Experts Examine Role of Guard and Reserves 

LEXINGTON, Va., June 26, 2009 – The linchpin role that the National Guard and Reserve components of the Armed Forces play in the defense of the American homeland will be the topic of a national conference this September at Virginia Military Institute.  Top state and federal officials will attend the conference to debate the progress that has been made and the future refinements needed to answer grave homeland challenges.

“The U.S. Citizen-Soldier, Protector of the Homeland: A Retrospective Look and the Road Ahead,” will address such issues as: How prepared are the nation’s Reserve and National Guard forces to respond to a terrorist attack on America’s cities? How ready are those citizen-soldiers to confront a major natural disaster? What role do citizen-soldiers have in helping rebuild stricken communities? How should these forces mesh with those of civilian agencies such as FEMA? What legal conundrums face commanders of those forces? Are the lines separating the responsibilities of state and federal authorities clear or tangled? How much have we learned from 9/11 and Katrina?

“As the number and types of missions for our Armed Forces continue to grow in scale and complexity, this symposium will provide an opportunity for careful and penetrating reflection on a vitally important topic,” said conference chairman Brig. Gen. Charles F. Brower IV, director of VMI’s new Center for Leadership and Ethics.  “Lives lost through human and man-made crises will have been lost in vain if the military and municipalities don’t absorb and adapt from lessons learned and effectively plan accordingly.”

The National Guard and Reserve Forces have refined their roles in responding to natural disasters and human adversaries since the tragedies of September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Given the virtual certainty that this nation will confront similar challenges, it is incumbent on us to derive from these trials signposts for the future, Brower said.

Among the invited speakers are Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro, chairman, Commission on the National Guard and Reserves (2006 – 2008); Lt. Gen. (retired) Russel L. Honoré, commander of Joint Task Force Katrina; Lt. Gen. Steven H. Blum, deputy combatant commander, US Northern Command; Maj. Gen. (retired) William Terpeluk, commander of the 77th Regional Readiness Command during 9/11; Maj. Gen. Michael Davidson, National Guard adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Maj. Gen. Robert B. Newman, adjutant general of Virginia.

The conference is hosted by the Cantigny First Division Foundation, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, and VMI’s Center for Leadership and Ethics. Dr. Malcolm Muir Jr., a military historian who directs the John A. Adams ’71 Center for Military History and Strategic Analysis at VMI, developed the conference program. To learn more about the conference program and speakers and to register on-line, visit www.vmi.edu/citizensoldier.

-VMI-