washington business
In Their Words
Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Lowenberg has served as
adjutant general of the state of Washington since
September 1999. As adjutant general, Lowenberg
is both the commander of all Washington Army
and Air National Guard forces, and director of the
state’s Emergency Management and Enhanced 9-11 programs. In July, he will retire after 44 years of
military service. Washington Business’ Jason Hagey
sat down with him to reflect on the changing role of
the National Guard and Reserve since the Sept. 11
terror attacks, and the role of the private sector in both
the National Guard and emergency planning.
How has the role of the National Guard
Reserves changed, particularly after Sept. 11?
The change actually began with Desert Shield
and Desert Storm a decade earlier, for the Air
National Guard, with enforcement of No Fly
Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Lowenberg
Zones in Iraq, the Air National Guard in every
state became a fully operational reserve, not a strategic reserve as it had been resourced to be during the Cold War, but a
fully operational reserve engaged across the spectrum of Air Force missions. That same strategic-to-operational reserve
transformation occurred for ground forces with the Army National Guard with the September 2001 attacks. So the operational pace has continued unabated since then, and will for the foreseeable future, regardless of the size of our force in
Afghanistan and other engagements.
What has it meant practically to make that change, for the men and women in the National Guard?
I always acknowledge the Greatest Generation that served in World War II, but I firmly believe that the men and women —
active Guard and Reserve today — are the next great generation, without question. The National Guard soldiers and airmen
knew when they enlisted or when they were commissioned that it was an operational reserve requirement and they fully
strapped that on and it’s something they’re not willing to let go of. No one in the National Guard is willing to be relegated to
a strategic reserve again, and frankly given the economic challenges facing our country, our nation really needs to leverage
the cost efficiencies of the National Guard and Reserve components, but especially the National Guard because the National
Guard can be used when needed by states as well as the federal government. The National Guard can be used to protect
infrastructure in the private sector that’s so critical to our national security. In 1998, the year before I became adjutant
general, President Clinton issued Presidential Decision Directive 93, and what it said was rather profound: It said that the
strength of our economy is dependent upon our military influence around the world; conversely the strength of our military
is entirely dependent upon the vitality of our nation’s economy,
and that both — again this is 1998