National Guard: MAIL CALL

Phenix City Cleanup Story Irony

I want to thank the editor and writer responsbiie for the August NATIONAL GUARD magazine story "Phenix Raised," an excellent piece on the moral degradation that accompanies such vices as gambling and prostitution and their impact on the soldier.

I couldn't help though but be mystified and astounded by the one-page

Chaplain (Capt.) Ramsey Coutta

Mississippi Army National Guard

Editor's Note: The NGAUS Board of Directors selects general conference locations several years in advance based upon state bids containing available dates, hotels, convention facilities and entertainment. Las Vegas was selected for the same reasons nearly 25,000 groups-including military organizations and reunions-anually schedule meetings there: It has some of the nation's best hotels, convention facilities and entertainment. Gambling, of course, is one of Las Vegas' attractions. Unlike early 20th-century Phenix City, however, gambling in Las Vegas is legal and regulated. In addition, Maj. Gen. Walter Hannah and the Alabama National Guard did more than end illegal gambling in Phenix City, they crushed a criminal syndicate that brutally dominated every aspect of the town.

Health Care: A Different View

I appreciate the efforts of this organization to secure benefits for those reserve-component members who are making the sacrifice of serving their country in these trying times. My question is, do all National Guard members need Tricare?

I am a member of the 174th Fighter Wing in Syracuse, N.Y., and my full-time job as New York State civil service employee provides me with adequate insurance. I don't need Tricare. I raise this question because I fear the expense of Tricare for all Guardsmen and women will "price us out of the market," i.e., make us so expense that sweeping cuts will be necessary to fulfill budgetary restraints.

Service in the National Guard should not be a jobs program and if cuts are made based on our national security needs, then so be it. I would hate for an unintended consequence of your efforts to secure a benefit tor us that not all of us need turn into a reduction in our forces to accommodate that benefit.

I understand that my employment status is unique, and it allows me not only the blessing of not needing addition health insurance, but it also allows me 30 days of military leave to support my unit.

I am asking if a more "surgical" approach to requesting this benefit might be best course of action for our country. Please consider an assessment of who really needs Tricare, how much Tricare, and for what duration Tricare is needed.

Lt. Col. Wenzell E. Carter

New York Air National Guard

Editor's Note: NGAUS, the U.S. Senate and other proponents understand the expense association with expanding Tricare to include the Guard and Reserve. Their greater concern, however, is the readiness and retention costs of one in five Guardsmen and Reservists having no access to health care and many others having to struggle to maintain health coverage.