Restructuring Military Faces a Bumpy Road NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition

• Published in: Newsday
• Main Author: Janine Davidson. Janine Davidson is a research fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former Air Force pilot. This is from The Washington Post
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Long Island, N.Y Newsday LLC 24.11.2003
• Edition: Combined editions
• Subjects: Rumsfeld, Donald H

Unquestionably, Guard and reserves forces, as well as their employers and families, are feeling the strain from multiple deployments. Faced with significant drops in recruitment and retention of personnel, the Pentagon is beginning to question whether this post-Vietnam system is appropriate for the commitments of the 21st century. [Donald Rumsfeld] has specifically directed the military to reduce its reliance on reserve forces in two areas: those required in the early part of an operation and those most suited to peacekeeping. Unfortunately, many proposals aimed at limiting the use of the reserves risk undermining the strengths of the Total Force. The answer is not, however, to destroy the current system by replacing reserve forces with civilian contractors or by shifting the entire burden to the active force. Both options yield a military less reliant on citizen-soldiers and more detached from the various layers of our diverse society. A military force without reserves is also more easily deployed abroad, logistically and politically. Thus, Rumsfeld's proposal to limit reserve troops early in a campaign would effectively reduce political oversight on the use of force. Given the intent of the Total Force, we should question the implications of this choice.