DMVA moves to eliminate ASDF . . .

For some reason as yet unstated, Gov. Sean Parnell's DMVA under BG Tom Katkus, ARNG, has decided to disrespect and humiliate the Alaska State Defense Force.

Given ASDF's leadership woes, some organizational nose drubbing is deserved. However, such would only serve to ignore DMVA's part in creating ASDF's leadership crisis. Since 2005, former DMVA Commissioner and Adjutant General Craig Campbell has known of the failures in leadership on the part of ASDF's former commander. For whatever reason, Craig Campbell chose to ignore those failures.

ASDF has served the State of Alaska well over the years, saving the State hundreds of thousands of dollars in manpower costs for disaster response. In 2006, ASDF demonstrated the viability of a state military police organization serving to support the AST and local police departments as set forth under AS 26.05.076.

ASDF was deployed 3 times in 2006 in disaster response duties. ASDF served in 2006 at Valdez, Houston and the Hooper Bay Fire aftermath. The deployment of ASDF personnel to State Active Duty kept the Alaska State Troopers from the Glennallen Detachment, the Valdez Police Dept. and the Houston Police Dept. on the job protecting their communities instead of tying up manpower at check points for flood safety duty, or requiring AST to station a Trooper in Hooper Bay.

At Valdez, ASDF personnel took the place of DOT personnel who would have otherwise had to be transferred in from other DOT locations in the State. The use of ASDF meant a that there was no reduction in services to those communities served by the DOT personnel who would have been transferred for Valdez flood duty. DOT estimated that ASDF saved DOT at least $100,000 in manpower costs by manning DOT check points.

ASDF has performed many other State disaster relief and public service duties over the years. The Iditarod Restart and the Special Olympics are two public functions where ASDF personnel volunteer to serve each year. During the Orange Alert of Dec., 2003-Jan., 2004, ASDF was called to State Active Duty with the Army National Guard for armed security service at the Yukon River Bridge and at Valdez Terminal. ASDF members participating, like their National Guard counterparts, were awarded the Homeland Security Medal for what became known as Winter Talon. Another call up was for the Turnagin Pass avalanche disaster that buried 5 snowmachiners.

ASDF was first armed by then Governor Tony Knowles when he called ASDF to duty at the Yukon River Bridge post 9-11. Gov. Knowles, a RVN combat veteran, believed that unarmed troops were just victims waiting to happen.

As a result of actions taken against yours truly in November, 2007 to prevent the outing of an illegal and out of compliance use of force policy by a subordinate unit, and as a result of a April, 2007 complaint to the governor made by myself regarding the lack of accountability and conduct of the then ASDF commanding officer, an investigation was performed by an out of state Army National Guard JAG officer from Washington State. This investigation was unprecendented in the history of ASDF, much less the State Guards of the 22 States that maintain such State only forces.

One of the allegations to then Gov. Sarah Palin was the misrepresentation of manpower estimates made by the ASDF commander and his staff to DMVA in monthly reports. Normally, such conduct would be considered a serious breach of responsibility and ethics. However, in Craig Campbell's DMVA, such conduct on the part of ASDF's then commander was the norm.

MAJ Matthew Cooper recommended changes to ASDF. One of the more incredible recommendations was the change from a State Military Police Brigade to a Civil Affairs Brigade. This in the face of AS 26.05.076 and a March 30, 2006 Attorney General's Opinion confirming ASDF's role as a State police force when called to State Active Duty under a declaration of emergency. This recommendation was made using the specious excuse of risk management, totally ignoring ASDF's indeminificaiton under AS 26.05. Then Commissioner/TAG Craig Campbell acted upon these recommendations initially disarming ASDF and halting all Military Police training by the various units. However, those restrictions were lifted after October, 2008.

The intriguing thing about what happened in 2007-2008 with the investigations ordered by then MG Craig Campbell, Commissioner/TAG DMVA, was the use of an out of state ARNG JAG officer to conduct an investigation into a USC 32 Sec. 109(c) state guard/state defense force organization having no affiliation with the National Guard Bureau or U.S. Army in any manner form or way. I believe the investigations should have been civil in nature, given the nature of the allegations, and conducted by State of Alaska civilian investigators. By keeping the issue entirely under the TAG's office, the Governor's office has been prevented from acting fully, had an investigation been called for, for example, by the DOT Commissioner for alleged improprieties in DOT. Civilian politicians without miltiary experience are loath to challenge the military on any issue. By keeping the investigations miltiary, Craig Campbell was able to protect the former commander of ASDF, and to cover up Campbell's failures in requiring performance and accountability from ASDF's leadership.

