Does Army Decisionmaking Process Include Both Active and Reserve Components?

Total Force management involves decisionmaking that makes use of all available manpower components to fill manpower needs. GAO evaluated the Army's decisionmaking process, dealing mainly with recruiting and retention, to see if Total Force policy is being carried out. GAO did not evaluate the decisions themselves, but considered only whether all components were consulted and whether their views were considered in the process.

Some Army actions which showed a commitment to Total Force participation were: (1) the development of an integrated family of automatic data processing systems to support Army strength projections and personnel management data forecasting requirements; (2) the development of the enlisted force management plan as a single management document; (3) the implementation of combined Active Army and Army Reserve recruiting; (4) the development of a single set of enlistment regulations for the Active Army and the Reserve; (5) the decision to expand basic training by 1 week; (6) the cross training of National Guard officers with the Army; (7) the presentation of management data in a Total Force format; (8) the counseling of Active Army soldiers by in-service Reserve and Guard recruiters about Reserve and Guard service opportunities; (9) the offering of an opportunity to prospective enlistees to be in the Guard while pursuing a Reserve Officers' Training Corps commission; and (10) the development of a program which is designed to improve the operational readiness of Guard and Reserve units that will be required to support a mobilization.