Across the country the National Guard Bureau is asking states to help Ukraine by taking inventory of “surplus, donated, and / or expired body armor and helmets that may be available for donation to Ukraine from … state and local law enforcement agencies,” according to a letter from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine last week.

Ohio’s National Guard will be assisting with the inventory here in the Buckeye State, where “the ultimate intent is to provide personal protective gear to the Ukrainian military as they defend their country against Russia,” the letter said. It goes on to ask for Level 3+ or Level 4 personal protective equipment, though any available and serviceable items are acceptable.

While the request is noble, and it is to be assumed law enforcement agencies will do their best to comply, it brings up a question or two. Given the need in so many law enforcement agencies in our state, exactly how much surplus does the National Guard Bureau believe exists? And, if we are sending expired gear, are we doing Ukrainians much of a favor? Perhaps there will be just enough surplus in law enforcement agencies throughout the country; and there is enough wiggle room in those expiration dates that we will, indeed, scrounge up enough equipment to do Ukraine some good.

A bigger question is how long the effort might take. Once inventories are completed and submitted by each law enforcement agency (they were due Monday), the information will be collected by the National Guard Bureau, which then will work with the U.S. Department of Defense and its partners to develop a logistics plan for collection and delivery to Ukraine. After a plan is developed, Ohio National Guard service members will contact those agencies in the state who filled out the inventories and let them know where they can drop off their donations.

Ukrainians will have to depend on local law enforcement, the National Guard, the rest of the Defense Department, its contractors and the bureaucracy to work together quickly enough to get real help to them when they need it.

Perhaps we’ll pull it off. If we do, officials will have a tough time explaining to Americans they are capable of getting good work done quickly, it’s just that, most of the time, they’d rather not.