Description of policy currently under force Essay

Description of policy currently under force - Essay Example The United States National Guards are a part of the United States reserve military force.The primary main function of the National Guards is to aid the armed forces during emergency and support the state government during war.Used both by the United States air force and the armed forces, the United States National Guards are federally controlled units of the state authorities under title ten and thirty two of the United States code. Mobilized through the means of either the president order or the governor's consent, the National Guards require voluntary transfers or temporary duty assignments to get in action.According to the current policy, the National Guards are to act as a first line defense for the United States. The force is divided into small units which are spread across the length and breadth of each of the fifty states and are governed by their territorial governors. The current policy also states that in case of an emergency such as a hurricane, flood or an earth quake, th e National Guards may be pressed into active service after getting a nod from the territorial governors. National Guards can also be commissioned into active or inactive services in the federally recognized armed forces if the need rises.For this, it is imperative that the authorities get a nod from the state governors. Likewise, the National Guards may be called up to assist the Federal services to suppress invasions, rebellion or to repel a proposed armed invasion of a foreign country. Likewise, in the case of any danger against the Federal authority or the inability of the president to execute the laws of the United States with the aid of the current armed forces, the federal laws require added assistance through the means of the National Guards. At present, with special regards to the war with Iraq, wherein tens of thousands of National Guards are being dispatched to the war torn country, the country is facing acute shortage in terms of both manpower as well as recourses when it comes to dealing with natural disasters. Since the year 2003, the National Guards have left sixty four thousand pieces of equipment, which include trucks and communication equipment valued over $1.2 billion in Iraq. (Pear) (Millett and Maslowski) Environments Of The Policy Currently In Force National guards comprise one half of the US ground forces and one third of the support forces. Since September 2001, over 140,000 guard members have been mobilized; of which 113,000 are one active duty. Of these over forty percent are currently deployed in the war torn Iraq and fifty one percent are involved to aid the global war on terrorism. (United States Office of the Federal Register) The Physical Factors The main physical factors which affect the origin, development and implementation of the current policy are the physical factors. The biggest setback to the National Guard came when the organization was commissioned to active service. Here, it was a complete transition from a force which was rarely deployed to a force which was always on active duty. Likewise the sudden transition of a soldier, who was earlier deployed for a short period of time to one who had to be on active duty for at least a year, led to unprecedented stress and physical discomfort. In accordance to the present operational tempo, the unparallel physical demands led to severe health problems. The need for health promotion programs to prevent soldier injuries on and off the battle field, led to the induction of new health policies (Eaglen). The problems include- 1) Lack of medical readiness program projections based on current and future assessments 2) Conditions, which are potentially preventable but affect the mission include orthopedic (56%), internal medicine (16%) and neurological disorders (8%). 3) Lack of mobilized medical units 4) Lack of enhanced medical readiness to ensure healthy and fit medical personnel. 5) Absence of medical facilities which aid in the conservation and restoration of a soldier's health and medical