An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | March 8, 2012

Active-duty downsizing should benefit Reserve forces

By Lisa Daniel American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON - A policy board plans to ask Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to highlight service in the reserve forces as a good option for outgoing active duty members during downsizing.

In its first official action with broader membership and a direct line to the secretary, the Reserve Forces Policy Board yesterday agreed to send eight recommendations to Panetta to encourage National Guard and Reserve service for people leaving active duty. The fiscal 2013 defense budget request calls for the military to reduce its end strength by 5.5 percent in the next five years.

Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro, who chairs the board, said a force reduction letter the secretary sent to the services last month included 12 objectives in the drawdown, but did not mention the National Guard and reserves.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Anita Gallentine, a reserve mobilization augmentee who heads the board's continuum of service subcommittee, said the Defense Department should learn from past drawdown mistakes that discouraged active duty members from joining the reserve components.

In the post-Cold War drawdown, she said, programs helped service members become civilian teachers and police officers and offered bonuses for troops to leave active duty, but they had to pay the bonuses back if they entered the Guard and reserves.

Gallentine noted that the reserve forces now are more of an operational force than their traditional status as a strategic reserve, and other members of the 20-member board spoke of the need to preserve those operational capabilities and training investments.

She said the military pay and personnel system does not allow for an easy transition into the reserve forces, and noted that many benefits are not portable. Past efforts in the Defense Department to improve continuum of service have "buckled under their own weight."

"We believe that there is a lot of work that needs to be done in those over-arching areas," Gallentine said, adding that reserve centers should offer more widespread support for reservists, modeled after active-duty deployment centers.

The board also agreed to send these recommendations to the secretary regarding homeland defense:

  • Policy changes to accelerate the use of Guard and reserve forces to respond to disasters;
  • Guidance that training exercises can be used to support disaster relief and other missions, such as when the National Guard pre-positioned forces leading up to Hurricane Irene in 2010;
  • Guidance that will allow state leaders better predictability for calling up forces under Title 32, which has been used 13 times in the past nine years;
  • Increase from 75 to 90 percent the amount the Federal Emergency Management Agency would reimburse states for National Guard disaster relief operations;
  • Give consistency to protections and benefits states give National Guard members.

Also, the board requested that Congress change the law on the Defense Department's disaster reimbursement fund for states to stipulate it is for domestic use only. "If we don't limit it to domestic use, it becomes a State Department get-well fund," he said.

 

 

Related Articles
Staff Sgt. Daniel Jarillo-Gutierrez, an information technology specialist assigned to Joint Force Headquarters with the Kentucky Army National Guard participates in exercise Cyber Shield 2025 with Ecuadorian state partners in Virginia Beach, Virginia, June 4, 2025. Jarillo-Gutierrez is a native Spanish speaker, and he has participated in several cyber exercises across the United States as well as South America. He works closely with Kentucky's state partner, Ecuador, during major training events.
Kentucky Guardsman Interprets Native Language, Cyber Skills
By Staff Sgt. Jasmine McCarthy, | June 13, 2025
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – From Juarez, Mexico, to the Kentucky Army National Guard, Staff Sgt. Daniel Jarillo-Gutierrez, an information technology specialist, can translate into three languages: English, Spanish and...

Mississippi Army National Guard Soldiers in-process at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, June 12, 2025, ahead of the Army’s 250th Birthday celebrations. Guard members are providing critical security support and taking part in events honoring the Army’s 250 years of service.
National Guard Prepared to Support Army’s 250th Birthday
By Sgt. 1st Class Christy Sherman, | June 13, 2025
FORT BELVOIR, Va. — ­More than 600 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have arrived at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in preparation for their role in the Army’s 250th birthday celebration and parade, set to take place Saturday in...

Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers of the 200th Military Police Company, 115th Military Police Battalion, and members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Light Infantry Battlegroup conduct reconnaissance and convoy situational training with oppositional forces during Immediate Response–DEFENDER 25, near the Red Land Training Area, Knin, Croatia, June 1, 2025. Immediate Response 25 is a U.S. Army large-scale exercise enhancing NATO integration through state partnership readiness programs, such as between the Maryland National Guard and Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to further equip NATO’s regional plans and uphold U.S. commitments to the Alliance.
Maryland Guard, Croatia Support Immediate Response 25
By Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover, | June 13, 2025
KNIN, Croatia – More than 100 Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers trained with the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) to support NATO’s large-scale exercise Immediate Response 25 at the Red Land Training Area in...