State's National Guard Commander Resigns Amid Allegations

[Robbien]

SACRAMENTO (AP) The commander of the California National Guard has resigned amid accusations that he failed to meet a Pentagon combat requirement and tried to arrange a flight on a military aircraft for members of a Republican group.

Major Gen. Thomas Eres resigned late Monday after questions were raised by the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times newspapers about whether he passed a required shooting-skills test before visiting troops in Iraq.

The papers also said Eres attempted to provide a military flight for a Lincoln Club group – a partisan Republican organization – that wanted to travel last month to North American Aerospace Defense Command center in Colorado.

. . .

In a resignation letter quoted by the news organizations, the two-star general said it was an "ideal time" to step down "so that my family and I can start to enjoy a much-anticipated retirement."

http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_158172509.html

[Benhurst]

1. What a sorry asshole. NT

[newswolf56]

2. The Legacy of California Gun Control

According to a major newspaper report about three years ago (probably The Washington Post, though at this distance I wouldn't want to swear to it), the California National Guard was the worst in the nation in terms of the number of its troops who had completed basic weapons training. If I remember the numbers right, approximately nine out of 10 California Guard enlistees had received NO weapons training whatsoever, though some had been in service for as long as 10 years -- the lack of weapons training the direct result of state policies deliberately intended to discourage it. So no one should be surprised that the Guard commander had to fake his weapons qualification; in California, it is entirely possible he was promoted precisely because of his lack of shooting skills.

The context of the original story was that these untrained Guardfolk were being deployed as security guards in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. But the ultimate outrage here is that at least some of these Guard members were (presumably) sent to the Middle East still untrained -- there to be (fatally?) victimized by a dearth of shooting skill that originated in California's efforts to totally disarm its population. Alas, the National Guard is not only routinely called upon to augment local police (as in the prevention of looting during natural disasters) but is also subject to federal military mobilization. Whatever one's views of the Second Amendment, to methodically deny the Guard vital weapons training, as California's officialdom did, is therefore tantamount to murder -- this without even considering the implications of the so-called War on Terror.