Ohio National Guard troops are being deployed around the world in U.S. military efforts such as Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as to the Gulf Coast region in the United States to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

National Guard bureau spokesman Jack Harrison said 80,000 guardsmen are deployed around the world and another 45,000 are currently deployed in the Gulf Coast region in Katrina-related relief missions, leaving approximately 300,000 guardsmen available in the rest of the United States. This means that roughly 30 percent of America’s National Guard is not currently available at home.

But the latest figures show Ohio is a little better off.

In the Ohio Guard, 1,757 members have been deployed to the Gulf Coast region to provide support to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and 200 more are assisting with Katrina-related efforts here in Ohio, said C.J. Couch, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s public affairs branch chief.

“We have people being sheltered at Rickenbacker Air Base,” said Couch of hurricane evacuees who are currently staying at the air national guard base near Columbus. As to whether the Gulf Coast deployments could leave the Ohio Guard short in case of an Ohio emergency, Couch said his agency would have to defer comment to the National Guard.

Ohio has approximately 15,000 enlisted guard members – 10,000 in the Army Guard and 5,000 in the Air Guard – according to Ohio National Guard spokesman James Sims. Sims said just more than 1,000 are currently deployed outside the United States. When added to those deployed in the Gulf Coast, this means that close to 20 percent of Ohio’s National Guard is currently deployed out of state. But Sims said it isn’t a potential problem.

“No, there has been no concern,” she said. “There’s a force protection model to insure that we have enough soldiers in each state to respond to an emergency.”

“According to Sims, the force protection model dictates no more than 50 percent of a state’s guard troops could be deployed elsewhere at any given time.

“There’s a perception that no one’s home and that’s just not true,” said Sims, who added that the Katrina numbers will be greatly reduced in the next week or so when the guardsmen of college-age will be deployed back home.

Contact public affairs reporter Greg M. Schwartz at [email protected].