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AC/RC Integration: Today's Success and Transformation's Challenge

Authored by Dr. Dallas D. Owens.

October 2001

67 Pages

Brief Synopsis

Lieutenant Colonel Dallas Owens analyzes current integration programs and initiatives and evaluates them for their potential to resist transformation's possible threat to AC/RC integration. In Part I, Lieutenant Colonel Owens examines historical and current concepts of integration. He shows how programs emerged from the concept, the barriers to integration that they attempt to address, and their success. In Part II, he looks into the future of AC/RC integration, starting with an overview of transformation, then discussing transformation's impacts on the Reserve Components and their integration with the active force. Finally, he provides conclusions about the current and future state of AC/RC integration and offers recommendations to overcome transformation s challenges to integration. Maintaining an integrated force during transformational turbulence is imperative if the Army is to retain its ability to support the National Military Strategy.

SUMMARY

The 30-year-old “Total Forces Policy” was designed to meet Cold War requirements; 10 years ago a total force policy remained important, but proved inadequate to meet the need for increased use of the reserve components (RC) in response to challenges posed by a smaller military, more diverse missions, and more frequent deployments. Since the mid-1990s, AC/RC integration programs and initiatives have successfully addressed many of the barriers to timely and effective mobilization and employment of a trained and ready reserve component. The current Army transformation, changing missions, and fiscal constraints will further redefine the role of the RC and the level of integration necessary to perform that role.

The recommendations in this monograph suggest ways that the Army can ensure success in its future integration efforts, based on the transformation campaign plan; the evolution of the Army’s vision of AC/RC integration; past and current efforts to achieve integration; accomplishments and failures of integration programs; and future integration issues for the transforming Army. These recommendations for supporting AC/RC integration during the transformation process and after the objective force is fielded follow four lines: (1) support and expand the most effective current programs while creating new programs; (2) avoid choosing roles and missions that segregate the force; (3) change the mobilization process to fit the transformed force; and (4) conduct periodic analyses to determine how the force is changing and the effects of that change on AC/RC integration. The most important of the specific recommendations are to (1) support the AC/RC Association Program and related activities, especially the Training Support XXI Program; (2) transform RC units, when possible, at the same time as their affiliated AC units are transformed; (3) support that portion of the Multi-component Units Program that research shows has an optimal chance of success and contributes to effective mission performance; (4) expand the Integrated Division Program; (5) in the context of mission specialization, avoid making any mission exclusively RC or AC when detrimental to the prestige or funding of a single component; (6) support Army Forces Command’s changes to maximize the flexibility of the mobilization process; and (7) monitor the transformation process constantly for its impact on AC/RC integration and adjust as necessary to continue supporting an integrated Army.

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