I Thought the National Guard Was a Reserve Force

While drafting my Counterinsurgency 103 I was sidetracked by (among other things) “No Longer in Reserves” by William Mathews in the August issue of Military Officer, as house magazine for the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). The article starts with the experience of 1^st Sgt. Randy Hatch who will be deployed for 22 or 23 months depending on when he actually returns stateside.

Sgt. Hatch was angry but mostly because his unit was being extended in country again. He sent a 4 a.m. email to President Bush, saying, “You’ll never get our soldiers back once we finally get them home.” That concerns me. As I’ve stated before, our new kind of Army and Marines depend on recruiting and retaining the highest caliber of men and women. If they do leave and convince their neighbors not to join, then we will have a problem.

Senior officers in the Guard and Reserves have complained about a rotation schedule that promised two years at home, but now is allowing less than one year at home. They also gripe about the shortage of equipment (average down to about 44% desired inventory when around 76% is normal) and they say there is not enough time to properly train for combat operations.

But DOD claims enlistments are ok, even though they’ve dropped their standards. I couldn’t find any firm or recent figures on retention. The media prints a sad picture, but again, no hard figures are shown. I’m not convinced the problem is real, at least for now.

In the article everyone seems to agree that these rotation schedules are hardest on the families. Civilians may not grasp the extent of these hardships. It’s not just that the service member is gone and in real danger for two years. There is also the loss of income (Plus, the Pentagon also stopped paying the $1,000/month to Guard members involuntary deployed.), but there is also the support that regular Army and Marines get and the Guard doesn’t. That includes lower priced groceries at commissaries, medical and dental care, and a host of other needs. While these benefits are available to Guard families if they live near a base that has those facilities, most families are hours away from bases.

The article also presents the other side of the coin. Many in the Guard joined to be part of the action. Others who have not been in the combat zone actually want to go. If I remember back to my combat zone days, those who are trained for actually want an opportunity to put that training to use. Col. Richard Curry, commander of the 37^th BCT Ohio, said, “A lot of young people are looking at what’s going on and want to have that experience.” It seems our troops are handling these unfair rotations for now.

The Reserves and Guard were originally planned to serve as a deployable force in the event of a major war or major threat to the United States. This idea went out the window with the all-volunteer force. The all-volunteer was conceived as a reduced force and that it would be regularly expanded by Reserve and Guard units. Over the last several years, the Army Reserve and Guard have supplied around 45% of the total Army force. I read somewhere that the percentange in now 52%. Since the Reserves and Guard have daytime jobs, they were promised a minimum of two years at home. Not any more.

It seems the White House is already playing down Gen. Petraeus’ September briefing and intends to “stay the course” regardless of any advice he might get from those military commanders that he trusts so much. The Democrats have already reacted to his briefing even though he hasn’t given it yet. It’s times like this that remind me why I retired from the Navy soon after Vietnam. I would never have made a good admiral – don’t like being a political football.

But the thing that troubles me most is the lack of equipment for the Reserves and Guard. I’ve supported the DAV and similar organizations for years but I’ve recently tried to add support to agencies that help troops in the combat zone and their families. During my internet search I read quite a few troop emails requesting goodies, toiletry kits and the like. The requests didn’t end with the usual niceties not available in combat zones. I was appalled by the number of requests for body armor, and weapons – even M16s. What kind of government sends our troops into combat without weapons, body armor, and Humvee armor?

The Soviet Union sent troops into battle without weapons during the counteroffensives at the battle of Stalingrad. They knew that those recruits would soon pick up weapons from their fallen comrades. We can do better. A country which can afford tax cuts to the rich can certainly afford to equip its troops.

If anyone else out there wants to support the troops with more than yellow ribbons, check out the “Support Our Troops” links on the right. There are many sites like the ones I’ve listed but, for some reason, I liked these better. America Supports You is a good place to start and has links to lots of organizations. AnySoldier lets you either donate a dollar amount or pick some packages that are sent directly to troops that you can specify from a list of names. Note than none of these sites, for privacy reasons, allow direct, initial contact with troops. You can send a brief message and your email address. The soldier, Marine, airman, or sailor can then begin a conversation, if they wish and they usually do wish. I also like the Fisher House Foundation which provides family lodging near hospitals treating wounded soldiers and Marines. My wife and family sacrificed during my career and the Fisher House supports those families during a sacrifice that is far greater than mine was.

I am reminded of that famous statement by Winston Churchill about the RAF: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” With only about 0.4% of our population under arms, our troops qualify as the few. We owe them and, if you wish to support our troops while they are serving, please check out some of these web sights.