United States General Accounting Office

GAO Report to Congressional Requesters

April 1996 PEACE OPERATIONS

Reservists Have

Volunteered When

Needed

GAO/NSIAD-96-75

GAO United States

General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

National Security and

International Affairs Division

B-271401 

April 26, 1996

The Honorable Dan Coats

Chairman

The Honorable Robert C. Byrd

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Personnel

Committee on Armed Services

United States Senate

The Honorable Robert K. Dornan

Chairman

The Honorable Owen B. Pickett

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Military Personnel

Committee on National Security

House of Representatives

U.S. participation in peace operations has increased dramatically since the

end of the Cold War in 1989. At the same time, the size of the active

component has been reduced by nearly one-third, leaving fewer active

forces to respond to these operations. With increased stress placed on

some active forces, the role of the reserves is changing. The Department of

Defense (DOD) expects the reserves to take a greater role in peace

operations.1

 While authority to order reservists involuntarily to active duty

has been available for recent operations in Haiti and Bosnia, DOD will likely

have to rely on volunteers to meet some of its future needs.

Because of concern over peacetime access to reserve volunteers, we

undertook this review to (1) determine whether qualified volunteers have

been accessible for recent peace operations, (2) identify differences

among the services in how much they rely on volunteers, (3) determine the

factors that affect availability of volunteers, and (4) identify any actions

being taken by DOD to ensure volunteers are accessible.

We performed this work under our basic legislative responsibilities and

are sending this report to you because of your oversight responsibilities

1

For the purposes of this report, peace operations include everything from low-intensity peacekeeping

missions, such as military observer duty, to high-intensity peace enforcement actions.

Page 1 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
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for military personnel. We have recently issued two related reports on U.S.

participation in peace operations.2

Background Much of DOD’s capability to support military operations resides in seven

reserve components: Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Air Force

Reserve, Air National Guard, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and

Coast Guard Reserve.3

 Reservists (a term that includes National Guard

personnel) are called citizen-soldiers because most hold civilian jobs and

perform their military duties on a part-time basis. As part of their service

obligation, reservists must participate in prescribed training activities. In

addition, reservists participate in a wide range of peacetime activities in

support of the active component, such as counterdrug operations, disaster

aid, and exercise support, but this report does not cover these types of

activities. (App. I provides further background information on the reserve

components.)

DOD has two ways of gaining access to reservists in peacetime. Under 

10 U.S.C. 12304, the President may order reservists involuntarily to active

duty for up to 270 days. This is known as Presidential Selected Reserve

Call-Up (PSRC) authority. The other way of gaining access is volunteerism.

Under 10 U.S.C. 12301(d), DOD can activate any reservist with the consent

of the individual.4

 The preferred method for accessing reservists depends

on the nature of the mission.

Results in Brief Thousands of reservists have volunteered for recent peace operations

when requested to assist active duty forces. Among the operations they

have participated in are those in Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia. The

volunteers chosen for peace operations generally have had the necessary

skills and qualifications to perform their jobs and have performed well.

However, past success in obtaining volunteers may not be indicative of the

future.

2

Peace Operations: Heavy Use of Key Capabilities May Affect Response to Regional Conflicts

(GAO/NSIAD-95-51, Mar. 8, 1995) and Peace Operations: Effect of Training, Equipment, and Other

Factors on Unit Capability (GAO/NSIAD-96-14, Oct. 18, 1995).

3

During wartime, the Coast Guard Reserve comes under the authority of the Navy, but it reports to the

Secretary of Transportation in peacetime. We have excluded the Coast Guard Reserve from our

review.

4

Service by National Guard members within the United States requires the consent of the appropriate

state authority.

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Reservists have volunteered when needed for peace operations, but the

services’ demand for volunteers has varied greatly. The Air Force has

relied most heavily on volunteers and has been considered a model within

DOD. The Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps have had less demand for

volunteers, except for certain specialists.

