Budget shortfall delays guard training

Iowa’s approximately 7,200 Army National Guard soldiers got an unexpected weekend off this week as budget shortfalls resulted in the postponement of their weekend training.

As the federal fiscal year comes to a close, the National Guard Bureau has run out of funds to continue their regular activities.

“This was at a national level,” said Col. Greg Hapgood at Camp Dodge. “All 54 states and territories have been asked to provide a certain amount of funding back to the guard bureau to cover that shortfall in funding.”

Hapgood explained that while some states were able to cover the shortfall through other means, most have had to postpone September’s scheduled weekend training in the hopes Congress will take action to fully fund the National Guard.

Read the full article in the Sept. 11 edition of the papers.