| Show 4 Report r Rehor p f fro from rona L Your our u uI Governor I By fly George D. D D Clyde A challenge appears to be shapIng shap shap- ing In a Pentagon proposal for reduction of National Guard strength and sod re organization re-organization atthe of at the National Guard which hints of reducing allotted units Th's toad could menu mean that the Utah National Guard might suffer the elimination by forced reduction of from to 1000 officers enlisted ed mon men This reduction would arise from possible elimination cUmin of up ito to three National t ird battalions or twelve com come I pany any sized d units To the State Stale of Utah hs could men mem that 50 51 per cent coot of the communities which now have National Guard units may loaa 03 these units It Is la not necessary to go Into detail as to what this loss would en entail all Long years of experience have impressed upon communities ties tics what the National Guard means to thelT economy to com can community support ami d the value of the National Guard f facility be ing made available for community use Elimination of the unit would of necessity deny many communIties communities commune ites advantages now enjoyed The direct effect on 00 Utah anden and co en other individual states is not the only consideration to be taken taken taken tak tak- en do account The effect on national national national na na- security should also be carefully weighed The State militia or National Guard is a rooted deep-rooted tradition In the American way of life Our independence was won not by a professional army but by an army of soldiers citizen-soldiers who left their homes for the emergency and returned to their normal civilian ilian illan pursuits when the fighting was over I Provisions for the militia b It I specifically made mad In the United States Constitution in Article Ankle 8 and again In the Second ond Amendment Amendment Amendment Amend Amend- ment and the principle of havIng having hav hay ing ng a state military force torce which which becomes an active part of the national military force only under und und- er emergency conditions Is typically American The maIntaining main maIn- tain taming Ing of it jt Is Important to the Nation as a whole as well as to the Individual states As C for r any argument that the National Guard is ds outmoded inthis Inthis in inthis this age of Intercontinental mis mis- siles sites I I r think It falls of Its own weight There will always be beI need for the soldier The increased I threat of possible attack on the United States from without or by bya a fifth column from Crom within cor core correspondingly correspondingly increases the importance tance of military units under the command of the respective states and standing ready to meet an any threat whether local national or global I am coordinating action With the dhe Governors of other states who feel as deeply concerned with this problem as I. I Congressional security Is being Invited to safeguard safeguard safe safe- safeguard guard against action mental to the States and to the local communities It Lt may be necessary necessary necessary essary to request assistance at community level to insure the perpetuation of the National Guard as a vital civilian component component component com com- available to the State in time of peace for Cor civil disturb- disturb or natural disaster and to the United States In time of national national national na na- na- na peril |
