Yesterday, the White House responded to a petition asking us to give the National Guard a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  In the response, Christine Wormuth, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense Policy explained that through the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau became a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the specific responsibility of addressing matters involving non-Federalized National Guard forces in support of homeland defense and civil support missions.

 The response also included a video from Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting, that explains the important role Chief of the National Guard Bureau Gen. Craig R. McKinley plays as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

 You can read the full response below.  To check out more of the nearly 50 official petition responses from the White House, or to create or sign a petition visit the We the People platform at Whitehouse.gov/petitions. 

Chief of the National Guard Bureau Joins the Joint Chiefs of Staff

 Christine E. Wormuth is Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense Policy

Article source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/23/we-people-petition-response-chief-national-guard-bureau-joins-joint-chiefs-staff