But really, the reason the National Guard exists is we are the combat reserve of the Army and the Air Force.

And it's the manning, training, and equipping to fight our wars, our nation's wars, that give us the ability to respond to our communities.

My goal for both the Army and the Air Force with respect to the National Guard is we've got to be deployable, we've got to be maintainable, and we've got to be interoperable on the battlefield.

Hey, welcome back to the Modern War Institute podcast.

I'm John Amble, editorial director at MWI, and in this episode you'll hear a conversation

I had the chance to have recently with General Daniel Hockinson, Chief of the National

Guard Bureau.

The National Guard is a key pillar of the U.S. defense enterprise, but it also has some

pretty fundamentally unique

qualities. With both an Army and Air Force component, it is inherently joint. It is also highly

dispersed, made up of 54 separate entities, and it serves parallel missions, both a key source

of combat capability for the Joint Force, and with its members often called on to respond to

emergencies locally

in their communities. In the 20 years since 9-11, National Guard forces have been relied on

consistently during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That makes now a really good time to explore

what the future holds for the Guard. And there's nobody better to do that with than the

Chief of the National Guard

Bureau. It's a great discussion that I hope you enjoy. Before we get to it, though, a couple

quick notes. First, if you aren't yet following MWI and social media, find us on Twitter,

Facebook, or LinkedIn. It is a great way to stay up to date on all of the new articles,

podcast episodes, and research we're publishing every day. And second, as always,

what you hear in this episode are the views of the participants and don't represent those of

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