Availability of funding has been a critical factor in whether reserve

volunteers are used to support active component operations. In most

cases, the expenses of volunteer support are funded by the active

component. The Air Force budgets much more for these expenses than the

other services. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs has

been working through the DOD budgeting process to obtain more funds for

reserve support of the active component. Other factors affecting the use of

volunteers are the amount of lead time available before the volunteers are

needed, the duration of the tour, and whether the requirements are for

individuals or units. Army and Navy officials expressed concerns about the

extent they can rely on volunteerism if large numbers of reservists or

whole units are needed.

DOD has been able to obtain the reservists it needs through a combination

of involuntary call-up authority and volunteerism. The demonstrated

willingness of DOD to seek and the President to approve call-up authority

has minimized the need to rely solely on volunteers to respond to peace

operations. Further, DOD has taken some steps to ensure continued access

to and use of reserves. Therefore, we are not making recommendations in

this report.

Reservists Have

Volunteered When

Requested

Volunteer reservists have been used in most U.S. peace operations since

the Persian Gulf War. Although comprehensive data is lacking, we

determined that at least 18,000 volunteer reservists participated in peace

operations during fiscal years 1992 through 1996.5

 Among the key

capabilities provided have been airlift, aerial refueling, and special

operations, such as civil affairs and psychological operations. (See 

table 1.)

5

We believe this figure understates the total number of volunteers who have participated in peace

operations. In some cases, aggregate data provided by the reserve components focused on

nonpersonnel aspects of the mission, such as sorties flown. As a result, we were unable to determine

the exact number of personnel involved.

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Table 1: Peace Operations Involving More Than 1,000 Volunteer Reservists (1992-96) 

Operation Military mission Examples of reserve support

Number of

volunteersa

Deny Flight/Provide Promise (Bosnia) Support U.N. no-fly zone; provide

humanitarian assistance.

Airlift, fighter support, air refueling,

intelligence support, psychological

operations, and logistics support. 7,534

Uphold Democracy (Haiti) Secure conditions for the return of

democracy.

Airlift, civil affairs, psychological

operations, military police, medical

support, and construction. 2,792

Provide Comfort (Northern Iraq) Provide safe havens for population. Airlift, fighter support, and

psychological operations. 2,051

Provide Relief/Restore Hope/Continue

Hope (Somalia)

Provide security and support for

relief efforts.

Airlift, postal support, foreign military

personnel training, and

psychological operations. 1,920

Southern Watch (Southern Iraq) Monitor repression of population. Airlift, fighter support, rescue,

psychological operations, and

intelligence support. 1,610

aDue to data limitations, these numbers may be incomplete.

From December 1995 through February 1996, 958 volunteers from the

reserve components of the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps provided a

variety of support to Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia. These

volunteers represented 28 percent of reservists deployed to Bosnia and

about 4 percent of total deployed U.S. military forces. The Army relied on

ordering reservists to active duty under PSRC authority; however, some

reservists volunteered to be mobilized under this authority. The Navy and

the Marine Corps also used PSRC authority to activate some reservists.6

The reserve components have been able to meet nearly all requirements

for volunteers, according to active component and reserve officials.

Reservists, they said, are eager to volunteer for “real world” missions such

as peace operations. Generally, the more publicity an operation receives,

the greater the number of reservists who want to volunteer. A 1995 Air

Force survey of its personnel showed that 90 percent of the respondents

would be willing to volunteer for an overseas mission such as those in

Bosnia or Somalia.

We identified isolated instances where volunteers could not be obtained or

were difficult to obtain. The Bureau of Naval Personnel, for example,

tasked the Naval Reserve to provide 148 volunteers in fiscal year 1995 for a

6

As of February 1996, a total of 3,475 reservists had been activated under PSRC—3,348 from the Army,

115 from the Navy, and 12 from the Marine Corps.

Page 4 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
B-271401 

variety of peace operations. The Naval Reserve could not fill 11 (7 percent)

of the requests. Army National Guard officials experienced difficulties

keeping many of the personnel who initially volunteered for the

Multinational Force and Observers operation in the Sinai and had to find

replacements in a relatively short time before the deployment began. In

the end, they were able to meet all the personnel requirements.

Notwithstanding these experiences, the general consensus among the

officials we spoke with was that volunteers have proven to be accessible

for peace operations to the extent they have been needed.

