Thank you for this opportunity to present a summary of the Reserve Forces Policy Board's observations and recommendations of the past year. The Board's annual report will present a comprehensive view of key issues and programs, and include a summary of the Board's positions and recommendations on specific issues.
The Board, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, is the principal policy adviser to the Secretary of Defense on matters relating to the Reserve components (10 U.S.C. Section 175(c)). Representatives from each of the Service Secretariats, Active components, and Reserve components serve as members of the Board. The Board offers independent advice and reports on Reserve strengths, readiness, and other critical Reserve component issues.
During 1994, we focused on roles and missions, readiness, accessibility, and peacetime use of Reserve components. Planning for major regional conflicts and operations other than war (such as peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, and domestic disaster relief) became a major thrust of the military community. Missions required integrated Active and Reserve forces to provide adequate responses to the changing world order. Units from this capability-based force can be appropriately mixed and matched to meet any challenge. The resulting force mix is crucial in determining Reserve component capabilities and limitations into the next century.
To respond to post-Cold War risks, dangers, opportunities, and challenges, a vision was developed for the Reserve components. The vision, as accepted by the Secretary of Defense, seeks an integrated total force in which the Reserve components are active participants in facing the full spectrum of new challenges to national security. Reserve components must be capable, accessible, affordable, and relevant.
Development of the vision for the Reserve components establishes the Board as a key partner in the drive to transition Reserve component forces from being ready if called to being available and ready when called.
Accompanying this vision is a model called Task Force Tomorrow, which capitalizes on the use of Reserve component support personnel (including linguists, engineers, and medical assets) in the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (Panama and areas of SOUTHCOM). A minimum staff administers and controls units rotating in and out of the project site. The Board endorsed expanding this concept to support any long term operations that provide a training benefit.
Under direction of the Secretary of Defense, the Board studied the use of Reserve component intelligence assets and identified the following key challenges and barriers that inhibit the enhanced peacetime use of these assets: recruiting and retention, accessibility, full-time manning, bringing the mission to the reservists, end strength, resourcing, lack of centralized management, organizational culture, and lack of jointness. We recommended five actions: (a) establish a Department of Defense-level clearing house for matching requirements to assets; (b) capture unit and personnel capabilities on a data base; (c) provide commanders in chief the flexibility to use existing authorized funds to meet peacetime intelligence requirements using Reserve component assets; (d) focus on operational training opportunities during inactive duty training and annual training; and (e) provide flexibility in the times in which inactive duty training and annual training can be performed. The Secretary of Defense accepted the recommended actions and directed his staff to develop an implementation plan.
In 1994, the Board composition was expanded to include an Active component Marine Corps officer and a representative of the Joint Staff. The congressionally approved Board structure is unique in its representation of the Reserve components in national defense matters.
The Board deliberated several concerns which focused on the need for Reserve component issues to be considered during the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. As a result of the ongoing dialogue with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, several changes occurred that will assure that adequate consideration is given to Reserve component issues. Additionally, the Services initiated actions to ensure that Reserve component concerns are addressed during their phase of the BRAC process.
Numerous high-technology initiatives designed to improve the scope and intensity of training are now in place within the military structure. Existing and future simulation training devices and their applications should be fully used and adequately funded for Reserve components. Department of Defense training facilities and resources should be accessible and available for joint use by both Active and Reserve components.
Accessibility continues to be a major concern for the Reserve components. Early access to Reserve component forces is essential in order to conduct simultaneous contingency operations, support domestic emergencies, and provide international humanitarian support.
Lessons learned from Operation Desert Shield/Storm and the increased use of Reserve personnel assets for subsequent contingencies and missions substantiate the need to become more in tune with the family, employer, and Reservist. When a nation calls on certain citizens to abandon their private lives for an extensive period of time to act on its behalf, that nation should protect and preserve the private lives of those citizens. In that spirit, the Board supports efforts to provide (a) tax incentives for employers of Reservists and Reservists who are self-employed, and (b) mobilization insurance for Reservists who lose income as a result of being placed on active duty.
World events and the post-Cold War period have brought uncertainty, significant change, and transition. Accordingly, the military structure is affected by these events -- personnel downsizing is occurring, funds are shrinking, and equipment resources are lessening. The Active component forces are projected to be smaller. As such, the Reserve components will play a pivotal role in the proper sizing of the military structure during the next several decades.
The Reserve Forces Policy Board's annual report, Reserve Component Programs Fiscal Year 1994, is scheduled for publication in March 1995.
Forwarded to the
Secretary of Defense
/s/ /s/
Terrence M. O'Connell Deborah R. Lee
Chairman Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Reserve Affairs
