'At What Cost': Guard Chief Argues Border Mission Is Getting in the Way of Warfighting | Military.com

"There is no military training value for what we do,"

• The reason the Guard exists is to fight and win our nation's wars, period," Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the National Guard's top officer, said in an interview with Military.com on Wednesday. "We can do stuff along the southwest border. But at the end of the day, that is [demands] on individuals not related to their military mission set."
• "There is no military training value for what we do," he told lawmakers, referencing border missions and adding that the Guard's time would be better spent preparing for war and being available to respond to state emergencies.
• For Hokanson, the issue is twofold. A border mission, even a shorter one that can span about a month, consumes a significant chunk of a part-time Guardsman's duty time in a given year. The border mission is mostly static security and surveillance, but troops typically are not allowed to interact directly with migrants or suspected smugglers. He also argues it adds yet another strain on the relationship between Guardsmen and their lives back home...