In the News
Editorial: Getting a fair deal for National Guard membersEditorial: Getting a fair deal for National Guard members
Washington, DC,
May 3, 2016
During disasters, the assistance provided by members for the Army National Guard and Air National Guard have proved invaluable to the victims of disaster but also in support of the work of first responders at the scene, such as during the wildfires in Eastern and Central Washington the last two fire seasons and, of course, in the aftermath of the Oso landslide in March 2014. During the Oso response, National Guard members assisted in the search and recovery of victims and also offered their skill and equipment in decontaminating search crews covered in the muck that carried hazardous materials spilled during the landslide. The unit responding at Oso included members of the Guard's Homeland Response Forces, one of 10 such forces nationwide that are assigned to respond in each of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency's regions. A unit of about 570 Guard members, the Homeland Response Forces are on scene in as little as six hours and provide search and rescue, decontamination, medical triage and stabilization and assistance with casualties. The force that responded to the Stillaguamish Valley following the Oso landslide was one of the first such forces formed in 2010. But following the response in Oso, 1st District Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Washington, heard from some Guard members who, unlike the health care coverage they earn while on full-time duty, were without health coverage for themselves and their families during their Homeland Response Force duty, an oversight left over from creation of the response forces. |