After Push from Peters, Trump Administration Won’t Prematurely End National Guard Mobilizations

DETROIT, MI – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed an announcement today from President Donald Trump that mobilizations for members of the National Guard who have served on the frontlines of the Coronavirus pandemic will be extended through mid-August. This decision comes after Peters successfully pressed the President not to impose a “hard stop” order that would have ended active duty status for these guardsmen, one day before they were eligible to receive critical federal benefits.

“Our guardsmen in Michigan and across the country who have risked their personal safety to help their communities through this pandemic not only deserve our gratitude, but also the benefits they have been promised,” said Senator Peters. “Ending their mobilizations early would have hampered our COVID-19 response efforts, while shortchanging our troops. I am relieved the Administration will not prematurely end active duty status for these soldiers, and I will continue working in a bipartisan manner to ensure they are provided the benefits they have earned and that we give states the much-need certainty they need during this crisis.”

Currently, 887 Michigan guardsmen are activated to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic. According to recent reporting, members of the National Guard were at risk of facing a “hard stop” on mobilizations effective June 24^th. Ending Guard deployments on that date would have meant thousands of members who first deployed in early March would only have 89 days of duty credit, one short of the 90-day threshold for qualifying for retirement and education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill. The State of Michigan would have also lost key federal funding and would have been forced to transfer those guardsmen to state funds, if they were still needed.

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