Alaska's National Guard- Needs Not Met Posted by James Lamond

Despite her ticket’s motto of “Country First,” one thing is sure about Sarah Palin: she doesn’t put America’s veterans first.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that:

Alaska Army National Guard troops returning home to rural communities after year-long deployments to war zones face huge obstacles trying to receive standard veterans' health care. . .

That's because about 25 percent of Alaska's Guard members live in villages where no veteran health clinics are available, and they often have to travel long distances by plane to see a doctor. . .

But that's just one of several problems now facing Alaskans who were part of the U.S.-wide call to send Army National Guard troops into battle

Job prospects for troops returning to villages are sometimes grim. And screening for mental health problems is still lacking for the 575 soldiers in the 3rd Battalion, 297th Regiment, who spent a year in northern Kuwait and southern Iraq from 2006 to 2007.

The main problem is that the Alaska guard was designed for defense against threats at home, not for repeated deployments abroad. The Alaska Guard has a deployment rate of 80%.  There were never adequate systems put in place to address the needs of thousands of soldiers returning home from war.

This Anchorage Daily News article comes following a report issued by Veteran’s for America, a veteran’s advocacy organization, on the post-deployment challenges facing Alaska’s National Guard.  The report finds that “the post-deployment needs of Alaska National Guard members and their families remain largely unmet.” There are rises in divorces, suicides, mental illness, financial difficulties and other post-combat problems.  The VFA was even told that the Food Bank of Alaska has seen a 400% increase in military families relying on their services.

Another major problem is access to health care.  Over 60% of Alaska Guard members live in rural areas of Alaska, miles from the nearest VA facility.  This can result in a very long and expensive trip to the nearest VA facility, just to receive proper medical care.  While the VA will reimburse the patient, they do need to put the money upfront.  Unfortunately the cost of the trip can be in the thousands, and many of the soldiers just don’t have resources to put the money up front. This has lead to local community groups raising money to help local vets to pay for the trip, but they can only do so much.

While there are major problems with caring for vets across the country, Alaska seems to be exceptionally bad. 

State of Alaska benefits for state employees who are deployed are paltry relative to other states- a fact worsened by the high costs of basic necessities [in remote villages, milk can cost $10 a gallon] in the state.  The state of Alaska only provides military leave up to 15 days ( for instance, California provides differential pay for all state employees when called to federal or state duty for up to 365 days).

The report clearly places blame for the problems saying:

as a result of inadequate leadership from the Governor of Alaska, among others, the Alaska National Guard has an inadequate understanding of the full range of post-combat issues facing those who have served abroad from the Alaska Guard in recent years, as well as their family members who have left to deal with the toll of unexpected- at times repeated- deployments.

The report offers a comprehensive list of recommendations needed to address issues ranging from better screening for mental illness to greater access to VA clinics to ensuring citizen soldiers have adequate time at home between deployments.  The study recommends that Gov. Palin launch a comprehensive study on the needs of Alaska National Guard troops who have served overseas.  It also urges the United States to stop deploying the Alaska National Guard until the problem at home is addressed.

Sarah Palin often floats her being Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska National Guard as her foreign policy experience.  While caring for veterans returning home from war largely falls under the domestic policy realm- one still asks  if this is what we are to expect from Palin should she become Commander in Chief? 

America first? Well maybe not all Americas.

Read full VFA report here.