Pubdate: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 Source: Tulsa World (OK) Contact: http://www.tulsaworld.com Author: Julie DelCour, Editorial Writer NATIONAL GUARD UNITS PLAY KEY ROLE If the Department of Defense has its way, America's longest running war -- the one waged day in and day out against drugs -- would be fought with fewer and fewer National Guard support personnel on the domestic front. The public should be up in arms over the decision. Counterdrug programs run by National Guards across the nation are losing funds once dedicated to helping local, state and federal law enforcement interdict and eradicate drugs and to raising community awareness about drug problems. Increasingly the Department of Defense, which mainly funds National Guards, is focusing larger parts of its counterdrug budget to fighting external threats. Meanwhile, equipment, bought and paid for by taxpayers -- which might otherwise sit idle -- as well as trained personnel, could be lost as a resource for states trying to fight drug encroachment. Closer to home, efforts by law enforcement agencies, including the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, to eradicate marijuana, the state's second largest cash crop, could lose a vital partner if the National Guard is forced to trim support. So far this summer, in Operation Red Rain, Guardsmen have aided drug fighters in spraying 11 million wild marijuana plants and 55,000 cultivated plants, and have been on hand for the arrest of 43 drug suspects. "This certainly is a big concern for us," said OBNDD spokesman Mark Woodward. "We've already seen how some cutbacks affected our program in the amount of time we have to use aircraft and in the time that can be spent in the air." While it wouldn't be impossible to get by without Guard support, Woodward said, "it would be very difficult" to run the marijuana eradication program without Guard assistance. "They work with us year round. They not only lend aircraft but support personnel. They go out with us. We've got 10 Guardsmen out right now spraying the wild fields." Guardsmen also provide law enforcement with "a lot of training in areas such as rappelling, survival techniques and first aid." Guardsmen also have provided equipment and support for reconnaissance and raids on methamphetamine labs and crack houses. "Their aircraft can provide surveillance above houses, a bird's-eye view," Woodward said. "They watch our backs." While the overall federal drug-control budget is climbing, funding for National Guard counterdrug programs has decreased 18 percent or by $32 million over the past two years. This year President Clinton proposed $17.1 billion for overall drug-fighting efforts, up $1.1 billion. Apparently taking a cue from DOD, he proposed that Congress fund National Guard programs at $148 million, down $13 million from fiscal 1998. In Oklahoma, the National Guard counterdrug program has seen its budget slashed by 30 percent from the $2 million it received in 1997. In a plea to Congress to restore funding to the fiscal 1997 level of $180 million, the National Guard Association of the United States said the proposed budget reduction would translate into 200,000 fewer duty days for direct support, a 24 percent loss in flight hours and a 20 percent reduction in support of drug-related arrests. NGAUS said the additional funds should come from receiving a greater share of the Department of Defense's overall counterdrug budget of $882.3 million and not from existing National Guard or DOD readiness accounts. This year, up to 4,000 Guard personnel, including numerous Oklahoma Guardsmen, will assist in thousands of drug-control missions. While they make no arrests and enforce no drug laws their presence looms large. "We're not trying to become a law enforcement agency," says Lt. Col. Mike Garman of the Oklahoma National Guard's Counterdrug Support Section. "We don't want that mission." But the Guard can make drug-fighters' lives a lot easier. "I think there is a lack of true understanding on the impact we can have," Garman said. It would be an extreme and duplicative expense in many instances for law enforcement to supply itself with the millions of dollars of specialized equipment and personnel already at Guard disposal. "Our position is that the taxpayers already have paid for aircraft and crew training, and Guard personnel go to drill once a month and do 15 days of annual training, so why not let taxpayers use these resources in other ways," Garman said. Under existing rules, each year governors' offices submit plans to the U.S. Secretary of Defense on how to use their National Guards to support federal, state and local law enforcement drug operations and community education programs. The defense secretary reviews plans and forwards a funding request to Congress. In the past two years, Congress, which is not unsympathetic to the value of Guard work, "actually has marked the budget request up," Garman said. "We hear a variety of reasons for the cutbacks, including more efforts to have a balanced budget. But within the Department of Defense there may not be as great an understanding of the impact of drugs on the states." Most of what DOD does in support of its counterdrug drug operations is focused on the borders and it does not normally operate in a domestic capacity, Garman said. "The National Guards are different, they belong to the governors. The leadership of the Department of Defense does not come up through the National Guard. They're focused on the external threat in their budgeting priorities and don't necessarily understand how the National Guard provides real support on the domestic front," Garman said. In Oklahoma, the Guard counterdrug program has "matured" and diversified over the years to match changing drug patterns, Garman said. Operations have shifted to more youth education in light of such statistics that drug use among high school seniors is up to 42 percent. In the end, Garman said, National Guards understand budgets are not unlimited, priorities must be set and tough decisions must be made. "But we don't want to take more than our fair share of the hit." Julie DelCour is an editorial writer for the Tulsa World. - --- Checked-by: Patrick Henry