Members of the Washington State Guard could soon serve with no limit on the age of enlistment and no retirement age if a bill up for consideration in the state Legislature is passed into law.
Currently, state guardsmen can serve until age 64 but can serve until age 68 on a year-to-year basis.
This bill would eliminate the required retirement age and allow Washington’s Adjutant General, Bret Daugherty, to decide the period of enlistment, as long as the member can capably continue service both mentally and physically. Members would have to go through the State Guard review board for an extension to the age limit.
Retired Major Peter Lukevich, a member of the Washington State Guard’s coordinating staff, said he was “felt a calling” to put his uniform back on to become a volunteer with the guard in August 2020 to help with work related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I filled out the application and raised my hand I was reminded of my age,” Lukevich said. “Being just over the age of 64 meant that I was going to be able to serve but wouldn’t participate in all of the guard’s activities. I went ahead with the effort in the hopes that it might change, and now we’ve got that chance.”
Lukevich said he would only be able to serve in the State Guard for one year before having to be evaluated both mentally and physically on a yearly basis in order to continue serving.
Lukevich said the group he volunteers with represents 20 volunteers with over 400 years of combined military service.
Rep. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, said the bill would help to build a larger pool of qualified men and women to serve the state.
The one-and-a-half-page bill was introduced last year but didn’t make it to a floor vote. It is currently headed to the House Rules Committee, with a recommendation of passage from the House Committee on Housing, Human Services and Veterans.
Rep. Brad Klippert, R-Kennewick and the commander of the Washington State Guard, said there are “incredible Guardsmen that are 68 and are mentally and physically capable and would love to continue serving.”
The Washington State Guard is an un-paid, volunteer organization under the Military Department of the State of Washington. Members meet monthly throughout the state and serve at the direction of the state’s Adjutant General. In instances where the Guard is called into state service for natural disasters or civil unrest missions, the volunteer guardsman are paid as state employees at the same rate for their rank or grade as their regular Army or National Guard counterparts.
There are about 75 members of the Washington State Guard, eight of whom are currently assisting with the state’s COVID-19 response, according to Washington Military Department spokesperson Karina Shagren.
Although they provide support to Washington’s National Guard troops, they cannot be sent on missions outside the state, according to a guard spokesperson.
Twenty-one other states, including California and Oregon, have similar volunteer guard organizations.
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