LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- National Guard leaders addressed challenges and discussed directional changes impacting the Army during the National Guard Association of the United States 139th General Conference and Exhibition at the Kentucky Exposition Center, Sept. 10. National Guard officers from across the nation attended the Army Separate Session.
"Gone are the days of receiving a one year notification before a deployment; we must be ready to deploy at a moment's notice anywhere in the world," said Army National Guard Director Lt. Gen. Timothy Kadavy. "This new posture not only requires us to ensure we are ready, it is knowing that the right equipment is in place and ready to go to war."
Kadavy then said how years of joint warfighting efforts with the Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard has led to the Total Army concept.
"We must continuously be looking for ways to integrate the three components as a Total Army. The more we work together with Reserve and Active Soldiers, the better we are as a whole," Kadavy said.
With recent responses to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Kadavy reiterated how disaster relief operations as one of the main functions of the Guard.
"We are asking our leaders to change their perspective to focus on not just today's fight but contingency operations," said Kadavy.
Army Materiel Command's assistant deputy commanding general for National Guard affairs, Maj. Gen. Elizabeth Austin, took the stage to address logistics issues facing the National Guard.
"Army Materiel Command is addressing logistics challenges as we plan to support the Army in places no one thought we would go just six months ago," said Austin. "We are working to ensure we have the correct commodities to build combat power when time is not on our side."
With conflicts in the Middle East, exercises in Europe, the need to maintain a presence in Asia, and hurricanes making landfall in the U.S., the Army is increasingly tasked with a variety of missions around the world, all of which require a flexible and streamlined supply chain.
"Planning, developing and delivering capabilities that improve equipment readiness and on-hand equipment rates to allow transfers, re-distribution and divestiture of over one million pieces of Army equipment is AMC's mission," Austin said.
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