Word: guarded
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...critical question at the heart of the controversy is whether the U.S. is getting full value and adequate protection from the material and human resources it is pouring into the Guard...
...fend off ghetto rioters. Since the training emphasis for Army Guardsmen has been on weapons of war-for the federal role-it is no surprise that they were ill-prepared to cope with the summer's disturbances in America's city streets. The Guard in Newark and Detroit was confronted with organized arson, mass looting and, most terrifying of all, snipers firing at Guardsmen from darkened windows. In both cities, the Guard lacked a clear-cut chain of command, suffered from the hesitation of political commanders, was committed to piecemeal units. The New Jersey Guard lacked radio equipment...
What was nationally obvious was that the Guard needs better training. The quick directive that flashed out from Washington on the heels of the rioting should provide a good start. All over the nation, Army Guardsmen have been working hard to complete the crash 32-hour riot-training program ordered by the Pentagon. Some of the highlights: crowd control, building roadblocks, locating and isolating snipers. Above all, the new course teaches Guardsmen to avoid mass gunfire...
Training alone is, of course, not a sufficient answer. The 46th Guard Division used in Detroit was woefully unprepared for any kind of combat, riot or otherwise, since two of its brigades were among those Guard units in the lowest category of priorities. Its manpower was at the 50% level, and it had no access to needed federal equipment. It is precisely this kind of unit that Defense Secretary McNamara has been trying for years to get rid of. But getting rid of units means getting rid of juicy officer posts in the state. Local politicians and Congressmen are shocked...
President Dwight Eisenhower tried time and again to reduce and modernize the National Guard and at the same time slash the size of that other nonactive force, the Organized Reserve, which stands separate from the Guard and currently numbers 260,000. Congress balked each time, and until recently Secretary McNamara has had not much more luck with his own reserve reorganization schemes. At last, however, a program seems to be near acceptance. It would trim the Guard in relatively minor terms: from 418,500 men to 400,000. It would be aimed at using those men in fewer, more efficient...