Are We Really Serious? A Critical Assessment of Manpower Policies in the Army Reserve Forces]

The thrust of the speech is to critically analyze the current state of affairs of the Army Reserve Forces in relation to ongoing and planned improvements. There are various weaknesses in the posture of the Reserves such as the official reporting system of the National Guard (NG) and the Reserves appears to be over-stating strength; the Army Guard and the Reserves are over-reporting their on-board strength; 34,000 Guardsman and 15,800 Reservists missed half or more of their drills in the first half of 1979; and the program to screen men being released from active duty or duty with the NG or Reserves and transferring them to the Individual Ready Reserves needs improvement. National defense would be best served by a more serious commitment on the part of the Army and the Department of Defense to the resolution of the many Army Reserve manpower problems. Failing this, the Army must make the best use of the available reources and the formalization of a cadre policy for the majority of the NG and Reserves.