Rethinking the Operational Reserve

The various service Reserve Components have been a critical part of the Total Force for several decades. Although great efforts were undertaken to ?operationalize? the Reserve Component over the last few years, future requirements will likely not justify a fully manned, trained, and equipped operational reserve. The Department of Defense will not likely be able to simultaneously afford both a robust active component and an operational reserve; expected shortfalls require a change in how the reserves are structured and utilized. With the expected reduction of American presence abroad, and likely economic austerity for the military, the United States must rethink the missions, requirements, and readiness of the reserve components. If elements of the reserve component operated at lower levels of readiness and training, significant costs could be saved. Potential deployment options for the reserves must be predictive, should best leverage existing reserve capabilities, and should accurately assess costs for equipment and resources. Options to save costs include reducing reserve training days, exploring creative solutions to equipment shortfalls, and better assessing training requirements for reserve units. Although it will involve certain risks, the Department of Defense must review and transform the policies and options in which reserve units are trained, equipped, and employed.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.