Reserves must become central to planning defense

The Heritage Foundation ^ | April 18, 2005 | James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

[mike6181]

The Army Reserves and the Abrams Doctrine: 

Unfulfilled Promise, Uncertain Future

by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
Heritage Lecture #869

April 18, 2005 (EXCERPTED)

Sustaining a doctrine of doubtful worth and little promise for the future should not be high on the list of the Pentagon's priorities. Junking the policies justified by the Total Force Concept and the Abrams Doctrine may be a prerequisite for rethinking how the Reserves are organized, employed, and resourced. The idea that force structure should serve as some kind of presidential tripwire for the use of power should be abandoned, in part because of its dubious utility but primarily because it has resulted in retaining inefficient and under-resourced force structures.

A suitable replacement for the Total Force Concept would have to achieve three critical objectives.

Future Army investments must balance needs to sustain a trained and ready force, modernization, and current operations, ensuring that the Army does not again become a hollow force.

Reserve Component policies and programs must be revamped and resourced to increase the capacity of citizen soldiers to respond rapidly to the wide range of emerging missions.

Defense leaders--civilian, Active, and Re-serve--must abandon their commitment to traditional policies and force structures that had the virtue of preserving the status quo but limited the value of Reserve forces to adapting to future needs. 
Perhaps most of all, the military requires a new doctrine--a doctrine where Reserve preparedness is no longer an afterthought. If it wishes, the Pentagon could call this new policy the Abrams Doctrine. That would be a fitting tribute to a great American and fulfill the general's intent: building an Army where Active troops and citizen soldiers shared the risks and responsibilities of serving the nation.

[mike6181]

When evaluating BRAC or any other item pertaining to force structure, we would do well to not focus on yesterday's battles.

Among them is fast becoming the war on terror. We, by God's grace, are and will continue to win it. The war we must plan for is 10 years away. Hello, China?

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

I don't see China being a major threat, or even an intact nation, in ten years--but I do see them becoming a major PITA. What's Chinese for "Fort Sumter?"

[68skylark]

I'm a reservist and I'd really like to read this article. We definitely need new ideas about the ways that reserve forces are trained and organized. But the link seems to be bad.

[68skylark]

I think the correct link is here.

[Tallguy]

I don't see China being a major threat, or even an intact nation, in ten years--but I do see them becoming a major PITA.

I'm with you on this one. The centrifugal forces in China are going to drive it apart. Of course, this makes them very dangerous in the near-term.

[TomasUSMC]

From Fox: This month The National Guard and Reserve suffered more combat deaths in Iraq during the first 10 days of August — at least 32, according to a Pentagon (search) count — than in any full month of the entire war.

The previous highest monthly killed-in-action total for the Guard and Reserve was 27 in May, when there were also four non-combat deaths. In August 2004, there were six Guard and Reserve combat deaths and eight total.

The increasing death toll among reserve forces in recent months reflects, at least in part, their more prominent role in Iraq. They represent about half of all U.S. combat forces there, or double the share in early 2004.

========== There is something wrong when HALF OUR FORCES ARE RESERVES.

We are trying to fight a war of attrition without the draft, and its not working. What we don't hear in the media is that the numbers are not 1800 but close to 20 THOUSAND. YES, thats right, over 20000 have been evacuated from Iraq. We are not talking R&R here. We are not talking rotation.

Kia, Wia and Disease.
www.globalsecurity.org

We are fighting this with bullet magnet patrols and allowing enemy sanctuaries. Vietnam Redux

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[TomasUSMC]

The centrifugal forces in China are going to drive it apart

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What centrifugal forces do you guys mean?