When Abraham Lincoln asked what the Union could expect from Vermont at the beginning of the Civil War, Erastus Fairbanks replied, “Vermont will do its full duty.”
Michael Dubie, the commander of the Vermont National Guard, invoked the words of Fairbanks in his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday as he described Vermonters’ commitment to the nation’s mission in Afghanistan.
Dubie said the Vermont units deployed in Taskforce Phoenix will be primarily engaged in combat in eastern Afghanistan; originally they were slated to train Afghan forces.
Vermont is sending 1,500 service members overseas. Dubie said it’s the largest deployment of Vermont Guard members since World War II. More than 30,000 U.S. troops are part of the President Barack Obama’s expansion of the forces in Afghanistan.
Capital Police Chief Leslie Dimmick and Alan Bean, a Statehouse custodian, are among those being deployed.
Dubie said the Guard has made a concerted effort to make sure that “our families are taken care of” in the troops absence.
More than 2,000 trained Vermont Guard members will remain in the state to respond to disasters. Dubie called domestic emergencies “our job No. 1.”
Dubie said the Guard may ask the Legislature for additional emergency funds this year, but he isn’t sure the request will be necessary because “so many of our college students are going to be in Afghanistan we will not have as much need for our college tuition.”
Out of the 1,500 Vermont Guard members who are headed to Afghanistan after two months of pre-deployment training in Camp Atterbury, Ind., most have already served a tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Dubie said the goal is for the Vermont National Guard is to go “one year away, five years home. For the active force it’s supposed to be one year away, two years at home.
“If the drawdown in Iraq happens as expected (and) … if the number of Obama’s 30,000 (in Afghanistan) stays steady … then what we’re thinking is Vermont should be back on that rotation for many years,” Dubie said. “We may not get to that five year goal, but we’ll get a lot more than we are right now.”
