Officer Staffing in Reserve Infantry Battalions
Abstract
"Companies were great, battalions were marginal, and regiments were useless" declared Lieutenant General Boomer, Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Commander during Operation Desert Storm, on his evaluation of the Selected Marine Corps Reserve's (SMCR) performance. The SMCR infantry is modeled after an active duty infantry division in its table of organization. Successes at company and below levels and marginal performances at battalion and higher levels indicate a problem that continues to haunt the Marine Corps today. SMCR infantry units are not properly staffed at the officer level, but they need to be if they are expected to perform the same missions as active duty units. This lack of qualified infantry officers in each reserve infantry battalion has cost lives in Iraq and the Marine Corps has merely plugged the hole in the dyke with its finger. The current solution has worked to the extent of providing qualified active duty officers to deploy with SMCR battalions and has helped reduce casualties. However, the long-term effects of pulling officers from their active duty units on the individual officers, active duty units, and reserve units is not clearly known. A long-term solution is needed that ensures that reserve infantry battalions will be ready to augment the active duty forces, without having to scramble for leadership prior to deployment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 19, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA510301
Entities
People
- D. C. Nielsen
Organizations
- Marine Corps University