Total Force: Federal Reserves and State National Guards
Authored by COL Charles E. Heller.
December 7, 1994
50 Pages
Brief Synopsis
Never before in peacetime has the United States placed so much emphasis and reliance on the Armed Forces' Reserve Components. Since the Total Force Policy was introduced by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird in 1970, this dependency has grown even more. The 1990 mobilization for OPERATION DESERT SHIELD and the follow-on offensive OPERATION DESERT STORM in 1991 validated the use of the Reserve Components for contingency operations and guaranteed the policy's extension for the foreseeable future.
Yet, even with the renewed emphasis on the Reserve Components' roles, their legal basis, mission, mobilization, training, force structure, and relationship to their respective Active Component remain relatively little understood. There are relatively few, if any, single source references pertaining to these Reserve Component areas.
This report responds to the growing strategic importance of the Armed Forces Reserve Components. Declining defense budgets leading to small Active Component forces, coupled with inherent dangers facing the world community in a multipolar world, makes the use of Reserve forces on a recurring basis a necessity. This is especially true for Reserve Combat Support and Combat Service Support Forces not readily available in the Active Components. In essence, because of the relatively short time in which contingency operations unfold, the Reserve Components have become the Nation's strategic reserve insurance policy.
Summary
This study is unique among recent works published by the Strategic Studies Institute because it is primarily a survey of current basic information concerning the Armed Forces Reserve Components. In addition, it provides an analysis and forecasts their status and roles in the future.
The study explains the Total Force Policy, its origins and application from 1970 to its first test in 1990 and 1991 during OPERATIONS DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. The post-cold war defense reductions have caused an even greater reliance upon the Reserve Components than anticipated by the Defense establishment.
The legal basis for the establishment of the Reserve Components for the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard (a part of the Navy upon mobilization) and the reason there are two separate reserves for the Army and Air Force are reviewed. In the final analysis, the legal foundation for the reserves rests with the U.S. Constitution and the traditions of the nation. In the 20th century, legislation has been passed placing greater reliance on the Reserve Components while enhancing their readiness.
Over the years Reserve Component categories of individual service and types of active duty performed have been refined and defined. The complexities of the modern world necessitated increased flexibility when utilizing citizen soldiers. Access to reservists depends upon the individual's category of service ranging from the immediately available Selected Reserve to the prior service Individual Ready Reserve. There are also different categories of active duty which an individual reservist performs either involuntarily or voluntarily. The types of training range from Annual Training to the newest category, Active Duty Special Works.
Each Armed Service and the Reserve Components within each service have varying management structures, all of which are legislated by the Congress. A detailed description of each is given within the text of this report. In the case of the Army and Air Force there are two Reserve Components each, the National Guards of the individual states and the Federal Reserve. For the Navy, Marine Corps and the Coast Guard there is only a Federal Reserve.
While there are similarities in pay, benefits and entitlements differ between the Active Components and their reserves. Reservists on active duty do receive the same pay, and much of the same allowances as their active counterparts. However, entitlements differ depending on the length of the tour of active duty.
The need for well-equipped, organized, and trained Reserve Components increased after the 1898 Spanish- American War. As a consequence the need for full-time support for the Reserve Components progressively increased as modern warfare became more and more complex and deadly. Today this support ranges from Active Component soldiers serving with the Reserve Components to government civilians and also reservists on active duty.
Gaining access to the Reserve Components is well-defined and the decision to mobilize reservists for overseas deployment or domestic missions is a political act prompted by the severity of the national emergency. Five mobilization categories will bring reservists to active duty. Each category requires varying degrees of approval from the chief executive to the Congress. The categories range from Selected Mobilization to Total Mobilization.
After reviewing those elements of commonality among the Armed Forces' Reserve Components, the study considers in detail the state National Guards and the Federal Reserves of each Armed Service in the Defense establishment. The sections on each Reserve include a brief history of its evolution in the Defense establishment. The report gives an overview of each component as it exists today regarding command, manning, structure, management, stationing, equipment, training, and education.
Next the author projects what the future holds for each Service's Reserve. This section is speculative; however, it considers past peacetime periods in which the Armed Forces and their reserves have languished without funding or interest on the part of the government and its citizens. This perspective, however, is tempered by the realization that the United States has never found itself to be the only superpower in a multipolar world. This is coupled with the recent experience of what the new order will bring in the 21st century in terms of using armed forces. Examples of the new missions are numerous and include the Gulf War, Bosnia, Somilia, Haiti, Hurricane Andrew, the 1994 California earthquake, the 1994 California urban riots, and midwestern floods. All of these incidents required the use of Reserve Component individuals and units and give a clear indication of what the Armed Forces and their Reserve Components should expect well into the next century.
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