Thousands of National Guard members who were among the first to activate in the federal coronavirus response may end their deployments one day before they become eligible for post-9/11 GI Bill education and retirement benefits, according to a FEMA order signed by President Trump.
“It makes me sick to my stomach,” retired Brig. Gen. J. Roy Robinson, president of the National Guard Association of the United States, told the Washington Examiner Wednesday. “Why the hell June 24 for such an important due date? Its on a Wednesday. It just makes zero sense.”
Robinson said the May 8 White House Memorandum renewing the National Guard Title 32 status until June 24 is peculiar because that date is the 89th day of deployment for those Guard members who first activated in Washington, California, and New York states.
Once Guard members accrue 90 days of federal service, they become eligible for early retirement and post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits.
A report by Politico published Wednesday purported to be based on a May 12 recording of FEMA officials acknowledging the day 89 “hard stop” and how they would manage a public blowback.
Robinson said most of the letters he saw from governors requested an extension through June and some beyond June.
“They know exactly what they’re doing when they recommended June 24 as the end date,” he said of the FEMA officials who sent their recommendation to the White House for the president’s memorandum. “They know there are probably going to be mission requirements long after that date.”
Robinson added that Guard members who lose Title 32, federal status, and remain at work in the COVID response would do so on state active duty status and would also lose federally provided TRICARE health care.
When the Guard was first called to federal status, the White House modified extension orders to be 31 days so that Guard members would qualify for TRICARE.
In addition, if the June 24 hard stop stands, states would have to start picking up the bill for the Guard’s work doing things such as running coronavirus test centers, disinfecting nursing homes, and delivering food where shortages exist, Robinson said.
A National Guard Bureau spokesman told the Washington Examiner that the Bureau is working with DOD and FEMA to determine the best ways to care for Guard members in the unprecedented COVID response, which involves some 46,000 Guard members across the United States and its territories.
“As in all national-level emergencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency makes the final decisions regarding the length of time National Guard members are activated under federal orders, while the soldiers and airmen remain under the operational control of the governors,” said the National Guard spokesman.
“They will continue to do so as long as they are needed,” he added.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, FEMA confirmed that the federal government will fund 100% of the cost of Title 32 Guard orders through June 24.
The agency did not address questions about how some Guard members will miss qualifying for federal benefits by one day, nor why the date June 24 was chosen.
“To date, the President has approved 49 National Guard requests for federal support for the use of National Guard personnel in a Title 32 duty status,” the FEMA spokesperson said. “As of May 18, 39,891 National Guard troops have activated in T-32 status and 891 troops have activated in State Active Duty status to help with testing and other response efforts.”
The Guard benefits in question are the result of cumulative federal deployment days, so even if their federal status ends at 89 days for the current coronavirus response, any other federal deployment overseas under Title 10 or stateside under Title 32 is accumulated toward the 90-day qualification threshold.
Some Guard members may already have federal days accumulated and may have reached the threshold.
Due to different activation dates for Title 32, FEMA missions in different states as the coronavirus contagion rapidly spread, some 44 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia have an unknown number of Guard members who would just miss qualifying for the federal benefits this time around.
The Guard Association could not say the exact number of Guard members who would fall just short of qualifying for the benefits, but it estimates that 80% of Guard members are currently in the federal status. All those members would stop accruing days toward the federal benefits on June 24.
“The pandemic is not over. The response is long from being done,” said Robinson. “I just have to believe that the federal government is going to see the need and extend the order. If they do that, if they extend the authority beyond June 24, then this issue goes away.”
