Posted on 05/08/2007 9:50:42 AM PDT by .cnI redruM
Last Friday, Greensburg, Kansas was hammered by an F-5 tornado. An F-5 tornado, according to the Pearson-Fujito Scale, has the following characteristics:
Incredible tornado - (261-318 mph winds)-Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 meters; trees debarked; steel re-inforced concrete structures badly damaged.
Tornadoes worse than the storm in Greensburg are deemed possible, but not likely. Needless to say, repairing the town and cleaning up the damage will pose a tremendous challenge.
Rather than requesting help, or reassuring the victims, or for that matter even showing much in the way of leadership, Governor Sibelius immediately went out of her way to turn the tornado into a political statement.
“The rebuilding effort in tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas, likely will be hampered because some much-needed equipment is in Iraq, said that state’s governor.”
“Governor Kathleen Sebelius said much of the National Guard equipment usually positioned around the state to respond to emergencies is gone. She said not having immediate access to things like tents, trucks and semitrailers will really handicap the rebuilding effort.”
“The Kansas National Guard has about 40 percent of the equipment it is allotted because much of it has been sent to Iraq.”
Those lying Bush-bots in The National Guard Bureau are disputing her truthiness to a fare-thee-well.
“Currently, the Kansas National Guard has 88 percent of its forces available, 60 percent of its Army Guard dual-use equipment on hand, and more than 85 percent of its Air Guard equipment on hand, said Randal Noller, public affairs officer for the National Guard Bureau. Under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which is a national partnership agreement that allows state-to-state assistance during governor or federally declared emergencies, Kansas has more than 400,000 Guardsmen available to it, he pointed out. However, Kansas has not yet requested assistance from other states.”
As someone who has served in an Army Reserve Unit, I know well that Guard and Reserve units don’t start at anywhere near 100% of their equipment, when they are home, rather than deployed. Generally, the Army divides its units into three teirs, or Authorized Levels of Organization (ALOs). These ALOs dictate how much of its equipment and personnel the commander is allowed to have on hand, when not deployed on contingency.
Units on high-priority assignments get classified ALO I, and get authorized to acquire up to 100% of their soldiers and equipment. They generally reach and stay at a level of about 95%, until they actually get ordered to deploy. At this point, they get “plused-up” to full.
Most Reserve or Guard outfits get classified as ALO II or ALO III. They never get higher than 80-90% of their allotted gear unless they shop the black market. So if The Kansas National Guard has 60% of its dual-use equipment on hand, they have a lower limit of 50% on their current readiness. This assumption assumes they are all ALO III (the least well equipped units the Army allows) and every item on their property book is dual-use.
In Layman’s terms, one or more of the following statements would have to be true for the Kansas National Guard to have entered this disaster at 40% Equipment Readiness Rate.
A) No one in the Kansas National Guard turns a wrench. They would have to have about c. 33% of their equipment on hand dead-lined to get down to 40% over-all equipment readiness rate.
B) All of their equipment would have to be dual-use and out of country.
C) Their state’s major end items would have to have a really nasty habit of disappearing off of their state property books.
If no combination of these three factors is taking place, then Governor Sibelius has just really back-handed all the people who man Kansas National Guard units full time and who work in their MATES facilities. It’s not hard to get below 80% if your unit isn’t a high priority for the Army at a given time. It’s not easy to get to 40% unless something is being done wrong at every level in the state.
I think Governor Sibelius was exaggerating her plight to take a political swipe at the war and preemptively provide herself with cover, in the event this disaster recovery turns into a media circus like Hurricane Katrina.
Hat-Tip to Q&O for jumping this one early.
Maybe they could cut education spending too,
that would beef up the Guard.
Mississippi’s Govener Stood Up!
If hurricane Katrina was Bush’s fault, then obviously so is this Kansas twister.
1) The Iraq war distracted the administration from preventing the tornado — Bush’s fault!
2) Big Oil’s global warming caused this tornado — Bush’s fault!
3) Karl Rove’s weather machine caused this tornado — Bush’s fault!
No matter how you look at it I.B.F.!
She has the typical relationship to the truth that all libs have. None.
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