Restructuring state government: Adjutant general should remain an elected position

I want to commend Gov. Mark Sanford for bringing the subject of restructuring to the forefront. We should not be afraid to discuss change, and I welcome the opportunity to thoroughly study the issue of restructuring over the coming months.

We should work to pass those portions of the restructuring bill that are cost effective and will deliver better service to the people of South Carolina.

I support many parts of the restructuring bill. For example, the idea of the secretary of education being appointed by the governor, rather than elected, is a good idea. The other parts of the restructuring bill that would lead to more savings and greater governmental efficiency, while preserving the accountability of governmental officials, are also worth discussing.

But there are parts of the re-structuring bill that concern me greatly.

As an 18-year veteran of the S.C. Army National Guard, I do not believe we should make the adjutant general appointed by the governor at this time. We are at war. Almost a third of the Army Guard is deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are fighting, and sometimes dying, for the cause of liberty.

Unlike those who voice their opinion from the safety of the state capital or editorial boardrooms, these men and women cannot now participate in the debate over whether their right to vote for their leader will be stripped away. Voice-less in this debate, they are the ones who will be most affected by it.

Advocates of abolishing our long-standing tradition of electing our adjutant general argue that our soldiers and airmen can have a say on this issue, because they can vote even if they are overseas. But this misses the point.

The privates, sergeants and junior officers who are fighting the war may be able to vote on the issue, but they cannot be here to debate it. They are too busy doing an important job that protects our safety. It is wrong to undertake this debate while they are away fighting the war.

These same advocates also say that we are the only state in the union with an elected adjutant general. This may be true, but we have the best National Guard in the nation. We have the best leaders, soldiers and airmen. We are just as good as active-duty units and often better. I have seen this with my own eyes. I think it is unwise to make so drastic a change in a time of war without knowing how our national security could be affected.

There are other good reasons for keeping our adjutant general elected. As an elected constitutional officer of the state, our adjutant general has more clout when dealing with the federal government, the Pentagon and Congress. He commands votes from South Carolina, and that equates to political power, which can be brought to bear for more funding and better equipment for our Guard.

Our adjutant general has a greater seat at the table than if he were appointed by the governor.

Some complain that the current system is too political. I disagree. I think that electing our adjutant general results in greater independence and freedom from the whims of politics. If the governor were allowed to appoint the adjutant general, it is likely that the job would go to a person who supported that governor's election or re-election. That's only natural. Yet the person who leads South Carolina's sons and daughters in uniform should be free from that kind of political influence. It will make for a better Guard.

I also have heard the argument that there are currently no requirements or qualifications for candidates for adjutant general. Some argue that an unqualified person can get elected under our current system. That's potentially true, but it hasn't happened in my experience in the Guard.

Maj. Gen. T. Eston Marchant was a great adjutant general whose legacy will be felt by Guard members for years to come. Maj. Gen. Stan Spears also is eminently qualified to be adjutant general. So, in practice, any concerns about a lack of qualifications are not borne out by history.

To prevent problems of this kind, however, we could require a candidate for adjutant general to have certain qualifications set forth in the constitution. We could have minimum requirements of rank, age and education, just to name a few. We also could set up a panel to screen candidates to ensure they would be qualified to serve as the leader of our National Guard troops in South Carolina.

In conclusion, I support efforts to enact meaningful reform by restructuring government in an intelligent, reasoned fashion. I support restructuring efforts that make government more efficient and cost effective but also more accountable to the people.

But I think trying to radically change our system of electing our adjutant general in a time of war is bad policy, and I hope we won't do it.

John Hawkins is a state

senator representing

District 12 in Spartanburg County.

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