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The National Guard Bureau is experiencing a senior leader drain that may not be rectified for multiple months.
Two of NGB’s four senior positions are now filled by officers serving in a temporary or "acting" capacity.
With scheduled retirements, that number will likely be three of four or all four in early August, and it could remain that way until after the election.
Acting leaders often lack the rank and full authority necessary to effectively carry out all the requirements of their position.
At NGB, that means representing the Guard in Pentagon meetings and formulating, developing and coordinating all federal policies, plans and programs affecting the force.
The current issue stems, in part, from the often bureaucratic succession process for senor military positions and bad timing.
The Guard bureau started the year with Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson as NGB chief, Lt. Gen. Marc H. Sasseville as NGB vice chief, Lt. Jon A. Jensen as director of the Army Guard and Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh as Air Guard director.
All four began four-year terms in either July or August of 2020. So, it was well-known that all four would need successors in place this summer.
The succession process involves the Pentagon developing candidates for each position and recommending one or more to the president for consideration.
The White House then makes a selection and sends a formal nomination to the Senate for confirmation.
Senate confirmation involves vetting the candidate and a vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee, followed by consideration from the full Senate.
Confirmation of the next NGB chief — a four-star position with membership on the Joint Chiefs of Staff — requires a formal SASC hearing.
But only one individual has been formally nominated for any of the four senior NGB positions.
In March, President Joe Biden nominated Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak of Oregon, the Air Guard deputy director, to be the next Air Guard director. The SASC has yet to vote on that nomination.
Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, the NGAUS president, wrote the SASC chairman and the committee’s ranking Republican on Monday, urging them to expedite the approval process for Guard officers currently in the confirmation pipeline.
Loh retired June 7. Pirak, who had been next in line, now serves as the acting director of the Air Guard.
Sasseville retired May 29. Jensen, who is scheduled to retire Aug. 5, is now the acting vice chief as well as the Army Guard director.
Hokanson, the NGB chief, is set to retire Aug. 1.
Rumors as to whom the Pentagon was considering for the posts of NGB chief, vice chief and Army Guard have circulated in Washington, D.C., for months, but final names only went to the White House in recent weeks, according to multiple sources.
The Congressional Calendar now becomes an issue.
Even if the White House were to make formal nominations this week for the remaining three NGB positions, the Senate would be very hard-pressed to vet and confirm all of them quickly, with only 14 working days before its scheduled departure for the annual August recess.
The upper chamber’s agenda is already crowded with consideration of multiple appropriations bills and the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act.
Pirak may have a chance of being confirmed, since his nomination has been under consideration for several months.
As its schedule currently stands, the Senate is set to return for a few days in September, but the focus then will likely be on passing fiscal 2025 spending bills or a stopgap budget to keep the government running when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Both chambers then do not return to Capitol Hill until Nov. 12.
"Unless the White House and Congress make filling these positions a priority, the National Guard Bureau could be led for several months by individuals without the rank or authorities to do the job," McGinn said.
"The Pentagon, the White House and many in Congress complained long and loud last year about the dangers of unfilled senior positions in the U.S. military when one senator held up the confirmation process," McGinn added. "It’s time for all involved to act on their words."
— By John Goheen