All Craig Campbell had to do to remedy ASDF's leadership problems was to require personnel policies, manuals, regulations, and other common administrative tools to be instituted at ASDF. After all, ASDF's then commander and the present commander are both attorneys. One would think that such would be one of the first priorities on their part. Unfortunately for ASDF's personnel, such administrative rules would have eliminated the lack of accountability and the capricious nature of the application of leadership at ASDF. All ASDF needed was good leadership and some oversight on the part of DMVA. Instead, ASDF has received meager support and non-existent oversight.

The commander of ASDF appointed by Frank Murkowski and again by Sarah Palin operated on verbal orders and innuendo, creating a lack of accountability and mistrust. This individual resigned in October, 2008. However, the administrative changes recommended by yours truly and ordered by then LTG Craig Campbell have yet to be implemented.

The State Guards pursuant to USC 32 Sec. 109(c) are not federal anything. They are constructs of their respective states, only, without federal funding or other obligation that would subordinate or otherwise affiliate them with the federal DOD. Therefore, why was a federal ARNG officer selected to investigate an organization for which he had little or no knowledge and understanding?

What were any potential conflicting imperatives that might have resulted in the degrading of ASDF's mission to the State?

Unfortunately, the U.S. Army has a long institutional memory. Believe it or not, the USA is no fan or supporter of the USC 32 Sec. 109(c) State Guards. It was the State Guard (militias) of the southern states that coaesced into the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate Army that met the blue bellies at Bull Run and which bloodied the Union Army until Gettysberg. The blue bellies have not forgotten, nor forgiven. Hence, the ever present disdain and distrust of the State Guards by the National Guard Bureau and the regular Army.

Yet, the State Guards are comprised by retired and former military personnel and police officers to a great extent. Virtually every trade and profession is represented in the membership of a State Guard. These people represent a vast wealth of information, experience and know how. One would think that such potential would be honored instead of demeaned, as is happening with ASDF under Parnell and Katkus.

There was a respite in this attitude with the War on Terror. In November, 2005, a report to Congress was written by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Security that outlined the role of State Guards in homeland defense. The report further stated that DOD was willing to entertain on requests for U.S. military surplus material and training support to the State Guards of the various States by submitting a request for such support through the State's Adjutant General. No State Guard has ever acted upon this potential to my knowledge, as the Adjutant General's answer to both the governor of that state and the National Guard Bureau. The NGB is absolutely opposed to the use of State Guards. They want to keep all militia forces FEDERAL.

The NGB is very jealous of the State Guards, as the State Guards perform without federal support and are independent of the federal chain of command. Again, the lesson of the Civil War rears its ugly head.

Now, under Gov. Sean Parnell, DMVA under Commissioner/TAG Tom Katkus is acting to fully disarm ASDF, restrict ASDF personnel from any training, and to take away the ability of ASDF to wear the Army Uniform pursuant to AR670-1 Chapt. 30-8(c), p316. To what end is this being accomplished and why?

Obviously, to accomplish the goals of the NGB where the elimination of the State Guards are concerned.

The lessons of the War on Terror are clear. The United States military is stretched with two realitively low tempo theaters of operation in OIF and OEF. Low tempo compared with RVN, Korea or WWII. Now that OIF is ending operationally, more troops are available for OEF. In 2006, the State of Alaska was berift of troops. Reserve and active duty components were committed to Kosovo, OIF and OEF. Alaska was literally left with only the ASDF as the final line of defense on the ground.

The Alaska Army National Guard was reorganized in 2006-2007 to include Military Police battalions that were not previously part of the AK ARNG's force structure. These units were formed in response to the need to secure Ft. Greely's missile defense system and to provide MP units for deployment overseas, given the lessons of OIF in the aftermath of the anarch resulting from the defeat of Saddam's army. For some reason, BG Tom Katkus feels that these FEDERAL troops can be used as were ASDF personnel used time and again to perform civil police missions pursuant to AS 26.05.076. For this reason, he is slowly conducting a pogrom to eliminate ASDF from Alaska's emergency response force structure. The Army never forgets.

Alaska is unlike any other State in North America. We are separated geographically from the Outside. Without ASDF, Alaska loses a valuable resource that has been used to supplement the very ARNG troops that will always be at the beck and call of a federal government, and not our Governor. The only troops the Governor has that are Alaska's, are ASDF's troops. Now, Parnell and Tom Katkus want to end ASDF.

