Head of Idaho Guard says A-10 mission critical to state

Dear editor:

The Idaho National Guard is facing unprecedented changes, and they are not beneficial to our state or nation.

At this time, the Idaho Air Guard is looking at the loss of its A-10 combat aircraft and the Idaho Army Guard may lose its combat mission flying the AH-64 Apache helicopter.

It's clear that in this age of budget cuts, the National Guard must trim down along with other Department of Defense units. But it's not clear that divesting these traditional Idaho National Guard combat missions is the way to do it. For instance, we know we can perform the same combat roles as our active-duty counterparts just as well and for less than half the annual cost.

Furthermore, the loss of missions and personnel would negatively impact our crucial role of responding to natural and man-caused disasters when our governor calls us out to respond.

Gov. Otter, our Idaho congressional delegation and Mayor Bieter are all fighting to preserve these missions and I applaud their long-term vision as they work to keep them in Idaho.

What's needed in D.C. is an independent committee to review this entire situation and make impartial recommendations to Congress.

-- Maj. Gen. Gary L. Sayler, Idaho Adjutant General