WASHINGTON -- National Guard units around the country are being trained to deal with phone-system outages and other chaos that could result from computer crashes when the year 2000 begins.
In Washington state, half of the guard's ground troops will be on duty Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Other states plan to have units on standby in case of blackouts, looting or other problems that might occur if computers shut down because they can't comprehend the date 2000."The business we're in is to help communities when they're overwhelmed by an event, a blizzard, riot or other natural or manmade disasters," said Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, spokesman for the National Guard in Wisconsin. "We have the resources. And many of the consequences being speculated about Y2K are not unlike the things we've been doing for years."
The potential problem stems from how computers deal with the date. Since most computers only recognize the last two digits of a date, such as the 99 in 1999, some of them are likely to interpret 00 as 1900.
Most government officials expect only minor problems from the so-called Y2K bug and say training the National Guard is merely a precaution. But some people are hoarding canned goods and planning to withdraw their money from banks in case deliveries can't be made and bank machines can't operate.
Others are predicting shutdowns of airports, train stations and power generators.
Just in case, the adjutant general in Washington state rescheduled a drill so that 3,000 guardsmen would be on duty on New Year's Eve and Jan. 1.
The decision to call out the Guard in each state rests with the governor. If troops are mobilized, they likely would be called to aid civilian law-enforcement, transportation agencies and emergency medical crews.
In New Mexico, officials plan to keep all 28 state armories open on New Year's Eve, said Guard spokesman Tom Koch. In Rhode Island, the Guard's adjutant general chairs regular meetings with state agency representatives to discuss contingency plans.
"The general has asked all department heads, all heads of local emergency management agencies to go back and examine their plans based on a worst-case scenario estimate and come back with any kind of situation that they might not be able to handle," said 1st Lt. Gloria Haggarty, a Guard spokeswoman. "Based on that information, we're going to develop additional plans."