Topeka ? Growing global commitments and the scope of the war on terrorism highlight the need for a larger military, Sen. Pat Roberts said Friday.

“If you go overseas and visit with the troops, about half of them are Guard and reserves,” said Roberts chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “That’s one of the problems we have with the military. I think we’re stretched a little thin.”

He said the military needed to devise a better rotation system that limited the time spent by reserve forces overseas.

“I’ve met Guard people in Iraq who’ve been in Bosnia, Kosovo and now Iraq,” Roberts said. “I don’t know how they do it. They just keep on serving.”

The Kansas Republican was in Topeka to dedicate the new headquarters of the 73rd Civil Support Team of the Kansas Army National Guard at Forbes Field. The unit is one of 32 trained to provide immediate response to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.

“The active-duty has its plate full. The National Guard, we felt, was closer to home,” Roberts said. “They are the federal first responders to help the local first responders.”

Roberts said the nation was calling on its reserve forces to provide greater roles at home and overseas. With the ongoing war in Iraq, Afghanistan and the nuclear threat on the Korean Peninsula, the United States needs to put more active-duty soldiers, sailors and airmen in uniform.

“We’re involved in over 90 countries,” Roberts said.

Roberts said the need wasn’t more troops, but more troops trained to fight guerrilla warfare.

He acknowledged that the troops’ mission had changed since the first days of hostilities but said the war was justified because of terrorism, growing instability in the Middle East and Saddam Hussein’s brutality.