G-A-O finds equipment shortage hinders Army National Guard

Via Ohio News Now:

WASHINGTON (AP) - A report by the Government Accountability Office says Army National Guard units are short of equipment at home, in part because they're being ordered to leave armored Humvees and other vital equipment in Iraq for replacement troops.

The G-A-O says that as of June, Army National Guard units had left overseas more than 64-thousand pieces of equipment valued at over one-point-two (b) billion dollars. It also says the Army can't account for more than half of that equipment. And it's affected the National Guard's ability to respond to Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.