Official urges balanced treatment for reserve components

0 Comments | US Air Force Press Releases, Apr 01, 2004 | by Doug Sample

4/1/2004 - WASHINGTON (AFPN)  -- With Reserve and National Guard forces now critical elements in the war on terrorism, the Defense Department's senior reserve affairs adviser told a Senate subcommittee here March 31 that the country must do more to care for them and their families.

Thomas F. Hall, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, addressed separate sessions of the Senate personnel subcommittee and the House total force subcommittee. He provided the reserve affairs fiscal 2005 posture statement and detailed the department's budget request.

"While we ask our people to do more, we must never lose sight of the need to balance their commitment to country with their commitment to family and to their civilian employer," Mr. Hall said. "That is why rebalancing of the force is so critical, the continuum of service is so crucial, and relieving the stress on the force is absolutely essential."

He said that although "morale is high" among reservists and guardsmen, increased mobilizations, longer deployments and the war on terrorism are affecting the force.

"We are in the midst of one of the longest periods of mobilization in our history," Mr. Hall told the lawmakers. "However, one certainty remains: That when called upon, the men and women of the National Guard and Reserve will respond promptly and perform their duty."

Reserve components perform 46 percent of military operations, ranging from homeland defense and the global war on terrorism to peacekeeping, humanitarian relief, small-scale contingencies and major crises, he said. And the balance of capabilities in the active and Reserve components is "not the best for the future.

"There is a need for rebalancing to improve the responsiveness of the force and to help ease stress on units and individuals with skills in high demand," he said. "Repeated mobilizations are not a major problem -- yet."

Mr. Hall said that for DOD to assure its allies, dissuade military competition, deter threats against U.S. interests and decisively defeat adversaries, it must maintain integrated capabilities of the "total force."

"Only a well-balanced, seamlessly integrated military force is capable of dominating opponents across the full range of military operations," he said.

Mr. Hall said that from Sept. 11, 2001 to December 2003, 319,193 reserve component members were mobilized for duty in the war on terrorism. He said that as of Dec. 31, 181,459 were on active duty.

"They are providing a very broad range of capabilities, from special operations and civil affairs to personnel and finance support," he said.

Tour lengths for reserve components have increased for every operation since operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the early 1990s, when tour lengths averaged 156 days, Mr. Hall said. For operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Southwest Asia, that average was about 200 days, and current contingency operations have averaged about 320 days, he said.

However, Mr. Hall said DOD officials are monitoring high-demand reserve components closely and identifying actions to reduce that demand. Increasing international-military participation in Iraq, developing Iraqi capacity to conduct police and security tasks, and increasing actionable intelligence to disrupt threats to stability in Iraq are among the steps being taken, he said.

Other options call for rebalancing the active- and reserve-force mix and capabilities, and identifying 100,000 positions for possible restructuring over the next several years, Mr. Hall said. Pentagon officials hope to convert more than 300,000 military positions into civilian slots, he said.

"All these actions are high priorities for the department, since they will provide greater stability and predictability for reservists, their families and employers, and will optimize the forces available over what is anticipated to be a long war," he said.

The assistant secretary also spoke on the need for better compensation for reservists and guardsmen and their families.

"The compensation system must be equitable to support the current employment of the reserve force, and it must be flexible enough to respond to any emerging or future trends that result from the increased use of the Guard and Reserve," he said.

"We strongly believe that pay and benefits must be focused on those members who are bearing the burden of mobilization and deployment," he said, "and that the department must have the tools to respond quickly and decisively with a compensation and benefits package that supports our mobilized and deployed troops."

Mr. Hall vowed the department would continue to address areas of the compensation system that work against reservists, such as differences in housing allowances, which are generally lower for reservists on active duty for less than 140 days.

"The bottom line is that we must compensate our Guard and Reserve members fairly, ensuring comparability -- that is, equal pay for equal work -- for those who are currently sustaining the burdens of reserve service," he said.