The Arizona National Guard faces some deep spending cuts under the sequestration effort to limit the size of the federal budget.
The chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Frank Grass said the sequester will be devastating to the Department of Defense and the National Guard.
He said although support will continue for National Guard combat troops, the cuts will mean many National Guard soldiers will not receive medical and dental exams, the Guard’s civilian workforce faces potential unpaid furloughs, and battle ready aircraft will be grounded.
Democratic Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva of Tucson said the guard cuts are unacceptable: “For the guardsmen that do a great thing for this state, and provided their service including combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan…they don’t deserve this kind of treatment."
Grijalva did not vote to support sequestration.
He said this is the beginning of a ten year series of cuts National Guard units in Arizona and other states will have to deal with before the sequester period expires.