Restructuring the Army: The Road to a Total Force
Abstract
The U.S. Army has long accorded the Army National Guard the preponderance of reserve force combat structure. In the aftermath of the cold war, the author questions the continuation of this practice. He suggests instead, in lieu of any current overwhelming threat and with a demonstrated lack of desire by senior military or political leaders to commit Reserve Component (RC) combat forces too quickly, that the RC in general, and the National Guard specifically, be relied on to do what they have demonstrated they do best: Support. To accomplish this, he recommends the majority of current reserve combat units, particularly the Separate Brigades, be converted to Combat Support or Combat Service Support (CS/CSS) structure; in fact, more CS/CSS structure than doctrine would call for based on the number of combat units. The advantage of doing this would be to allow the Army not only to remain focused on its combat mission, but also to accomplish its emerging peacetime missions as well. Additionally, by having the more difficult parts requiring extensive training already in place, such a restructuring would allow the Army to be more readily expansible in the future, if the need arises.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 21, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA248113
Entities
People
- Philip A. Brehm
Organizations
- United States Army War College