Role of the Reserve Component in Transformation and Its Effects on Active Component/Reserve Component Integration

摘要

The Reserve Component (RC) has played an integral role in the Army's cold war strategy and can be expected to continue playing a vital role as the Army's transformation campaign moves forward. With the theme of transformation centered on the concept of a lighter and more mobile force, we will see radical departures from the old ways of doing business. This has significant implications not just for combat forces, but also for support elements, which are heavily concentrated in the RC. In this paper I will first explore the impact of Army Transformation on the RC, examining its implications from both a combat and support perspective. I propose to begin this examination by analyzing the RC combat force, which is concentrated in the Army National Guard (ARNG), focusing on its current missions and structure. Particular attention will be given to Guard's potential role as a Homeland Defense force and the need to adjust its structure to support this role. Then, I will examine the Army's strategy for reducing support in the baftle- space (footprint reduction), with emphasis on the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR). I will determine the extent to which these efforts have moved forward and whether the USAR will have to redefine itself (given its large support structure) in a reduced support in environment. Next, I will examine transformation and current force capabilities. There is a need for the Army to maintain current force capabilities while transforming by recapitalizing existing equipment throughout the total force. Finally, transformation holds the potential to derail current integration efforts as the Army becomes disparate in its capabilities with the entry of interim and objective units into the force. Current fielding plans reflect legacy forces being concentrated in the RC and Interim and objective forces concentrated in the AC during the mid to later stages of transformation.