Government shutdown will hamper National Guard firefighting efforts
sfgate.com / 10-2-13
Some 2,000 California National Guard technicians who maintain critically needed firefighting aircraft have been furloughed during the federal government's partial shutdown - cuts that the Guard's leader called "inane."
The Guard also canceled all training this weekend because of what Maj. Gen. David Baldwin called Washington's refusal to recognize a need to "return to our militia roots."
In a letter to National Guard families that he posted on Facebook, Baldwin said his agency was in a dispute with Pentagon "bureaucrats" about which military jobs were critical to public safety. The cuts, he said, would have an "adverse impact on our ability to respond to state emergencies."
Baldwin said "lives are at stake" because of the "inane cuts and work stoppages" ordered by the Pentagon.
Full story: http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Inane-furloughs-hit-Guard-s-firefighting-efforts-4864623.php
Could California pick up the slack in necessary?
