Army Has the Option of Using National Guard Divisions to Augment Non- divisional Support Capability The eight Army National Guard divisions that DOD does not envision using during a two-conflict situation contain support capability that the Army could use to fill non-divisional support needs. At our request, the Army compared the capability in support units in a typical National Guard division with the capability reflected in non-divisional support units that were not allocated resources during the 1993 Total Army Analysis. This analysis identified. several examples of support units in a National Guard Division that are similar or identical to unresourced non-divisional support units (see table 2). Table 2: Support Units in National Guard Divisions Identical or Similar to Unresourced Non-divisional Support Units Type of unit National Guard divisional support unit Unresourced non-divisional support unit Ordnance Ammunition transfer point section Ammunition account team Aviation Attack helicopter battalion Attack helicopter battalion Transportation control team Movement control team Movement Military Police Military police company Military police combat support company Chemical Chemical company Chemical decontamination company Signal Signal battalion Signal battalion Signal Signal support company Air defense artillery support company Maintenance Heavy maintenance company Engineer equipment repair team or tactical fire repair team Maintenance Engineer support team Engineer equipment repair team Maintenance Army repair section Tactical fire repair team In addition, we analyzed Army data on the personnel and equipment assigned to the eight National Guard divisions and found that these divisions have many of the same skilled personnel and equipment needed for non- divisional support units. For example, these divisions could provide 100 percent of the unresourced non-divisional support requirements for 321 types of skilled personnel, including helicopter pilots, communications technicians, repair personnel, military police officers, intelligence analysts, and petroleum and water specialists; and 407 types of equipment, including medium trucks, trailers, tractors, generator sets, chemical and biological masks, radio sets and antennas, and water supply and purification systems. Given the previously mentioned similarities, we believe that the Army should consider using the support capability in the eight National Guard divisions to augment its non-divisional support capability in wartime. The Army has the option of using National Guard divisional support units that are identical or similar to non-divisional support units to perform the non-divisional mission. Moreover, the Army could use personnel and equipment in divisional units to either form new non-divisional support units or augment existing non-divisional support units, if that is required. The Army has not considered using National Guard divisions in this manner because these divisions were planned to be used as follow-on combat forces in the event of a global war. Army officials agreed that National Guard divisions are a potential source for meeting non-divisional support requirements. They, however, emphasized that a more extensive analysis is required to determine the feasibility and cost- effectiveness of this option and the impact on the divisions of using them in this manner. Back to Table of Contents Force Structure US Army Back to GAO List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by US GAO. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com