Requirements Process

Targets Qualified

Volunteers

The reserve components have established various formal and informal

processes to help them identify, contact, and bring reserve volunteers on

active duty for peace operations. While no uniform procedures exist, the

reserve commands generally rely on requirements documents from the

active component as a basis for the number and qualifications of reserve

volunteers. Reserve officials said they often work with the active

component to develop these requirements so that they can fully respond to

the active component’s needs. Generally, the reserve commands were able

to provide volunteers with the appropriate qualifications.

The requirements documents we reviewed specified, at a minimum, the

grade and military specialty of the reservists needed and the expected

length of the deployment. Often the documents were more detailed. For

instance, Naval Forces Central Command needed a volunteer to support

intelligence analysis work for Operation Southern Watch. The

requirements document stated that the individual had to be an enlisted

male, grade E-4 or higher, with high-level security clearances and

experience operating specific intelligence equipment. In some cases, the

active component requested a reservist by name. For example, in

June 1995, the Army Forces Command requested by name an Army

Reserve major to serve as Chief Contracting Officer to support U.S. forces

in Haiti as a volunteer for 179 days. This request stated that no qualified

active duty personnel were available to fill this position and that this

individual met the criteria due to his previous active duty experience.

According to service headquarters and major command officials, active

component commands were satisfied with the general quality of volunteer

support. Recent studies conducted for DOD have shown that the volunteer

reservists who have participated in peace operations have been qualified

for their assignments and performed well. The Institute for Defense

Analyses conducted several case studies of reserve units that deployed for

Page 5 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
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peace operations and gave high marks to their performance. The Army

Research Institute studied a battalion comprised mostly of reservists that

deployed to the Sinai for 6 months and found that qualified reservists were

willing to volunteer and that the mission was performed successfully.

Future Volunteer Rate Is

Uncertain

Past success in obtaining volunteers is not necessarily predictive of the

future. The future availability of volunteers is of particular concern to the

Air Force because it relies on them more extensively than the other

services. The availability of volunteers is affected by a number of

variables, including the nature of an operation, the advance notice

provided before volunteers are needed, and the length of the deployment.

(These issues are discussed later in this report.)

Some reserve officials expressed concern that repeated use of volunteers

eventually could lead to retention problems. In particular, Air Force Guard

and Reserve officials were concerned about overuse of their aircrew

personnel. The chiefs of the two air reserve components stated that based

on recent experience, it is reasonable to expect aircrew members to

devote 110 days a year to military duty, including 60 days away from their

home station. Fiscal year 1994 data showed that Guard and Reserve

aircrews for several types of aircraft had exceeded the 60-day mark. For

instance, Guard personnel manning KC-135 tankers averaged 86 days away

from their home station that year. The Air Force Reserve has recognized

that the increased active duty commitments placed on their members

could have an impact on attitudes toward military service. To keep abreast

of these attitudes, the Reserve surveyed its members in 1995. Among other

things, the survey showed that none of the respondents had definite plans

to leave the reserves and less than 5 percent thought they “probably”

would not remain or “lean toward” not remaining.

The primary concern of reserve officials is the impact increased military

duty may have on the reservists’ relationship with their civilian employers.

They worry that as the military places more demands on reservists,

employers will become less supportive of their need to take time off from

work. If reservists come to feel they must choose between their civilian

jobs and their reserve jobs, many may leave the military. To date, however,

there is little hard evidence that employer support is waning. According to

the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve,7

the level of complaints from reservists and their employers peaked during

7

The National Committee is a DOD organization chartered to promote understanding of the Guard and

Reserve and to gain employer and community support. One of its key functions is to help resolve

employer/employee problems and misunderstandings that result from reserve duties.

Page 6 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
B-271401 

the Persian Gulf War but has diminished and remained stable since then. A

National Committee official said that although the Air Force uses

volunteers for active duty missions far more than the other services, the

two air reserve components do not generate the greatest share of

complaints. He attributed this to an aggressive Air Force effort to seek

employer support. However, this official and others we spoke with said

employers prefer that reservists be involuntarily ordered to duty because

of concern that reservists could abuse their reemployment rights.8

 The Air

Force Reserve has initiated a survey of civilian employers. According to

Reserve officials, the information from this survey will enable them to

improve employer support programs without jeopardizing retention.

