WASHINGTON - It is not the kind of news that puts minds at ease in anxious times.

"If we had a natural disaster right now, we'd be in trouble," said Maj. Greg Hapgood, spokesman for the Iowa National Guard. "We would be short-handed."

Lawmakers and defense officials are divided in their anxiety levels but no one questions that large numbers of Iowa National Guard troops and reservists have been called up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. The state ranks 30th in population but in the top 10 in percentage of National Guard troops deployed around the world.

The Guard has 3,200 members currently deployed or readying to leave. The remaining 6,300 may be able to respond to state emergencies such as a flood or provide security at airports, said Hapgood.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, isn't worried by the tug and pull. "The Army has already made up its mind that it will have 30,000 more people next year," Grassley said in a telephone interview last week. In January the Department of the Army received approval from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to temporarily grow the size of the Army by 30,000.

The senator indicated the increase correlates to the number of guardsmen and women serving in combat now. Therefore, Grassley said, he has not put pressure on the Pentagon to reduce its dependence on Iowa's National Guard.

The Army's intent in swelling its forces, however, is not directly related to reducing the number of National Guard members and reservists called-up for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Army spokesman Lt. Col Chris Rodney.

"We're asking for the extra folks to help us reset the Army for the way we want to see it in the future," said Rodney. Efforts to reduce the Army's active duty dependence on National Guard troops and reservists is a separate issue and an ongoing initiative that is still being looked at, he said.

Gov. Tom Vilsack's office sides with Grassley in his confidence in the state's ability to manage disaster relief.

"If there was an emergency in Iowa we feel that the Iowa Guard could carry out their mission here," said Vilsack's spokesman Matt Paul. But Paul acknowledged that the heavy deployment has put a "strain" on both business and government, and of course, on families.

As a result, when the governor was in Washington two weeks ago, he asked Defense Department officials to more accurately predict when units are going to be deployed and for how long so that families can prepare, Paul said. Vilsack received a positive response, his office said, but the federal government has yet to make any official changes.

Taking pre-deployment training into account, "if you're called up you can count on at least a year," said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Hetlage. As for giving soldiers a specific end date, Hetlage said, "we're not going to put anybody's life in jeopardy just to hit somebody's deadline."

Hetlage would not comment specifically on why so many of Iowa's Guard members have been tagged for duty. He said the call-ups are based on what's needed in Iraq and Afghanistan and which troops have those capabilities.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, intends to ask the Defense Department officials about the "overuse of our National Guard and our reservists" as the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense considers this month the department's 2005 budget.

"We need them also for our Homeland Security," Harkin said, a subcommittee member.

Iowa Homeland Security Advisor Ellen Gordon said the state is prepared to react to an emergency with fewer Guard members and reservists, pointing to the Emergency Management Assistance Compact that the state joined several years ago. Under the compact, Iowa could call upon the other member states for help in an emergency. Every state except California and Hawaii are members of the compact.

Currently, the Guard is experiencing its highest mobilization rate since World War I "with 78 percent of the available force alerted or mobilized." Maj. Gen. Ron Dardis, Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard, told the state legislature Feb. 24.

In the past year and a half, 4,200 National Guard members have been mobilized, more than double the number in the first Gulf War or Vietnam, according to Iowa Gold Star Military Museum director Russell Bierl. Iowa's Guard has a long tradition of fighting beyond its state borders, said Bierl. More than 76,000 members fought in the Civil War and 10,000 served in World War I, according to his research.

Officials will continue to debate the burden high deployments place on Iowa's infrastructure but no one argues the strain on the soldiers and their families. Ten Iowa soldiers have died in combat since war began in Iraq one year ago this month. Five out of the 10 were National Guard or reserve troops.

"There's a price tag for being good," said Iowa Guard spokesman Hapgood.