Letter to Donald Trump, President of the United States - Peters Presses President Not to Prematurely End National Guard Deployments in Effort to Deny Guardsmen Benefits

Letter

Dear Mr. President:
I write to express concerns that deployments of National Guard members in COVID-19
response efforts may end prematurely, denying these service members benefits they would
otherwise accrue. If Title 32 orders for guardsmen "hard stop" on June 24th
, as has been reported,
for many who were activated at the start of the pandemic it would be just one day shy of the 90
day threshold necessary to receive benefits for active duty service. These brave men and women
in uniform would be shortchanged on benefits and pulled from the frontlines when their
contributions are still urgently needed.
Members of the National Guard play a critical role in many states' COVID-19 response
efforts. More than 40,000 Guard members in 44 states, three territories, and the District of
Columbia are on federal orders working for states. Since early March, thousands of Guard
personnel have been on full-time orders supporting a range of high-risk tasks, including
decontaminating nursing homes, setting up field hospitals, COVID-19 testing, logistics and
warehouse distribution, emergency planning, and more. Additionally, they help fill personnel
gaps in understaffed and underfunded public health agencies. States remain dependent on the
support of National Guard personnel and there are no indications these needs will disappear by
June 24th
.
Ending orders on June 24
th would leave thousands of guardsmen, including 991 in
Michigan, with just 89 days of active duty. As you know, there is a 90-day threshold to qualify
for education benefits and early retirement credit. Those service members who would be cheated
by this policy are serving their communities, their states, and their country. Their mobilization to
support COVID-19 response efforts have already disrupted their lives and risked exposing them
to the virus. Purposefully withholding benefits they have earned would be an insult and harm
morale, recruiting, and retention within the National Guard.
Each state's mission should dictate the duration of Guard mobilizations. Arbitrarily
cutting deployments short would leave communities under-resourced and backfilling those
capabilities may be costly and burdensome and localities. I urge you to continue Guard
deployments as conditions on the ground require, both for the sake of individual guardsmen
serving their communities and for the sake of the communities which depend on them.

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