Air Force Has Had

Greatest Reliance on

Volunteers

We found differences among the services in their use of volunteers. The

Air Force prefers to use volunteers whenever it can to support a peace

operation. DOD Reserve Affairs officials have called the Air Force a

“model” in its use of volunteers. The Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps

have used volunteers in relatively small numbers.

The Air Force has relied extensively on volunteers to support peace

operations. As discussed earlier, for instance, 880 volunteers from the

Guard and Reserve were participating in Operation Joint Endeavor as of

February 1996, and no reservists had been involuntarily ordered to active

duty under PSRC authority. Of the more than 18,000 volunteer reservists we

identified, about 80 percent were from the Air Force. Several thousand

volunteers have supported Provide Promise and Deny Flight (Bosnia),

Provide Comfort and Southern Watch (Iraq), Provide Relief/Restore Hope

(Somalia), and Uphold Democracy (Haiti). The Air Reserve and Air Guard

have provided considerable airlift and aerial refueling to these operations,

and their fighter units have taken regular rotations with active component

forces.

In explaining the Air Force’s extensive use of volunteers, active and

reserve component officials said the service has supported a policy in

which the reserve components are routinely included in the execution of

missions. However, reserve officials said they must constantly educate

their active duty counterparts on the capabilities and limits of the reserve

components. Active component officials also pointed out that the Air

Force mission is conducive to using volunteers because they usually do

8

Under 38 U.S.C. 4312, a reservist has reemployment rights after completing military service. DOD

applies this statute to volunteers as well as to reservists ordered to active duty involuntarily.

Page 7 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
B-271401 

not deploy in large units and can fly into and out of the theater of

operations.

In the past 2 to 3 years, the Naval Reserve has emphasized its role of

providing day-to-day support to the active component. Available data,

however, indicates that reservists have not been used extensively to

support peace operations. A May 1995 Navy-wide snapshot report on

reserve support to the active component showed that 200 reservists (both

volunteers and those serving involuntarily) were participating in 6 peace

operations, including 105 deployed to Haiti. Atlantic Fleet officials said

more reservists were used in Haiti and Cuba than in previous peace

operations.

The Army’s practice is to use active component personnel whenever

possible, but it has made some use of reserve volunteers. Three notable

uses of volunteers have been (1) a 49-member Army Reserve postal

company that deployed to Somalia; (2) 3 Army National Guard military

police companies—400 personnel—that backfilled for active duty units

deployed to Haiti; and (3) an infantry battalion comprising 446 Guard and

Reserve personnel (80 percent of the total force) that deployed to the

Multinational Force and Observers mission in the Sinai.

To date, the Marine Corps has not used volunteers to a great extent for

peace operations. The most notable use of volunteers was the deployment

of three volunteer rifle companies—473 personnel—to guard refugee

camps in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Prior to July 1995, the Marine Corps

Reserve focused on supporting the active component in wartime. In

July 1995, the Marine Corps added peacetime support as a reserve mission,

and Marine Corps officials expect to use volunteers more in the future.

Funding Is Most

Important Factor

Affecting the Use of

Volunteers

The availability of funding from the active component is the key factor

determining the extent that reserve volunteers are used to support the

active component. Air Force officials we interviewed were satisfied with

the level of funding available to pay for volunteers, but Army, Navy, and

Marine Corps officials said volunteer support was constrained by current

funding levels. We were also told, however, that contingency operations

have high priority and that funding budgeted for other purposes can be

redirected to these operations. In addition to funding availability, the use

of volunteers is also affected by (1) the amount of notice provided before

the start of the mission, (2) the length of the deployment, and (3) whether

the requirements are for units or individuals.

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Funding Constraints Limit

Use of Volunteers

When reservists go on active duty, they generate additional costs to the

military for pay and allowances, travel, and equipment use, with pay and

allowances constituting the greatest expense. Generally, these volunteer

costs are covered by the active component. All four services draw from

their account used to fund active component personnel—the military

personnel appropriations account—to cover the pay and allowances of

reserve volunteers. As shown in table 2, the Air Force has budgeted the

largest amount of funding for reserve support in its military personnel

appropriations account.

