Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus agreed with some members of the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that National Guard members are stretched thin. Nordhaus was testifying as the Senate considers whether to confirm him as the next head of the Guard.

“The National Guard cannot be the solution to every local labor shortage,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said in his opening statement, as Military.com reported.

Nordhaus agreed and pointed to the number of Guard members who have been deployed to the Southern border as an example.

“They’re not back home training for great power competition missions,” Nordhaus said. “They’re not back home with their families and their employers getting set up so that, the next time they’re asked to deploy overseas for a combat role, they have that spin for the National Guard.”

The committee will vote on whether to send his nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, director of the Army National Guard, is serving as acting National Guard Bureau chief.

Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jillian Maynus