Efficiency of Reserve and Guard Training Has Improved Since 1974, but More Can Be Done

To assure a swift transition in case of war or national emergency, modern military strategy depends on the Selected Reserves to quickly augment the Active Forces with skilled reservists. The ability of the Selected Reserves to perform is questionable because of critical manpower weaknesses, two of which are the shortage of qualified people and high turnover rates. The use of training time directly affects Reserves' qualifications, personnel shortages, high turnover rates, and readiness. The review of Reserve training was based mostly on questionnaires mailed to reservists and unit commanders, and the results were compared to those of a 1974 review.

Until the Department of Defense makes substantive changes in how training time is spent, it is unlikely that conditions will improve. Although skills and opportunities for mission training in official jobs vary widely among units and members, nearly all reservists are required to attend the same number of drill sessions and active duty each year. However, since the 1974 review, idleness has decreased from 22 percent of drill time to 11 percent. The survey indicates that the more time reservists spend training or working in their official jobs, the more satisfied they are with the drill and active-duty training programs. In the current study, 79 percent of the unit commanders said their members needed more training, as opposed to 47 percent in 1974. One way to provide the needed training is to assign more of the responsibility for it to the Active Forces. Another way training could be improved is to increase the length of active duty and reduce the length of drill time. Any new approach must offer enough incentives for reservists to become fully qualified to perform their official jobs.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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