If the regular federal troops are deployed overseas, and the National Guard is called to national duty, who then will stand for Alaska and guard our oil and gas and transportation infrastructure if ASDF is eliminated?

Who will stand with our civil emergency response to support them in time of natural disaster if ASDF is elminated?

ASDF has performed with a State budget of less than $30,000 per year, maintaining over 100 personnel active with another 75-100 partially active, all trained and deployable. ASDF personnel have over 100 hours of Law Enforcement training with quarterly firearms qualifications and a yearly recertification for qualified MP Constables. All of which was accomplished out of the resources of the individual ASDF members, not by anything given by the State. In 2006, the NAACP Band received $33,000 from the State while ASDF received $26,000 for administrative support.

ASDF personnel provide their own transportation, training, equipment, firearms and ammunition at no cost to the State. The average cost of the equipment and arms alone is over $4,000 per individual ASDF volunteer soldier.

Does the Army National Guard soldier attend drill without benefits or compensation? Does the ARNG soldier pay for his own weapon and provide his own ammunition, gear, and transportation for training or call up to State Active Duty? NO, the ARNG troop does not.

Now, Gov. Sean Parnell's Commissioner/TAG wants to eliminate ASDF?

The reality of disaster response is that there is never enough assets. Yet, this governor and his TAG/Commissioner want to REDUCE those assets by eliminating the Alaska State Defense Force. What?!!!

This idiocy makes my case for separating the Commissioner and the Adjutant General (TAG) office back into separate offices with the TAG subordinate to the civilian Commissioner, just as it was before Gov. Frank Murkowski combined the two in what has become a failed experiment.

I guess next disaster response, Gov. Sean Parnell and BG Tom Katkus can call up the NAACP Band.

For more information: www.ak-prepared.com/asdf ; www.dmva.alaska.gov

AGIA IS A SCREW OVER IF THE PIPELINE GOES TO CANADA!

“TransCanada's inclusion of an LNG option throws a curve into Alberta's hopes to expand its petrochemical industry, which is relying on Alaska gas volumes, especially the liquids contained in the gas stream, for feedstock. According to the Industry Canada website, there are currently insufficient volumes of feedstock to support big new investments in Alberta's petrochemical sector”.—Shaun Polczer, Calgary Herald 1/30/2010

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Alaska+could+bypass+Alberta/2502872/story.html

There it is in black and white from a Canadian source for those of you who still feel that there is any upside to allowing our gas to be transported to Canada.

What does Alaska get out of AGIA to Canada or Denali? SCREWED, THAT’S WHAT!!!!!!!

Any Alaska politician who supports either of the Canadian options should be voted out of office, if not outright impeached!

There is it is, Governor Sean Parnell.

AGIA is dead but for the politics

Obviously, AGIA is not dead. However, the announcement Friday of a cost increase of an estimated $41B is not conducive to supporting a belief that either AGIA or Denali can be feasible economically. Especially, since the completion date is estimated to be at least 2020.

Given that costs of operations on the North Slope have risen 68% from 2001 to 2009, one can reasonably figure that AGIA’s costs will increase between now and any anticipated start date, say 2015. Since AGIA’s estimated cost was about $15B-$25B, depending upon the source during the Palin v. Murkowski campaign, one can estimate that the completed cost will be somewhere between $75B and $100B by estimated shipment of the first gas in 2020.

Shell announced that it is cutting back its expansion of production of oil from Alberta’s tar sands from a target of 700,000bpd to 225,000bpd for the foreseeable future. Shell will be shifting its emphasis to offshore and onshore exploration, something the company had not emphasized until a recent change in management. Increased cost in the reduction in the expansion of the tar sands recovery was cited as the reason.

It is my belief that AGIA is dead, given the shale gas production Outside and in Canada. Exxon spent $41B buying the company with the largest shale gas holdings in the U.S. One also has to remember that Exxon is committed to a 25 year commitment with Qattar to bring gas to the U.S. The expansion of LNG terminals in the U.S. to 4.5bcf is an interesting number, as that was the planned capacity of big diameter pipelines from Alaska to Canada to the U.S. Any introduction of Alaska gas at that rate would have a depressing effect on the price of natural gas in the region in which it is introduced.

There are those who believe that the President will not allow Alaska to export LNG. That given this belief, the all-Alaska pipeline would not be feasible as Alaska’s gas could not then be exported. This position is belied by the fact that Alaska has been shipping gas from Nikkiski to Japan for the last 40 years. Given this fact, the all-Alaska pipeline would have a market in Asia, primarily in Japan.

