FARGO, N.D. — Dr. Bryan Delage is a marathon runner and former world class biathlete, but National Guard officials worry that recruiting problems are forcing them to push his stamina beyond the limit.

Delage is the lone flight surgeon for a unit that should have four doctors taking care of its pilots and support staff, and that’s on top of his 80-hour-a-week family practice in Ortonville, Minn., more than 100 miles away.

“I’m afraid we’re going to wear him out,” said Master Sgt. Glenda Edwardson, recruiting supervisor for the North Dakota Air National Guard’s 119th Wing.

Recruiting medical personnel has become a first-class headache for Guard units throughout the country, especially in sparsely populated areas like eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota.

The job of recruiting doctors recently was shifted from the active duty Air Force to the National Guard, which hasn’t improved the success rate, said Master Sgt. Connie Erickson, a regional recruiter from Minneapolis.

“This is very much a national situation,” Erickson said. “We’re not getting the interest we once did. It’s very challenging for us.”

At full strength, the Air National Guard would have about 2,500 health professionals, including doctors, nurses and dentists, said Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, spokeswoman for the Guard Bureau in Washington. The Guard is 377 people short of that goal, she said.

“Our current situation is a priority,” Krenke said.

The 119th Wing’s recent change from flying jet fighters to transport planes and unmanned aerial vehicles has increased the unit’s size – and nearly doubled the demand for medical care, said the base spokeswoman, Capt. Penny Ripperger.

“And that number continues to rise,” Ripperger said.

“We were short before. Now we’re really short,” Edwardson said of the base medical staff. “It’s not like going out and finding a 17-year-old who wants his or her college paid for.”

The biggest roadblock, Edwardson said, is fear that military doctors will be shipped to Iraq or some other hot spot.