More Guardsmen Likely In Spokane Army National Guard Reorganization Focuses On Responding To Domestic Terrorist Attacks

The Army National Guard likely will increase the number of soldiers stationed in Spokane under a statewide reorganization, a brigadier general said Tuesday.

This year, the Washington Army National Guard will close the equivalent of a 757-person mechanized infantry battalion while creating a battalion to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks.

When the shuffling is done, Spokane’s pool of Army National Guard members likely will grow even though the overall number of positions in the state will shrink, said Brig. Gen. Lee Legowick, assistant adjutant general of the state Guard.

Legowick didn’t offer specifics on what might happen in Spokane. He was one of three generals speaking at a Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Ridpath Hotel.

Spokane has about 560 Army National Guard members who earn a total of roughly $6.6 million annually, according to the chamber of commerce.

The changes are a result of the National Defense Panel Report, which provides recommendations on the military’s structure to Congress and the secretary of defense.

The National Defense Panel review recommended that state Guard units focus on “home-land defense,” including terrorist attacks involving chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

The Department of Defense believes the Guard - with its 3,300 armories nationwide - is better positioned than the regular military to respond to domestic terrorist attacks, said Lt. Col. Mike McCaffree in a telephone interview from Camp Murray near Olympia.

But Washington state doesn’t “have a real good capability of responding to these types of attacks,” McCaffree said.

The new battalion would consist of roughly 475 positions, broken into various nuclear, biological and chemical detection and decontamination units.

None of the positions would exist as “boots on the ground” until sometime after October, McCaffree said.

A final decision on placement of the positions will be made by summer, he said.

, DataTimes