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the active forces and two in the reserves): (1) a

Mechanized Division. Even after intensive

small number of truly ready active forces,

training at the Army's Training Center, the

often elite units such as Marines or para-

unit was deemed unready. The National

troopers; (2) the "other" active forces in vari-

Guard brigadier general was fired and an

ous stages of readiness; and (3) those active

active-duty unit was substituted for the 48th

forces in overhaul, such as ships in shipyards.

Division. There is some belief (especially on

Most countries have both (4) ready reserve

the part of National Guard observers) that

units and (5) inactive reserve units. The ready

with just a little more time the 48th might

reserve units are usually those assigned to

have been brought up to standard.37

specific units, such as reserve battalions and

Whatever the true answer, the episode has

air squadrons. Very few countries have main-

actually served a useful purpose. The

tained large standing forces; most have

Pentagon is now responding with some new

instead relied on the reserves for real emer-

programs and initiatives to make the Total

gencies. With few exceptions, reserve forces

Force a ready one.

are simply mirror images of active forces and

are designed to supplement the active force.

Increasing Readiness of

In the United States that mirror imaging

Reserves: Toward a "Seamless

The real problem

changed in 1973 with the introduction of the

Total Force"

in the post­Cold

Total Force. That change was originally made

for political, not military, reasons. One of the

The real problem in the post­Cold War

War world is not

many lessons the military learned in Vietnam

world is not maintaining the readiness of the

maintaining the

was, "Don't go to war unless the people are

active forces but maintaining the readiness of

readiness of the

the reserve forces.38 And, while the 48th

behind you." That lesson led to the Total

Force concept of fully integrating regular and

Division incident during Desert Storm

active forces but

reserve forces. Thus reserve forces had to be

caused some bad feelings between the

maintaining the

called up for any major war. The integration

National Guard and the regular Army, that

readiness of the

of active and reserve forces was done in two

animosity has not stopped further integra-

ways. First, most Army divisions now have

tion of the regulars and reserves. A major step

reserve forces.

reserve "round-out" brigades. Second, com-

was taken by Secretary of Defense William S.

plete functions are in the reserves. All three

Cohen in a September 4, 1997, memoran-

Army chemical brigades, for example, are

dum calling for a "Seamless Total Force." In

now in the Army Reserve. The Navy has all of

that memorandum, sent to the civilian and

its air cargo logistics support squadrons and

military leadership of the Department of

over half of its mine countermeasures force

Defense, the secretary called for the leader-

in the reserves. All of the Air Force's A-10

ship "to eliminate all residual barriers--struc-

Thunderbolt tank-killers for close air sup-

tural and cultural--to effective integration of

port are in the reserves, as are all of its strate-

the Reserve and Active components into a

gic interceptor aircraft. All told, from 25 to

`seamless Total Force.'" Readiness was a big

100 percent of each of 45 important Army

part of that proposal. In that memo,

functions--from armored divisions to public

Secretary Cohen defined "integration" as the

engineering units--are manned by either

Army Reserve or National Guard units.36

conditions of readiness and trust

needed for the leadership of all levels

In general, since the Total Force went into

to have well-justified confidence that

effect in 1973, reserve units that have been

Reserve component units are trained

called up have performed well. The most

and equipped to serve as an effective

infamous exception was the Georgia

part of the joint and combined forces

National Guard's 48th Infantry Division

within whatever time-lines are set for

(mechanized), which was called up for Desert

the unit--in peace and war.39

Storm to "round out" the Army's 24th

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