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145026 1 (1991-01-01)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacwgm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Carol R. Schuster & Charles J. Bonanno RESERVES AND READINESS: APPRAISING THE TOTAL FORCE POLICY Relying on the reserves makes good sense. But the Army has yet to bring practice in line with principles. O PERATION DESERT STORM did a lot to im- prove the image of the American citizen soldier. Large numbers of reserve forces from all the military services-more than 225,000 individuals in all-left their families, communi- ties, and regular jobs to serve their country in a far- away desert. Their fellow citizens, watching by television back home, saw these reservists pet- forming in many different capacities with obvious dedication and professionalism. Such scenes might not have occurred but for something called the Total Force Policy. Adopted by the Department of Defense (DOD) in 1973, in the aftermath of Vietnam, this policy's primary ob- jective has been to maintain as small an active peacetime force as possible by placing greater reli- ance on reserve forces. Not only are reserve forces less expensive to maintain, but the need for their participation in any major conflict was seen as a way of ensuring more widespread support among the American people once a war was under wa%. CAROL R. SCHUSTER and CHARLES J. RONANNO are Assistant Directors in the Army Issues Area of GAO's National Security and International Affair Division. This strategy seems to have worked as intended during the recent Persian Gulf conflict: Reservists from so many walks of life were called to serve that a large number of Americans had a personal stake in the war. At the same time, however, the Total Force Pol- icy has recently come under vigorous debate. For one thing, separating average citizens from their everyday lives raised enough problems-care for the children of military couples; financial hard- ships imposed on some families accustomed to much larger incomes; the stripping of police, fire, and medical protection from small communities- that some have begun to doubt that the Total Force Policy is a wise approach. More importantly, ques- tions about the policy have been raised by the Ar- my's apparent reluctance to call on its combat reserves to serve in the Gulf. While all the services have increasingly relied on reserves under the Total Force Policy, the poli- cy's impact has been most dramatic in the Army: Today, members of the Army Reserve and the Na- tional Guard make up 52 percent of all Arm% per- sonnel, including half of the Army's combat troops and about two-thirds of its support forces. Never- theless, almost all of the 146,409 Army resern ists called to active duty during the recent contik t 24 THE C-A-O JOURNAL /9-- -%I1J I - Today, members of the Army Reserve and the National Guard make up 52 percent of all Army personnel. including half of the Army's combat troops and about two-thirds of its support forces.

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