New Mexico's National Guard Doesn't Have Equipment Needed to Fight

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Lawmakers want answers to Guard equipment shortages .

New Mexico's five-member congressional delegation, in a letter to Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey, requested a briefing on the shortages and a plan to solve the problem.New Mexico National Guard units overseas had to obtain waivers to use their helicopters because the copters didn't meet requirements, the letter said."We were disturbed to learn that the medical evacuation units have to take medical equipment out of their helicopters to make them light enough to fly at the high altitudes required by their missions," said the letter, signed by Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Pete Domenici, R-N.M, and House members Tom Udall, a Democrat, and Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, both Republicans.The delegation asked why domestic equipment levels for most National Guard forces is less than half of that authorized and what is being done to correct that.The letter also asked how much dual-use equipment is available for the New Mexico Guard's war missions, how the shortage affects the Guard's readiness for domestic and overseas missions or a disaster, and how much the Army is seeking in its next budget to fund dual-use equipment for Guard troops.