Getting Out and About

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley was on the road earlier this week, stopping at the National Guard’s Joint Operations Center in St. Augustine, where he talked with a Florida Times-Union reporter about elevation of the National Guard Bureau director to four-star general, saying: “You have to give credit to the men and women who are members of the National Guard. We’re a nation at war. Our National Guard, both Army and Air Force, are heavily involved in our overseas operation.” Questioned as to whether this increased use of the Guard might pose a problem, McKinley replied: “You’re always concerned about overextension, but I will tell you that my experience tells me that soldiers and airmen like to be busy, like to use the skills and the hardware we’ve been given by the taxpayer. … Do I see a situation developing where we’re overusing the Guard? I don’t.” The newspaper also reported that the new NGB chief plans to focus on building relationships between state and federal officials. He said, “That integration and that synchronization means we won’t have seams or gaps that will cost us lives at home or abroad.”