WASHINGTON - The Department of Defense announced Thursday that Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro has been appointed chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board.
He is the first person to hold the chair under the revised functions and structure established by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011.
Punaro is a member of the Defense Business Board and is currently chairing a DBB task force on reforming the DoD requirements process.
He is a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.,
and also serves on the non-profit boards of the Atlantic Council, the National Defense Industrial Association.
Punaro is the chairman of the board for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and has chaired the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves established by Congress. The commission submitted three reports and completed their work in April, 2008 with most of their recommendations largely adopted by DoD and the Congress.
First established in 1951, the RFPB, through the assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, is a principal policy advisory body to the secretary of defense on matters relating to the reserve components.
The board acts independently to monitor, review and evaluate proposals, actions and situations impacting the National Guard and Reserve forces and reports annually to the President and Congress.