CNGB: Family support key to maintaining resolve for long war Published Aug. 3, 2009 By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill National Guard Bureau DEARBORN, Mich. -- Supporting military families and the volunteers who help them are key elements of maintaining the nation's resolve during prolonged conflict, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said here Monday. "We're going to have to stay committed, we're going to have to continue to have resolve, because the minute they break the resolve is when we are finished as a nation. It's just that simple," Gen. Craig McKinley told about 1,200 people gathered here for the 2009 National Guard Family Program Volunteer Workshop. Military families are supported at the highest levels, McKinley said, noting the commitment of the first lady, Michelle Obama, and Dr. Jill Biden, the vice president's wife. "They immediately when they got to town started looking at the military family and the children of military families as a critical cause for them," McKinley said. "The work that all of you are doing in your home communities and states is making a big difference in the lives of Guardmembers and families," Jill Biden wrote in a letter that McKinley read to workshop attendees. The Bidens have a son currently deployed with the Delaware Army National Guard. The current operations tempo is likely to be sustained for years to come, McKinley said. "We are in an era of persistent conflict," he said. "This nation does not usually get into long, prolonged wars. Our nature as a country has been to support and defend freedom, get in, get out. ... We fight an adversary today who lives in the shadows, who has to fight asymmetrically because they can't fight us force-on-force, and that means this will go on for a long, long time." Some military leaders predict 10 to 15 brigades will be in combat for the next decade. "That means our National Guard and our reserve component forces are going to have to stand alongside our active-duty counterparts and contribute, just like we've been doing for almost eight years," McKinley said. For some Guardmembers, the increased tempo started long before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with the enforcement of no-fly zones after the 1991 Gulf War. "The Air National Guard's been in the air for almost 20 years," he said. A sustained increased operations tempo is a challenge the National Guard will rise to. "It doesn't look like it's going to stop, and the wear and tear on our equipment and the stress on our members and especially on their families is starting to take a toll, but we're resilient Americans," McKinley said. "We can get through this. We can adapt. We can turn these very stressful times into times that will make us stronger." Family programs and the volunteers who support them are a crucial element, McKinley told an audience that included about 500 volunteers. "From a macro view, from a strategic view, we couldn't have 460,000 Soldiers or Airmen without strong family programs," he said. More than 11,000 people from all walks of life volunteer to support National Guard families in every state and territory and the District of Columbia. Some are related to Guardmembers. Others step up in their communities to support the National Guard even though they have no personal relationship with any Guardmember. "The National Guard absolutely could not do what it does without our volunteers," McKinley said.