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McCain: Guard has risen to post-9/11 challenges

BALTIMORE — Republican presidential candidate John McCain pledged Sunday to prevent parochialism from putting the National Guard in a back seat on military issues, to expand health care benefits for Guard members and their families and to punish employers who discriminate in hiring and reemploying reservists after a deployment.

Speaking at the National Guard Association of the United States convention, Arizona Sen. McCain used the opportunity to highlight that fact that he — a retired Navy officer — understands the evolving role of the Guard and what the Guard really needs.

“Before 9/11, I do not think a lot of us understood the potential of the National Guard,” McCain said. “My friends, we understand it now.

“We place great demands on the National Guard. At times, the Guard’s responsibilities exceed even the demands we put on our active-duty forces. And our government has certain obligations that it has not always kept.”

McCain pledged to provide additional manpower and equipment to the Guard so that units were better prepared to respond when called, to have policies that made it possible to serve in the Guard and to have a civilian career that survives interruptions of mobilization and to improve health care benefits for Guard and reserve members and their families.

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Transcript of McCain’s speech

He also repeated a call he has made before to have a health care access card for veterans so they can receive care from a private sector provider if they are unable to easily use veterans’ health care. The Guard association audience applauded this initiative, although it has drawn criticism from come veterans groups because they fear it would be the start of a larger initiative to reduce veterans’ health programs.

McCain was introduced to the convention as a comrade-in-arms who needed little introduction, in contrast to the Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who declined the Guard group’s invitation to speak and is instead sending his running mate, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who will appear before the group on Monday.

Obama’s decision is a disappointment, according to association officials who noted that the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have addressed the group every election since 1992. But Guard members were not really surprised.

“This is not really the place for him,” said one Army Guardsman who said he was a McCain supporter. “This is not his kind of audience.”

An Air Guard first lieutenant, the aide to a general, said most Guard leaders have made clear that they think Democrats would cut defense spending while Republicans would increase spending. Pulling an Obama button from her pocket, the lieutenant said, “I would not wear this here.”

Stephen Koper, the association’s executive director, said the group is non-partisan and never endorses candidates for any elected office. “We have R’s who are outspoken and D’s who speak out. We expect that of them,” Koper said.

Koper said that McCain has addressed the Guard convention before and that Biden is someone with whom the association has worked on Guard issues related to Delaware.

While McCain received several standing ovations, one of the things he said that brought the greatest amount of applause was offering greetings for his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who as governor is the Alaska Guard commander.

As he has in other speeches, McCain tried to show that he and Obama think far differently about key issues, like the war in Iraq. “Both candidates in this election pledge to end this war and bring our troops home. The great difference is that I intend to win it first,” he said.

Noting that Obama opposed the so-called surge in troops that is widely credited with reducing violence in Iraq, McCain said some politicians “panic when things get tough.”

“Unlike Sen. Obama, I believed the surge would succeed because I knew the capabilities and culture of the United States military,” he said, noting his came from a Navy family with a long tradition of service.