(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

West Virginia’s National Guard repeatedly comes to the rescue when the state is in need. Whether it be a pandemic, a natural disaster or simple bureaucratic/governmental incompetence, we know we can count on the men and women of the Guard to make a difference.

Nearly two years ago, Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for our 17 correctional facilities because of severe staffing shortages. More than 730 members of the WVNG stepped up to rotate into positions in those facilities.

“Today I am ending our long-standing emergency as the National Guard has completed its mission,” Justice said last week.

Wonderful.

But how did we fix the problem? Justice and lawmakers did work toward increasing salaries, so correctional officers would be less tempted to move to other state or federal systems. That was a start. The real push came when 38 Guardsmen were hired in full-time capacities by the corrections department.

While taxpayers are surely grateful those 38 made such a decision, it still amounts to the WVNG saving the day. There must be more work ahead.

Justice seems to understand that.

“Do I think there’s more that we will have to do in the future?” Justice said. “Probably so.”

The question is whether lawmakers and corrections department officials will maintain their sense of urgency now that so many from the WVNG have bailed them out.

They must. Though Guardsmen have proved over and over they are going to be “Always ready, always there!” for West Virginia, it’s time the folks in Charleston made sure — on this and many other fronts — they don’t always have to be.