ABQ lawmaker seeks recall of N.M. Guard troops in Iraq.

Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, introduced a memorial Monday calling on Gov. Bill Richardson to recall New Mexico National Guard troops from active duty in Iraq, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported today on its Web site.

A memorial does not have the force of law, and Ortiz y Pino joined Guard officials in doubting whether the governor had the authority to make such a move, the Sun-News reported.

"It's a memorial, not a law," Ortiz y Pino told the Sun-News. "But it would be an indication to the governor that maybe this is something he ought to be exploring with the administration in Washington."

Lt. Col. Kimberly Lalley, spokeswoman for the New Mexico National Guard, told the paper that any decision to bring troops home is not the governor's.

"Once a member of the National Guard has been called to active duty, they come under federal military code," Lalley said. "When that happens, the only person who has the authority to call them back is the president."

There are currently about 500 New Mexico National Guard troops serving overseas, state National Guard information officer Thomas Koch told the Sun-News. And not all those troops are serving in Iraq.

Ortiz y Pino told the paper that the National Guard is meant to be used in a crisis situation and while that might have been the case early on, it no longer applies in Iraq.

And having so many troops overseas makes it harder for the state's National Guard to respond to emergencies, Ortiz y Pino told the Sun-News.

Meanwhile, Col. Jim Morgan, deputy adjutant to state Guard commander Brig. Gen. Kenny Montoya, told the paper the Guard is actually in the process of bring its troops home.

"It's the first time in a long time that the brunt is not on the National Guard (in Iraq)," Morgan told the paper. "We've deployed large numbers of New Mexicans, and we're now in the process of recovering those."

Spokeswoman Lalley also told the Sun-News that New Mexico is not expected to deploy large numbers of Guard troops for at least two years.

One New Mexico Guardsman has been killed in Iraq, Lalley said. That was Sgt. Marshal Westbrook, 43, of Farmington, a member of the 126th Military Police Company, who was killed Oct. 1 in Baghdad after being struck by shrapnel from an explosive device, the paper reported.

Sen. Diana Duran, R-Alamogordo, chairwoman of the Senate Republican Caucus, said Ortiz y Pino's memorial sends the wrong message to troops serving in Iraq.

"What we should be doing is introducing a memorial saying we support our troops, we support our Congress and we support our president, and will do whatever we can to show our support," Duran told the Sun-News.

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