The big question now, is what will be the outcome of the AGIA Open Season? Will the producers step up to send gas to Canada? Not likely, for the reasons stated above. However, AGIA was flexible, with a 2.0bcf pipeline to Valdez as the LNG option. That option may see interest, as Asia offers higher prices to Outside markets now uncertain because of shale gas development.

The outcome of the AGIA Open Season will not be known until NOVEMBER, after the general election is over. This plays in the favor of Gov. Sean Parnell. However, if the arguments on the part of Bill Walker regarding the viability and benefits of the all-Alaska pipeline option continue to find favor with Alaskans, Gov. Parnell will need something substantive to show the people that AGIA will produce results before the August Primary.

It is obvious, with the filing of HB312, that Rep. Jay Ramras, Rep. Mike Chennault, Rep. Mark Neumann, Rep. Bill Stoltze, Sen. Lesil McGuire, Sen. Charlie Huggins are hoping to confuse the idea of the Noah Parks Highway 500mcf pipeline sufficiently to get the people to forget that we voted for the all-Alaska route back in 2002 and again in 2006 with the election of Palin/Parnell. These legislators forget that they have ignored the will of the people as egregiously as did governors Murkowski, Palin and Parnell.

The reality here is that although there was no announcement, AGIA’s viability is suspect, due to the doubling of the price tag over less than 4 years. That fact cannot be attractive to potential investors.

The only sure thing is the all-Alaska natural gas pipeline proposed by Bill Walker, and voted upon by Alaskans in two separate elections. That pipeline is permitted, and ready to begin construction. All it needs is a governor to lead the way.

Is ACES the problem?

I think something is being overlooked in this discussion. It is easy to blame taxes. And, one has to give a minor kudos to Parnell who alluded to a potential decrease in the State's royalty taxes. However, there is more here than just taxes.

One of the primary issues is the state of the national economy. There has to be a market to sustain the exploration and development. That the market is in decline due to Obama/Pelosi/Reid's disasterous attempt to rewrite the national economy paradigm. Yeah, GWB had his part in the making of this mess.

That situation definitely has an impact on what happens where with any industry, much less oil and gas.An indicator of the impact of the national economy is Shell's pulling back from oil tar sands recovery expansion from a planned 700,000bpd to 225,000bpd, including putting on hold a potential technology pilot project for insitu recovery. Cost of production is up--and it is here also, a 68% increase in operations costs on the NS from 2001. Therefore, it stands to reason that the oil companies are shifting their focus to portions of world that do not have the regulatory baggage--read nimby/greenie lawsuit--where it is cheaper to operate, even if the return is lower. Exxon and others bid on Iraqi concessions for around $1.40pb.

Shell is going forward with its offshore exploration, something the Parnell Administration seems to be hyping as the new oil rush. State gov't does not get as much directly out that development, but will gain from the jobs and infrastructure in the communities where support bases will be established. Unfortunately, the State is used to a "trickle down" economy where the revenue goes to the State directly and is then distributed to the smaller communities. This type of development, as well as mining will start to put the State back in its place and give new economic power to the communities impacted by the resource development--as it should be instead of this socialist state and colonial economy that is Alaska.

Given the reduction in the tar sands expansion on the part of Shell, it appears that AGIA and Denali may have lost a great deal of their appeal to the Canucks. I doubt those big pipe projects will survive.

This means that ACES is important to maintaining a bloated State gov't, which also feeds bloated local gov'ts. Reducing ACES is going to be a fight, given declining production on the NS.Should ACES be reduced?

Ireland reduced their taxes and boomed economically. Alberta and Saskatchewan played tug of war with the oil industry when Alberta increased its production royalties, and the oil companies bailed for Saskatchewan. Alberta figured the situation out quickly, and made up for lost drilling by lowering the royalty tax. Lowering taxes and royalties cannot be understated in terms of demonstrated positive impact.

Yet, when Parnell in his State of the State suggested that the State's royalty tax may be reduced, a good conservative pundit howled like a striped ape. Why, we just cannot do that!

The reality is that taxes are only one part of the problem in attracting the oil industry back to the State.

Taxes alone will not bring attention back to Alaska, a redress of regulatory impediments must also happen. Marathon Oil did not complain to the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce about taxes, they complained about the regulatory burden in aquiring the permits to drill new exploratory wells.

