The 2002 Defense Authorization Act requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the Defense Department’s efforts in counterterrorism and homeland security. The report is due to be released this month. A particular area of Congressional interest is the future use of the Reserve Component.1 Stretching back to their roots as colonial militias, America’s citizen-soldiers have historically played a key part in protecting the homeland. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, many expect the role of the Reserves to be greatly expanded. Several major studies have already called for homeland security to become the Reserve Component’s primary mission.2 Will the Department of Defense heed their call? The department is not approaching the issue with a blank sheet of paper. The 1999 Reserve Component Employment 2005 Study (RCE-05), the Defense Department’s most detailed, wide-ranging analysis of the Reserves’ potential contributions to homeland security, reveals what has been done so far and why the prospects for further change are not bright.

RCE-05 failed to achieve major reform, principally due to three barriers. The report did not:

 

  • make a compelling case for unique missions requiring specially organized and dedicated homeland security forces;
  • ameliorate anxiety that dedicating troops to homeland security would detract from warfighting missions; or
  • address concerns over the adequacy of resources for supporting homeland security tasks.

The Reserve Component played a prominent role in the response to 9/11, but there are few signs this effort will radically change the Defense Department’s approach to homeland security. Determining the best future use of the Reserves requires addressing the three major issues that hamstrung the efforts of RCE-05 and will also likely stifle future initiatives.

The Story Behind RCE-05
The Reserve Component represents 47 percent of the nation’s available military forces and consumes approximately 8.3 percent of the annual national defense budget. It consists of the Army and Air National Guard and the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force Reserves, totaling over 1,200,000 men and women.3 The National Guard of each state or territory is commanded by its governor. Governors can assign state missions as allowed by state constitutions and statutes. Individuals or units are called into federal service under either Title 32 or Title 10 of the U.S. Code. Title 32 covers federally funded, non-federal duty status, which includes periodic training periods and participation in Congressionally directed domestic programs such as drug interdiction. Under Title 10, Guard forces perform federal duty under the command of the President. Reserves are federal troops whose sole mission is to augment and reinforce active duty forces.

Most Reserve Component personnel spend only a limited amount of time performing military duties. The majority of units assemble one weekend per month and two weeks per year for training. Some Reserve members are called up to serve for several weeks or months. A few remain on active duty fulltime (often called fulltime manning), normally to provide support to Reserve forces. At the end of fiscal year (FY) 2001 the “active reserve” accounted for 866,000 personnel, or 72 percent of the Reserve Component. The rest do no periodic service or training and are often referred to as the “inactive reserve.”4 Limited service makes the citizen-soldier, a tradition derived from the earliest colonial militias, still possible. Individuals can balance their military commitments with civilian employment while allowing the military to rapidly expand its capabilities in times of crisis.