Speaking at Brunswick Landing on Saturday, Gov. Paul LePage said he is looking to increase the number of National Guard troops stationed in Maine, despite reports that the state’s 133rd Engineer Battalion is being replaced.

“No one in this state is looking to reduce the National Guard,” said LePage, adding that the state was looking to increase the Guard’s presence.

Recent news reports have stated that Maine’s engineer battalion would be replaced by a smaller infantry unit. According to an Associated Press report, after a meeting with the adjunct general, Brig. General James Campbell, to discuss the federal government’s proposal to reduce Guard units across the country, LePage accused Democrats of attempting to make the possible changes a campaign issue and pledged that no decision will be made for several years.

Last month, the Portland Press Herald reported that the National Guard was nearing the final stages of a plan to send the battalion to Pennsylvania and replace it with an infantry unit, according to the AP.

However, on Saturday, LePage said, “This is a federal issue, not a state issue.”

A federal commission would be studying the issue through 2016, LePage said.

“We won’t know until ’18 or ’19” what the outcome would be, said LePage.

LePage was speaking at the Fallen Warrior ceremony held at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.

LePage also spoke of the recent tumult in the federal Veterans Administration, including allegations that VA staff in Phoenix, Ariz., attempted to hide the fact that veterans’ medical appointments were often pushed back, and that some veterans may have died while waiting for care.

“ If a veteran in Maine ever needs service, all they need to do is call the governor’s office, and those services will be made available,” LePage pledged.