The National Guard is under fire, and it is time for a counterattack, Brig. Gen. Thomas E. Whitecotton III said.

Whitecotton, commander of the Missouri National Guard's 35th Engineering Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, spoke at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee.

Cuts in funding and manpower reductions constitute "a threat to our force structure," Whitecotton said.

"The prelude to any war is disinformation, personal attacks and criticisms," he said. "We need to respond to any attacks on the National Guard at the federal level."

National Guard programs should be funded at a parity level with reserve and full-time military levels, Whitecotton said.

"We need the right share, and we're not getting that," he said.

Recruitment has fallen off, he said, but with the right incentives, the Missouri National Guard can build its numbers up again.

He called for tuition waivers at state universities for National Guard members. Illinois and Alabama already have such incentives, he said.

He also urged business owners to support employees who belong to the National Guard and "provide them with the time they need to get their duty performed and for their education."

The Missouri National Guard is a strong economic force in the area, Whitecotton said.

"It puts dollars into your community," he said.

In the Cape Girardeau-Jackson area, the National Guard's payroll amounts to $3.5 million a year. Statewide, the National Guard has a payroll of more than $223 million.

Dollars spent for services, facilities and materials amounts to more than $1 million annually statewide, Whitecotton said.

In years past, National Guard troops spent much of their active duty time overseas, but the emphasis now is on staying in Missouri, he said.

"We're going to stay here in the community and build those ball fields and take care of things at home," he said.

The National Guard is also involved with the war on drugs, both at home and abroad, providing engineering, surveillance and military police support to law enforcement and military intervention efforts.

"I think you will see a time in the future where the Guard will be a little more active, where we will be involved in intervention in the war on drugs," Whitecotton said.

The Missouri National Guard is under the governor's command unless it is called out for federal duty, he said.