Navy Reserve and the Total Force

February / March 2012 - Navy
By Raymond J Torp

Today, integration of Active and Reserve Component parts of our Navy has never been better. The whole really is greater than the sum of its parts.

Reserve members represent the organization with the larger society. Service by our citizen warriors goes back to the days before the founding of our republic. General George Washington and his group of irregulars bested and outlasted the better-trained and professional force of Britain. A large standing army was not envisioned by the founding fathers and the Navy was an afterthought. Embodied in the Constitution were strictures on funding of a standing army as well as provisions for a wellarmed militia from which our National Guard and Reserve Components trace their lineage. The modern Navy Reserve is a direct descendent of the state naval militias that existed prior to World War I. Move forward more than two centuries and we find today, an effective fighting force, integrated and balanced between Active and Reserve Component Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines.

As the face of the military in communities throughout the United States, Reserve Component members represent the organization with the larger society and are uniquely qualified to perform and serve. They are typically leaders in their communities and while representing the military in society, they also help tie the organization back to their communities. Navy Reservists bring essential skills from the private sector and government service to the total force. The Department of Defense collects civilian employment information (CEI) as a tool to help force planners identify some of these unique skills that Reservists bring to our military forces. Reserve members are required to update this information on an annual basis. DoD uses this information to help plan for future employment of the force.

The Reserve Component today is more closely aligned with the Active Component than at any time since WWII. The aberration of the Reserve Component not being used in Vietnam left a generation of political leaders with a flawed view of what can be accomplished by the military and a skewed view of what is and is not possible.

As America planned an exit strategy from Vietnam, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird first described the Total Force Policy, whereby defense expenditure would require reductions in all facets of the active forces and more reliance on the National Guard and Reserves. U.S. policy shifted towards use of the Reserve Component in any future conflict and planning for an all-volunteer force. The move to an all-volunteer force placed additional burdens on the Active Component and Reserve Component leaders.

The resources a country commits to its military forces are not unlimited. The current United States military forces are comprised of approximately 2,230,000 uniformed members with over 830,000 of those in the National Guard or Reserve. During the years since 9/11, Guard and Reserve members have been deployed with increasing frequency in combat. Some skills and military occupations are in high demand and the burden of deployment has fallen disproportionally on military Reserve Component members with those high-demand skills. In response, in 2008, Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates directed the services to implement many of the recommendations of the Bipartisan Commission on the National Guard and Reserve moving towards better integration, structuring and use of the Reserve Component. DoD planners are also moving to rebalancing over 225,000 Reserve Component spaces by FY 2016, addressing those high-demand skills by encouraging cross training and identifying alternative sourcing solutions.

Today, the United States military relies more heavily on the Reserve Component than at any time since the total national effort in World War II. Patriotism and love of country are strong motivating factors in encouraging citizens and future citizens to join the Reserves and to be a part of something bigger than themselves. The basic concept of a relevant Reserve Component as part of the total force, revived with implementation of the all-volunteer force, is only now coming to fruition. Rice bowls are shattered and barriers are being brought down due to the efforts of leaders in the Active Component, Reserve Component and civilian workforce of the defense establishment.

AUSN members have been at the forefront of this effort. The transition of this organization from a small professional group for Navy Reserve officers to a much larger professional society representing all members of the Navy, active and reserve, officer and enlisted is still, also, a work in progress. Let’s spread the word and let our colleagues know that AUSN represents the total force.