Political Quotes

“I would simply say, briefly, the Secretary of Defense has issued policy guidance that covers members of the Reserve and Guard, and that guidance says they should not be subject to more than one long deployment every 6 years. That has enabled them to continue their civilian pursuits and their family lifestyles. Of course, that can be waived in times of national emergency, as it is right now. But to impose this management restriction on the President as Commander in Chief I think would severely begin to limit, for planning and other purposes, the utility of the Guard and Reserve. I remember serving under Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird when the concept of the total force was evolving, and that is that men and women of the Guard are respected and treated with equal effectiveness as those of the regular Active Forces. I think this would be a very serious step backward in what I believe has been an absolutely glorious contribution by the National Guard and the Reserve Forces for some years now in their deployments in the war on terrorism.”