Table 2: Military Personnel

Appropriations Budgeted for Reserve

Support (fiscal years 1992-96)

Dollars in millions

Fiscal year Army Air Force Navy Marine Corps

1992 $3.7 $39.5 $12.1 a

1993 2.9 73.2 11.3 $4.2

1994 5.3 78.3 11.6 2.1

1995 7.6b 105.7 11.8 3.8

1996 14.6 121.3 17.0 1.9

Note: In addition to military personnel appropriations, reserve personnel funds are often used to

pay for training activities that benefit the active component. For instance, Army units have

performed work for the U.S. Southern Command in Central America as part of their annual

training. The Navy also uses training funds extensively to support the active component.

aData not available.

bAdditional military personnel funds were made available during fiscal year 1995 for reserve

support. Specifically, $15.1 million was provided for the Sinai mission and $9.5 million was

provided to prepare equipment for return from Germany to the United States.

As table 2 shows, the Air Force has budgeted significantly more military

personnel funding for reserve support than have the other services. In the

budgeting process, the Air Force determines how much will be needed by

active component commands to pay for reserve support and then

designates these funds in its military personnel budget. In contrast, Army

officials said funding availability depends on whether the Army’s active

component end strength falls below its authorized end strength for a given

year. If so, funds are available for reserve volunteer support. The Navy

does not budget enough reserve support funds in its military personnel

appropriations to meet all the requirements of the active component,

according to Navy officials. Marine Corps officials said their service would

have to increase its military personnel funding levels if more reserve

support is required. However, a 1995 Navy and Marine Corps internal

report stated that funding increases alone were not the solution. Other

Page 9 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
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solutions addressed the need to establish a plan for submitting and

tracking requests for reserve support and the need to develop a process to

evaluate the benefits and savings provided by reserves.

DOD is making additional funding available for reserve support under a

program initiated in 1995. The program is aimed at increasing reserve

support to the active component for operational missions, thereby

relieving the stress on the active forces. DOD officials hope that this

program, by demonstrating the merits of using reservists, will encourage

the services, particularly the Army and the Navy, to budget more funds for

reserve support beginning in fiscal year 1998.

The Rand Corporation, in a 1995 study for DOD, identified resource

constraints as an impediment to using reservists in operations other than

war, which include peace operations. It recommended that funds be

earmarked for reserve support in the military personnel appropriations

accounts. However, Rand cautioned that increased funding alone would

not increase reserve support because DOD would also need to tackle

operational and institutional factors limiting the use of reserves, such as a

lack of adequate planning and different service philosophies on the

purpose and use of the reserves.

Advance Notice Enhances

Ability to Use Reserves

The ability of the reserve components to provide volunteers for a peace

operation is enhanced when advance notice of the requirement is given,

but the amount of notice needed depends on the mission. Reserve officials

said their personnel need time to arrange for extended absences from

work and family. The more notice reserve officials are given by active

commands, the greater their chances of finding volunteers. While they will

make every effort to meet a short-notice requirement, Air Force Reserve

officials said the reserves are ill-suited to be a quick reaction force and are

better suited to perform missions for which they can more adequately

plan.

Because many variables may affect the amount of lead time necessary to

obtain volunteers, it would be difficult to establish a standard. The DOD

Task Force on Quality of Life, recently reported that the need for lead time

limited the use of the reserves.9

 The task force advocated better planning

and a minimum advance notice of 6 months to 1 year. Army National

Guard officials indicated that a major deployment, such as the Sinai

9

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Quality of Life, Office of the Under Secretary of

Defense for Acquisition and Technology (Oct. 1995).

Page 10 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
B-271401 

mission, would require lead time of more than 1 year. On the other hand,

some requirements for reserve support can be filled very quickly. An Air

National Guard official in the medical readiness directorate, for example,

said 2 weeks advance notice was generally sufficient for a contingency

operation. In 1995, the Air Force held its first annual scheduling

conference to plan out support to ongoing peace operations. Both the Air

Force Reserve and Air National Guard participated. As a result, Air Force

Reserve officials told us that they are able to give reservists 6 to 9 months

notice prior to the start of a deployment.

