Ronald Carvalho | Oppose HB104

Opposition to House Bill HB104-FN “Defend (Defund) The Guard” Representatives of NH, I am writing to out of extreme concern of the potential impacts of HB 104-FN “Defend the Guard” on the Army and Air National Guard of New Hampshire. This Bill is better named “Defund the Guard” as it places at risk $395M of Federal funding and likely shifting funding responsibility to the State of New Hampshire. It would very likely result in an overall reduction in New Hampshire’s Guard infrastructure and reduction in training of our Guard personnel. This Bill is based on a national level movement to end “Endless Wars” through legislation at the State level. It is based on the false premise that current military deployments and actions are not properly authorized by Congress, a position no Judicial Court has upheld. Similar Bills have been raised in multiple States under this movement, none of which have been successful.. As any military officer will tell you, training in a real-world environment with forces that you will be working with in a war time environment are essential to the safety and effectiveness of our military Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airforce personnel. Loss of training opportunities during Peace time places great risk on the readiness of our New Hampshire military members, of which my son is one of them. We live in one of the most dangerous times in our country’s history with a military that is already underfunded to handle all the potential crisis we face as a country. Our Guard is an essential element of our country’s ability to address crisis that threaten our nation, the Minute Man on the Guard patch speaks to the history of the Guard of being ever ready at a moment’s notice to defend our freedoms. As a retired Naval Officer with over 24 years of military experience, including the building of budgets during my Pentagon tour, and a member of the DoD Acquisition Community, I can assure you funding decisions are made by prioritizing those forces most urgently needed and ready to go. Guard units in violation of Federal Law are not going to receive funding if they are unable to deploy for political reasons. Potential loss of our Guard’s funding and resultant reduction in readiness, because of a political debate in Washington by a few members of Congress with their own agenda, would be devastating to New Hampshire’s role in defending our country when needed. Once funding is lost, it may never be restored, and our Guard would end up watching on the side lines as other State’s Guardsman rush to our country’s defense. I can think of nothing more humiliating as an American and military officer, than not being ready when my country needed me. Removing our elected Governor’s ability to use her own judgement based on her experience as a Senator in committing Guard Forces is an afront to her leadership and experience. I urge you to see through the clever title of this Bill and understand the tremendous negative impacts it would have on our State. Very Respectfully, CDR Ronald M. Carvalho Jr, USN(Ret)