Calling for a reduction of ACES is only one aspect of what is needed to create a favorable environment for the oil/gas industry to reinvest in Alaska. A reduction in the royalty tax should also be looked at and weighed. However, the primary focus should be on the regulatory impediments. That's where the delays and the real money is lost to the oil companies and any resource development business trying to do business in Alaska.

In the mean time, we need to elect a governor who can move the State forward in the face of declining oil revenues and that candidate is Bill Walker. The all-Alaska pipeline will provide revenue, jobs and infrastructure that would allow the State to reconsider its policies regarding oil and gas development from a position of not having to knee jerk to demands that may be well intended, but might not have the end result desired.

Time to end the Alaska Parnell/Campbell show

Governor Sean Parnell’s new budget sticker price is a shocker. $10.5B. That’s billion with an explosive “B”. The size of this figure should give rise to fear and trepidation into the hearts of every conservative Alaskan out there, and the rest, also. Out of $10.5B, less than point 5 percent builds anything. The rest goes to State government to maintain the social State that Alaska has become while drunk on oil revenues.

When has there been any desire to build anything since Bill Eagan’s second term in the early 1970s? All State government does now is grow, and make excuses for why we cannot do anything anymore.

Worse, why has the State government grown with the Palin/Parnell Administration? As it turns out, Sarah was no conservative. She sold us a load of bilge on that promise, and Parnell has yet to pump out the bilge water that is the growth in State government since Palin/Parnell came to power. The current increase of 8.6% over Palin’s last budget shows that Parnell is no fiscal conservative.

An example of the expansion of State government is Palin/Parnell’s Climate Change Sub-Cabinet. A State executive cabinet that is managed by a federal EPA employee. This management is contrary to the Palin/Parnell stance and rhetoric in Sean’s State of the State address about maintaining and protecting the State’s sovereignty. This cabinet is no longer needed with the admission of climate change being manufactured science to a political end.

This sub-cabinet is also an expansion of government whose function was already covered by DEC, DNR, DMVA on the emergency response side, and other State agencies. Worse, it is administered by Climate Change Strategies, an NGO that promotes the false science of man-made global warming.

Another duplication of effort and money, to the tune of $7 million this year, was the creation of the Pipeline Czar position under Palin and continued by Parnell. We created ANGDA in 2002 by an overwhelming majority to do exactly what Noah and now Bob Swenson were appointed to do. Why is this bureaucracy and expense necessary? What does it do that ANGDA could not do, especially in the face of former Sen. Gene Therriault’s appointment as the governor’s oil and gas advisor? Seems to me that between Therriault and ANGDA, the situation regarding gas pipelines was covered.

DMVA continues an interesting structure that is contrary to our republican tradition in government. The military always has a civilian head. In Alaska, under former Gov. Frank Murkowski, an experiment was tried. The Commissioner DMVA and the position of the Adjutant General were combined. The purpose was to put the two top jobs, military and civilian under one hat. While good in theory, it put the military in control of DMVA, or more particularly, the National Guard Bureau (NGB). The reorganization also resulted in the two top positions being out of State at the same time. With then MG Craig Campbell’s numerous trips to Mongolia, Iraq, and Afghanistan as TAG, DMVA’s remaining leadership was incapable of making any decisions while the Commissioner/TAG was out of town. The Commissioner DMVA should be a civilian, and the TAG should be military, as two separate positions. NGB fuels DMVA. The combination of TAG and Commissioner under one hat gives the feds too much influence. Parnell, as a long time legislator, should have had the moxy to correct this situation. The military should always have civilian leadership. Even the Russians know better.

Under Parnell, we have bigger not better government. We have more money spent with less to show for it. We are in a recession, not a period of growth. There is no pipeline or other major construction on the Parnell plate with an anticipated start date planned. It is time to wipe the slate clean of Palin/Parnell and elect a new governor.

We cannot afford another round of Palin/Parnell.

Note: My choice is Bill Walker. I voted for the all-Alaska pipeline in 2002. I contributed, campaigned and voted for Palin/Parnell because of Sarah's support of the all-Alaska pipeline. I have studied and read extensively on the options, and there is only one option for Alaska: the all-Alaska pipeline, and Bill Walker for Governor: www.billwalkerforgovernor.com Otherwise, why are the Canucks building a LNG export facility at Kittimat, B.C.? Why have there been permits filed to build 2 other export LNG facilities on the West Coast of the U.S.? Shale gas has changed the game. Alaska has to figure it out or lose opportunity, jobs and suffer the continuing rape of our resources.