A proposal by President Bush to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq to quell sectarian violence could see the Montana National Guard redeploy before it's fully ready, according to some Guard officials, although no immediate mission has yet to be assigned.

The Montana Guard is still reorganizing from past deployments to Iraq and currently is experiencing a shortage of equipment that has made training for future missions difficult.

Maj. Garth Scott, public relations officer for the Montana Guard, said some of the state's ground equipment was left in Iraq to help other units complete their missions. The lack of Humvees and track vehicles in Montana creates a challenge training troops at home.

"You can't train to the same standard you're used to," Scott said. "You have to borrow from other units or change your training plan. It's a National Guard problem that's become a legislative issue."

The U.S. Army's 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, is already in Kuwait and would likely be the first unit involved in the president's new plan. The brigade numbers about 3,500 troops and is based at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Where the rest of the troops will come from and how long the "surge" will last has Montana Guard officials waiting to see what the future holds.

Scott said much of the Montana Guard is still in a reset phase, which involves reconditioning equipment and moving soldiers into various units.

"If they do call us up sooner, we'd have to move troops from one unit to another," Scott said. "It's something we're trying to avoid. We'll have new troops and you'd have to piecemeal the units together."

Staff Sgt. Kathy Kuoppala, the state equipment maintenance specialist, said the Guard's fleet of Blackhawk helicopters has already been reconditioned, and the ground equipment is "99 percent ready to go."

But not all the ground equipment returned home to Montana, she said. Some of it was left in Iraq, where the Army plans to use it when other units move in, eventually turning it over to Iraqi security forces.

Kuoppala said the Montana Guard is currently lacking roughly 25 percent of its Humvee inventory and nearly 70 percent of its track vehicles.

Scott said the shortage of equipment hasn't severely limited the Guard's readiness. However, he added, a long-term equipment shortage could have future ramifications, especially if the Guard is called back into service sooner than expected.

"You'd have to get creative with training and borrowing equipment from other units," Scott said.

Already, one Montana outfit is heading to New Mexico for border patrol, while a C-12 unit is on alert status for Iraq.

That unit, Scott said, will likely receive mobilization orders to Iraq within the next few weeks.

"We're preparing to go back to Iraq in the future," Scott said. "The Army has a timeline for Montana units, but it's not projected until 2009, 2010 or 2011. It doesn't mean we won't go sooner. We know plans change and we're definitely preparing for it."

Some critics of the president's plan have questioned his choice of words, arguing that "surge" is rhetoric for an escalation of the war and the U.S. military's involvement in Iraq.

"If the president says surge, then that's what we'll call it," said Scott.

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com