Babauta to meet reservists in Hawaii

Gov. Juan N. Babauta flew to Honolulu over the weekend to meet with top National Guard officials as well as with CNMI reservists who are currently on training there.

Babauta, who left Friday afternoon, will be back on island this Friday, his office said.

Public information officer Pete Callaghan said the governor would be meeting with state adjutant major general Robert Lee, among others.

Meantime, sources said the governor would also be meeting with top military brass to discuss regional strategies.

Babauta last week said his meeting with Lee and other officials had something to do with the CNMI’s long standing bid for its own National Guard unit.

This developed as Honolulu-based National Guard Maj. Gen. Ronald G. Crowder, who visited Saipan last June, told CNMI officials on the need for the Commonwealth to explore the possibility of partnering with bigger islands such as Guam or Hawaii to get support for projected overhead costs.

Crowder acknowledged that the CNMI’s size would be a concern but this could be resolved if the local government could make a credible presentation before the U.S. Congress.

A National Guard is seen to provide enhanced security and boost employment opportunities in the CNMI.

It would also entitle its personnel to obtain educational grants.

The administration recently formed a National Guard task force, headed by former Superior Court Presiding Judge Edward Manibusan, to hold a series of meetings with the Guam National Guard on the unit’s composition, organization, and other pertinent matters.

The administration hopes to have the CNMI National Guard included in the national appropriation for 2005. Budget deliberation in the U.S. begins this month.

The CNMI is one of the last members of the U.S. political family that lacks its own National Guard unit.

Meanwhile, Callaghan said that Babauta will also meet with CNMI Army reservists who are currently in Hawaii for training in connection with their possible deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

“He will be meeting with the troop during his stay there,” said Callaghan.

Callaghan said that some reservists will be returning to Saipan next week.

They would remain on island until they are called again for further training in preparation for deployment, he added.

The local government earlier said that the training would not affect the reservists’ employment status in the CNMI.

The CNMI sent at least 83 personnel, including 30 police officers, to Honolulu last month for the training, amid calls by the Pentagon for inactive personnel to reinforce depleted missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reservists from Saipan, Guam and American Samoa form part of the Army Reserve’s 500-strong 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry.

Total number of personnel that form part of the 29th Separate Infantry Brigade would reach up to over 3,000—including Hawaii National Guard’s 2,000 members and 650 brigade members from California and Oregon.

Reports said that, if the usual timetable is followed for four months of intensive training and equipment preparation before entering the combat area, the mobilization is likely to take place around September.

Full mobilization may occur in February next year.