National Guard is likely to be called on more as active-duty troops leave Europe

For a hint at the new reality of how the military will use its National Guard troops, look to Europe.

There, Army commanders are already stretching diminished resources by employing Guard and Reserve soldiers in new roles, including Minnesota Guard troops.

Military leaders have talked about the "new normal" of maintaining military strength during a drawdown of active-duty military people with budget restrictions looming.

Where Europe once saw 300,000 active-duty U.S. Army troops at its height, the Army continues a massive drawdown of forces that has already cut 10,000 soldiers in Europe. Another 1,700 troops will be cut over the next three years as part of the latest round of reductions.

About 30,000 troops will be in place when all is said and done.

This is all happening as European allies remain itchy over Russian encroachments and other tensions.

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, said one part of the answer will be to rotate more National Guard troops to Europe to augment the others.

"The mission when we had 300,000 was to deter the Soviet Union and to assure our Allies," Hodges said in a telephone interview from Germany last week. "Now that we have 30,000 we still have the same mission. Our task is to make that 30,000 look and feel like 300,000 to create the effect of assurance and deterrence."

The Army is now taking more advantage of relationships that the National Guard units in 22 states have built with 21 various European countries since the Cold War.

This spring for instance, the Michigan Guard teamed up with their Latvian partners in an artillery exercise. Illinois has partnered with Poland, and Texas has partnered with the Czech Republic.

A California National Guard colonel is in charge of training Ukranian troops at a time of heightened tensions with Russia.

Minnesota has partnered with Croatia and Norway for years, and those relationships will now take on added importance, Hodges said.

The impact will be felt at home among Guard families, as well.

The assignments won't be like previous protracted deployments where large numbers of soldiers bid goodbye to family members for as long as a year, Hodges said.

Instead, the European assignments will be the equivalent of two- to three-week annual training for groups the size of a company, or around 100 soldiers.

For instance, a unit from Minnesota is being scheduled for exercises in Turkey and Slovenia next summer, Hodges said.

Hodges said the transition from active-duty troops to Guard and Reserve units has been smooth, particularly because of the relationship the Guard has built over the years with its European partners.