Tour Length Affects

Availability

The length of the tour is another factor affecting the availability of

volunteers. Air Force and Navy officials said it is easier to obtain

volunteers for shorter tours—30 days or less—because the reservists do

not have to spend long periods of time away from their family and work.

According to the 1995 Air Force Reserve Survey, the percentage of

respondents willing to volunteer for an overseas mission dropped as the

duration of deployment increased. (See fig. 1.)

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Figure 1: Percentage of Air Force

Reservists Willing to Volunteer for an

Overseas Mission

1-2 Wks 3-4 Wks 1-2 Mos. 3-4 Mos. 5-6 Mos. 6+ Mos.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Duration of deployment

Percentage

Source: Air Force Reserve.

Air Force officials told us that flexibility in rotating volunteers can help

meet the requirements for long missions. They believe that most active

component commanders have come to understand the need for this

flexibility and are willing to provide it. For example, the Air National

Guard provides fighter support to Operation Provide Comfort for a

3-month period each year. The Guard assigns three units 1 month each,

and the units schedule their volunteers to cover their assigned period.

Army and Special Operations officials said short rotations are often not

feasible for their missions. For instance, a Special Operations official said

it takes time for civil affairs and psychological operations personnel to win

the support of host-country civilians as well as their own active

component commanders. Short rotations would not allow time for

effective interactions to develop. Army officials also said that the Air

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Force has the advantage of being able to fly their personnel easily into and

out of the theater of operations. It takes a more intense logistical effort to

move Army personnel and their equipment, they said.

Requirements for Units Are

More Difficult to Meet

Large units are more difficult to obtain on a voluntary basis than

individuals or small units because each unit member must consent to

volunteer for a mission. This has not been a major problem in the Air

Force and the Navy, which tend to deploy volunteers as individuals or as

part of small units. The Army has attempted to deploy units of

50 volunteers and more, but has found that forming these size units

requires “intensive, more complex work-arounds.”

Army officials were particularly dissatisfied with the formation of an Army

Reserve postal company that deployed to Somalia in 1992. Although they

initially had hoped to draw all 49 members from a single reserve unit, they

ultimately had to find volunteers from several postal units to fill all the

slots. In addition, the Army National Guard had hoped to draw from a

single division to fill about 400 positions in the battalion that deployed to

the Sinai. However, many of the Guard personnel who initially volunteered

dropped out, and the Guard had to find replacements from other units.

The Army National Guard has experimented with a volunteer program,

called Project Standard Bearer, to designate units that would be available

to support a humanitarian mission. Under this program, unit members

agree to volunteer for a 45-day period when needed. The program was first

used when 3 military police companies averaging about 135 members each

backfilled for active forces deployed to Haiti. There were mixed opinions

on the success of this effort.

Army Reserve officials oppose taking volunteers out of their home units to

create a new unit because they are concerned that the readiness of home

units will suffer. If individuals are required, they should come from the

pool of reservists who are not assigned to units, these officials said, and if

entire units are required, the President should use PSRC authority. The

Army relied more heavily on PSRC authority in Haiti and Bosnia than the

other services. Navy officials also said there were limits in how far they

could rely on volunteerism. If large numbers of individuals or units are

needed to support an operation, PSRC authority is a necessity, they said.

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DOD Has Taken Steps

to Improve Access to

Reserves

In 1994, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs expressed

concerns about how much DOD could rely on volunteers.10 She

subsequently formed a working group to address accessibility concerns.

Since that time, DOD officials have taken some steps to ensure that

reserves will be accessible for the range of peace operations they are likely

to confront in the future. Some of these actions focus on volunteerism,

while others affect reservists activated involuntarily.

For example, DOD issued a new policy in July 1995 emphasizing the use of

volunteers for lesser regional contingencies. This policy is intended to

clarify when war planners should anticipate using volunteers and when

they can expect PSRC authority to be available. The policy states that while

authority to involuntarily order reservists to active duty should be

assumed for major regional conflicts, the military is to give maximum

consideration to using volunteers for lesser regional contingencies before

seeking involuntary access.

