Georgia Guard and Desert Storm panel reveals some 'lessons learned' during annual conference

The active duty branches of America's fighting forces held markedly different attitudes toward National Guardsmen deployed during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, according to a panel convened in October 1998 to discuss the Guard's role in the Gulf War.

The remarks came as about 100 National Guardsmen and women and members of the Historical Society of the Georgia National Guard gathered October 24, 1998 at Fort Gillem, Georgia for the organization's Seventh Annual Conference. Members of the panel included Major General James D. Davis who commanded the 4,000 members of the 48th Infantry Brigade as it trained in the desert of California for deployment to the Gulf; Captain Teri Oman, who served with the 165th Supply Company in Saudi Arabia; Senior Master Sergeant Sharon B. Page, Georgia Air National Guard, who deployed to Southwest Asia as NCOIC of all tactical telephone switches with the Joint Communications Support Element; Master Sergeant Marion Washington who served as the first sergeant of the 138th Medical Company in Saudi Arabia; and Colonel David Kennemer who served as the United States Property and Fiscal Officer; and Major General William P. Bland, Jr., who was Assistant Adjutant General, Air, and later the Adjutant General of Georgia.

Captain Oman told the audience that "Active duty looked at us and said [they] didn't need the National Guard." In fact, she noted, because of their active duty counterpart's attitude, "Guard troops learned they could rely only on themselves." Today, said Captain Oman, who recently returned from a deployment to Bosnia, because of down sizing and other factors there has been a shift in the regular Army's attitude toward the National Guard. "They couldn't deploy without us [today]," she said.

A different note was sounded by Senior Master Sergeant Page, who indicated that because the Air National Guard instituted a "total force" policy years before, and that Air Guardsmen had deployed many times before in support of the active duty Air Force, there was no "us vs. them" attitude. She said that then, as now, Air National Guardsmen operate highly specialized equipment essential to the operation of the Air Force.

General Davis emphasized readiness and preparedness and noted that at the end of the 90 days training in California, the Brigade was ready and "the individual soldier performed well."

The panel was moderated by James Wooten, editorial page editor of the Atlanta Journal. Wooten is a Vietnam war veteran and a colonel in the Georgia Army National Guard. .