Operation Desert Shield/Storm
Use of Navy and Marine Corps Reserves Gao ID: NSIAD-91-244 June 14, 1991Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on the number and use of Navy and Marine Corps reservists activated for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
GAO found that: (1) the Navy activated 21,109 reservists, or 17 percent of the Navy reservists available for call-up, and the Marine Corps activated 25,710 reservists, or 61 percent of the reservists available from the Select Reserve; (2) the Navy called up reservists primarily for their individual skills within such mission areas as medicine, intelligence, and logistics; (3) medical reservists accounted for about half of the Navy reservists activated, since the Navy provided 50 to 75 percent of all medical beds in support of the Central Command; (4) the Marine Corps primarily called up reservists by unit and integrated them with deployed active forces in southwest Asia; and (5) the Navy and Marine Corps activated reservists after the cease-fire to provide logistical support in the redeployment of personnel and equipment to the United States.