California Guard Firefighting Aircraft Threatened by Cuts
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The California National Guard’s ability to supply planes and helicopters to fight wildfires in a season already above normal may be jeopardized by automatic federal budget cuts, according to the two-star general who commands the force.
The Pentagon has told the largest National Guard force in the U.S. to prepare for a 20 percent furlough of its 2,000 full-time technicians, most of whom work on aircraft, to meet mandatory spending cuts known as sequestration, Major General David Baldwin said in an interview. The guard aircraft supplement the state’s full-time aerial firefighting wing.