Governors’ Priorities for the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act

As commanders-in-chief of our respective national guard, Governors take seriously their responsibility for ensuring the well-being of our service members and ensuring our nation’s national defense.

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On behalf of the National Governors Association (NGA), we write to you regarding the top legislative priorities for the nation’s Governors for inclusion in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

National Guard Response to Pandemics and Catastrophic Disasters

For several years, Governors have highlighted to your committees the lack of a defined authority and process for requesting and activating our National Guard under Title 32 in response to large scale catastrophic events. The absence of such a process and authority was extremely apparent in the response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Early in the COVID-19 response, NGA requested that the President authorize the use of Title 32 for our respective National Guard and Governors appreciated the federal government’s support of this request during the response.

However, as we noted to congressional leadership last year, the process used to authorize Title 32 was piecemeal; based on arbitrary and changing requirements; too slow, cumbersome, and bureaucratic and ultimately put our National Guard members on the front lines at risk. Even now, given the change in Administrations, it is unclear who can and should authorize and extend this authority.

During a crisis, Governors should be able to rely on the federal government to provide guidance, well-understood and transparent processes, and resources in a timely and realistic manner. For the use of Title 32, only a legislative solution can provide this level of certainty and consistency in the future.

Therefore, we ask you to include legislative language to modify Title 32 in the fiscal year 2022 NDAA to provide a more effective, transparent and rapid activation of the National Guard in respond to catastrophic events. Doing so will ensure our collective response needs associated with catastrophic disasters, pandemics, cyber events and national crisis, are met more rapidly and consistently. This in turn will help to enhance response efforts and provide standardized protection and benefits for National Guard personnel.

Maintaining Airlift Capability and Capacity

NGA shares the concern raised by C-130 states regarding the Air Force’s (USAF) proposed reduction in the Air National Guard’s (ANG) C-130 Total Aircraft Inventory (TAI) of combat delivery aircraft.

Governors support maintaining no fewer than 138 C-130s within the ANG, as we believe it would allow the ANG across the country to continue to fully support the National Defense Strategy (NDS). Additionally, this capacity will allow our C-130 units to support domestic missions in response to hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other emergencies that are critical to the safety and security of the nation. Anything below this level will hurt the collective ability of the nation to respond to these emerging and rapid response events.

National Guard Full Time Support

Governors and our adjutants general continue to support the growth of National Guard personnel end-strength and the increase of full-time support (FTS) positions. Specifically, the Army National Guard (ARNG) is staffed at nearly 58,000 FTS personnel, which translates to only 64 percent of the established 90,000 FTS requirement, falling far short of the other reserve components.

The ability of the reserve component to proactively ensure adequate administration, recruitment, training, maintenance, and supply support is dependent on sufficient full-time support. Traditional guardsmen are supported by this core group of staff. Without an increase, Governors continue to have serious concerns about the Guard’s ability to maintain a level of readiness that achieves both operational requirements and governors’ immediate response needs in the states. The dual nature of the National Guard, and the needs of the nation in responding to both natural and man-made disasters, necessitates the reallocation of manpower and resources to our Guard.

NGA requests Congress provide adequate personnel authorization to support growth in FTS positions for the National Guard, specifically the Army National Guard.

Thank you for your continued support of these top NGA priorities for the Fiscal Year 2022 NDAA and for our National Guard. As commanders-in-chief of our respective national guard, Governors take seriously their responsibility for ensuring the well-being of our service members and ensuring our nation’s national defense.

Sincerely,