GUARD'S ANTI-DRUG TROOPS RELEASED

State Cutbacks Part Of US

Federal officials will lay off roughly 1,000 National Guard troops
nationwide, including nearly one-third of the Guard contingent assigned to
Arizona drug interdiction missions, because of a budget shortfall.

Maj. Jill Kellett said 60 people from Arizona units have been targeted in
the layoffs, effective Jan. 31. Those being released are on full-time
active duty with Army and Air National Guard units assigned to counterdrug
activities. They will remain members of the Guard on drill status but no
longer will be on full-time duty, Kellett said.

Most of those being laid off in Arizona work in Phoenix and Tucson,
although the cuts also will affect troops assigned to border detachments
in Nogales and Yuma that operate scanning equipment and help the U.S.
Customs Service conduct vehicle searches at international ports of entry.

"We clearly will feel a reduction, but it will not be the end of the
world," said Donna De La Torre, director of Arizona operations for the
Customs Service. "We're not losing everybody."

Guard members also help law enforcement with intelligence analysis and
communications support. Jim Molesa, a spokesman for the Phoenix office of
the Drug Enforcement Administration, said shifts in Guard staffing helped
minimize the effect of the cuts on DEA. But he said some multiagency
anti-drug operations in Arizona now will suffer "big time" from understaffing.

The actions will not affect National Guard personnel sent by Gov. Jane Hull
to the border to help Customs at the ports of entry resulting from tighter
inspections.