Wis. National Guard to postpone weekend drill

MADISON -- It's a move that will impact more than seven thousand Army National Guard members in Wisconsin. This weekend, they're being asked to stay home instead of spending a few days training.

The Wisconsin National Guard says it's a move to save money since more than two million dollars was sent to Washington D.C. to cover a $1.1 million budget hole. That's the reason 7,500 Wisconsin Guard members will need to wait two weeks for their monthly training session.

A Wisconsin Guard spokesman made it clear Thursday, this month's training session is not being canceled, just postponed. But he says this is a big deal because it means paychecks to the more than seven thousand Guard members will also be postponed.

He says the pay rate for a weekend drill can range from a few hundred dollars, to about eight hundred dollars depending on experience.

\"This is a significant impact to their monthly income. We do have commanders who are willing to talk with landlords and other people who may need to have a discussion regarding why that soldier isn't able to meet that.\" said Wis. National Guard spokesman Major Paul Rickert.

Rickert says there are no plans to change any other training weekends in the future. This does not affect the roughly 2,500 Wisconsin Air National Guard members.