Under the 2008 Defense Authorization Act, both the House and Senate agreed that the Chief of the National Guard Bureau should wear a fourth star. In addition, the National Guard Bureau becomes a joint activity of the Defense Department, rather than two joint bureaus under the Army and Air Force departments. Other provisions:
* Require the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to determine together the resources the Guard would need when responding to domestic emergencies that stem from natural disasters or terrorism;
* Give the Guard a more prominent role in the U.S. Northern Command, which oversees defense matters within the nation’s borders, and;
* Call for the establishment of a bi-partisan panel of states’ governors, to advise the President on how to best use the Guard for civil support missions.
The bill awaits President Bush’s signature.
