Eliminate the Army and Air Force Reserves: Building a Robust National Guard to Meet 21st Century Operational Challenges

Abstract

Continuing evolution of the United States reserve military forces contributes to a secure nation. The Army and Air Force are unique, each maintaining dual reserves, an Army National Guard and Army Reserve, and the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, respectively. With sequestration and dwindling budgets, it is imperative the Department of Defense reassess force structure and identify efficiencies. The causative factors for the creation and maintenance of dual reserve components within a Service no longer exist. Emphasis on homeland security missions and the recent empowerment of the National Guard have set the conditions for continued reserve component evolution. This paper recommends dissolving the Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve and merging their personnel and assets into the National Guard to achieve enhanced homeland defense capabilities with no additional expenditures or degradation of federal accessibility to reserve forces.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 04, 2016
Accession Number
AD1017750

Entities

People

  • Eric D. Mcelwain

Organizations

  • Joint Forces Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Congress
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Law
  • Military Force Levels
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • National Governments
  • National Guard
  • National Security
  • Public Administration
  • United States Northern Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Economics
  • Environmental Remediation and Restoration.
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.