CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Military equipment being operated here in West Virginia will soon be on the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
The West Virginia National Guard will provide an undisclosed number of M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers to the federal government’s effort to bolster Ukraine’s national defense amid the Russian onslaught.
“It’s part of President Biden’s $800 Million military assistance package. All of this equipment is federal equipment, the Governor can of course come in and say we need this for state response, but the Governor was right on board with this the minute the request came,” said General Bill Crane, West Virginia’s Adjutant General.
Governor Jim Justice talked about the allocation in recent days and was vocally supportive of committing equipment from the West Virginia National Guard to the conflict. Crane was equally supportive of the idea.
“We can’t repeat the history of World War II and allow a bully to take over another country. I much prefer that we provide the equipment and supplies to allow that country to defend themselves in the hopes we don’t’ have to send our sons and daughters there if this thing would ever get any bigger,” Crane said in an appearance on MetroNews Talkline.
West Virginia is one of a number of states who are contributing guard assets to the program. According to Crane they’ll only be required to make the machines available. The federal government will coordinate the shipping and transport of the equipment to the Ukrainian Army in the next few days.