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| | **Commission to Examine Use, Funding of Reserve Components**     |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | By Jim Garamone\                                                 |  |
| | American Forces Press Service                                    |  |
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| | WASHINGTON, March 6, 2006 -- A congressionally appointed         |  |
| | commission will commence the most comprehensive review of the    |  |
| | National Guard and reserves in history.                          |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro chairs the 13-member      |  |
| | commission.                                                      |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | The reserve components have played an increasingly important     |  |
| | part in the global war on terror, Punaro said during an          |  |
| | interview. Congress formed the commission on the National Guard  |  |
| | and Reserves as part of the 2005 National Defense Authorization  |  |
| | Act.                                                             |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Punaro said Congress felt an independent group needed \"to take  |  |
| | a more fundamental look at how the reserves are organized,       |  |
| | trained and equipped.\" In addition, the commission will look at |  |
| | future threats and requirements to combat those dangers.         |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Nothing concerning the reserves is out of the scope of the       |  |
| | commission, Punaro said. The group will look at laws governing   |  |
| | the reserve components, and key issues include roles and         |  |
| | missions of reserve forces, capabilities, reserve component      |  |
| | organization and structure, readiness, compensation, and         |  |
| | benefits and funding. The commission will also examine the       |  |
| | relationship between the active and reserve components.          |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | The commission stood up March 1 and must draft an interim report |  |
| | in 90 days. The commission will deliver a final report to        |  |
| | Congress and the defense secretary in one year.                  |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Use of the National Guard is a particular concern today, Punaro  |  |
| | said. National Guardsmen are increasingly serving overseas but   |  |
| | are also the troops that governors rely upon to handle natural   |  |
| | or manmade disasters in the United States. National Guardsmen    |  |
| | from around the country, for example, converged on the Gulf      |  |
| | Coast to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. \"The       |  |
| | governors and state and local officials are a critical part of   |  |
| | this review,\" Punaro said.                                      |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Reserve-component troops are \"forward deployed\" in communities |  |
| | all over the United States, Punaro said, meaning they are        |  |
| | already in the areas where they could be needed. In many cases,  |  |
| | these servicemembers are the police, firefighters and emergency  |  |
| | medical technicians in their civilian lives, he noted.           |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Punaro said he already has met with governors who are worried    |  |
| | about the availability of National Guardsmen in the event of a   |  |
| | natural or man-made disaster.                                    |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | He said the commission\'s biggest challenge will be to \"think   |  |
| | smarter, not richer.\" The answer to every question on the       |  |
| | reserves cannot be tied to funding, he said. \"We can\'t have a  |  |
| | National Military Strategy that\'s simply an adding machine,\"   |  |
| | he said. \"We can\'t just solve every problem in the Guard and   |  |
| | reserves by just throwing more money at them.\"                  |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | He also said the commission will be mindful that                 |  |
| | reserve-component personnel are not full-time. \"They are        |  |
| | organized trained and equipped to respond to emergencies, to be  |  |
| | able to serve alongside their active duty counterparts,\" he     |  |
| | said. \"If they wanted to be on active duty 365 days out of the  |  |
| | year for 10 years in a row, they would be serving in the         |  |
| | active-duty military, they wouldn\'t be in the reserves.\"       |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | He said the commission will work to ensure reserve-component     |  |
| | troops are informed about what the commission is doing on their  |  |
| | behalf.                                                          |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | The commission is, in part, a response to the changing nature of |  |
| | reserve-component duty. DoD officials today consider the         |  |
| | reserves an \"operational reserve,\" as opposed to the Cold      |  |
| | War\'s \"strategic reserve,\" when the reserves would be called  |  |
| | up only in the direst circumstances, Punaro said.                |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | Today, the reserves are an integral part of the operational      |  |
| | force. Already more than 500,000 reserve-component personnel     |  |
| | have served in the global war on terror. Studying this change    |  |
| | and the ramifications for reservists and their families is at    |  |
| | the heart of the commission\'s mission, Punaro said.             |  |
| |                                                                  |  |
| | He vowed that the commission\'s recommendations will not lie     |  |
| | gathering dust on some bookshelf. \"We will follow up,\" he      |  |
| | said. \"We\'re going to prepare our recommendations for          |  |
| | implementation the day we report them. We\'re going to prepare   |  |
| | the legislation, and all somebody has to do is take it down to   |  |
| | the Senate floor and introduce it.\"                             |  |
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