Request issuance of dedicated U.S. Army National Guard Force Structure to support manning, training and equipping of
the 27 National Guard CBRN Response Enterprise Search & Extraction Elements (e.g. Homeland Response Force and
CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package). The distribution of 27, 108-Soldier Technical Rescue Engineer
Companies (Doc. Type: Table of Distribution and Allowances; Doc. No. MWW40RAA) fulfills the manning, training and
equipping requirements of a Type II Technical Rescue capability which is the equivalent to the existing Search &
Extraction Element. This issuance would result in long-term cost savings and increased Type II rescue capabilities within
the National Guard. Utilizing the existing Army Total Force Policy to execute initial entry training, advanced individual
training and specialty training reduces the dependence on annually-funded contractors and ancillary support
mechanisms. Embedding this capability within the 27 strategically-identified National Guard states improves domestic
swift water, technical rescue and wide area search to combat existing and emerging requirements for response
packages to catastrophic weather emergencies. Current Search & Extraction Elements are formed using existing U.S.
Army National Guard Force Structure but are not alleviated from their designed Federal missions. The standing "dual
mission" unnecessarily creates tension between the Soldier and his employer, family and readiness requirements.