source of funding for new C-130Js.
In recent years, lawmakers have added 66 C-130J-30s for the Guard to appropriations at NGAUS’ behest.
McGinn additionally pressed the appropriators to retain the Senate’s $1 billion appropriation level for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account.
NGREA funding is used to modernize or replace the Guard and Reserve’s old equipment.
McGinn advocated for the retention of the House’s NGREA priority list, citing aircraft survivability equipment, weapon training aids, aviation status dashboards and cloud defense solutions as top concerns.
Yet the clock is ticking for the 118th Congress as it tries to fund the federal government for fiscal 2025.
Before the 2024 presidential election ended on Nov. 5, the House had passed five of 12 appropriations bills for fiscal 2025, while the Senate had passed none.
Funding the government for fiscal 2025 is not the only matter the 118th Congress would like to address before it concludes.
Both political parties are eager to finalize the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the nation’s annual defense policy bill.
— By Mark Hensch
