Idaho Guard returns, but gear missing

POCATELLO, Idaho – Only about half of the 400 vehicles that Idaho’s 116th Brigade Combat Team used while it was in Iraq have been returned to the state, causing officials to question the state’s ability to respond to natural disasters.

“Of course that’s a concern,” said Gov. Butch Otter.

Lt. Col. Stephanie Dowling, a spokeswoman for the Idaho National Guard, told the Idaho State Journal that most of the missing vehicles are Humvees, and so far haven’t been replaced.

“The ones that are coming off the assembly lines are mostly going to Iraq and Afghanistan,” she said.

Humvees are multipurpose vehicles that can travel through rough terrain.

Otter recently met with commanding generals of the National Guard to discuss plans for such things as wildfires, a concern in Idaho where much of the state is listed as facing an above-average fire season.

In eastern Idaho, the snowpack is at its lowest level in 15 years.

About 1,800 members of the Idaho-based 116th Brigade Combat Team returned home about 19 months ago after spending 18 months deployed to Iraq.

National Guard troops have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, but they are still required to respond to natural disasters and civil unrest.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, whose state was hit by a deadly tornado this month, has said the depletion of National Guard forces and equipment because of their deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan was taking a toll on Kansas’ ability to respond to the crisis.

Dowling said an unknown amount of Idaho National Guard equipment is missing.

“It is significant,” said Jon Hanian, Otter’s press secretary. “Everything from radios to ambulances (was left in Iraq).”