At about the same time, DOD initiated a pilot program to encourage active

commands to identify opportunities for using reservists during peacetime.

This initiative is intended to reduce the personnel tempo of the active duty

forces, while providing real world experience to reservists. As discussed

earlier, this program is also aimed at making more funds available for

using reservists in support of the active component. The pilot is expected

to continue through fiscal year 1997 and then be incorporated into DOD’s

annual programming and budgeting process.

To assist reservists activated involuntarily, DOD proposed a mobilization

income insurance program. This program is intended to protect reservists

from financial hardships resulting from involuntary call-up. It was

approved as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year

1996 (P.L. 104-106) and shall take effect on September 30, 1996.

Agency Comments DOD agreed with this report’s findings and conclusions. The comments

dealt primarily with technical accuracy and clarification. We have changed

the report, as appropriate, to respond to these comments. DOD’s comments

are shown in appendix III.

10Deborah R. Lee, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Accessibility of Reserve

Component Forces (Mar. 3, 1994).

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Our scope and methodology are discussed in appendix II.

We are sending copies of this report to other interested congressional

committees; the Secretaries of Defense, the Army, the Navy, and the Air

Force; the Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps; and the Director, Office of

Management and Budget. Copies will also be made available to others on

request.

If you or your staff have any questions on this report, please call me on

(202) 512-4588. Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix IV.

Mark Gebicke

Director, Military Operations

 and Capabilities Issues

Page 15 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Contents

Letter 1

Appendix I 

Reserve Components

18

Structure of the Reserves 18

Role of the Reserves 21

Training of the Reserves 22

Appendix II 

Scope and

Methodology

23

Appendix III 

Comments From the

Department of

Defense

25

Appendix IV 

Major Contributors to

This Report

26

Tables Table 1: Peace Operations Involving More Than 1,000 Volunteer

Reservists

4

Table 2: Military Personnel Appropriations Budgeted for Reserve

Support

9

Figures Figure 1: Percentage of Air Force Reservists Willing to Volunteer

for an Overseas Mission

12

Figure I.1: Total Military Personnel 19

Figure I.2: End Strength of Selected Reserve, by Reserve

Component

20

Abbreviations

DOD Department of Defense

PSRC Presidential Selected Reserve Call-Up

Page 16 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Page 17 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix I 

Reserve Components

Structure of the

Reserves

The U.S. armed forces have seven reserve components:

• Army Reserve,

• Army National Guard,

• Air Force Reserve,

• Air National Guard,

• Naval Reserve,

• Marine Corps Reserve, and

• Coast Guard Reserve.

The Army, the Air Force, the Naval, and the Marine Corps Reserves report

to their respective service secretaries. In peacetime, the Army National

Guard and the Air National Guard report to the state governors, and the

Coast Guard Reserve reports to the Secretary of Transportation. During

wartime, the Coast Guard Reserve comes under the authority of the

Secretary of the Navy and the Army and the Air National Guards come

under the authority of the Army and the Air Force Secretaries.

Within the reserve components, reservists may belong to one of three

management categories: the Ready Reserve, the Retired Reserve, or the

Standby Reserve. As shown in figure I.1, of the approximately five million

personnel serving in the military at the end of fiscal year 1995, about

one-third belonged to the active component, one-third to the Ready

Reserve, and one-third to the Retired Reserve.

Page 18 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix I 

Reserve Components

Figure I.1: Total Military Personnel

(fiscal year 1995)

Active Duty

Retired Reserve

Ready Reserve

34.7%

31.5%

33.3%

Note: Standby Reserve constitutes less than 1 percent of total military manpower.

Source: Reserve Forces Policy Board.

The Ready Reserve is further subdivided into three groups—the Selected

Reserve, the Individual Ready Reserve, and Inactive National Guard. The

Selected Reserve has priority over all other reserve groups because it is

considered essential to initial wartime missions. The Selected Reserve

includes drilling reservists assigned to reserve units, full-time support

personnel, and individual mobilization augmentees assigned to active

component commands. In peacetime, these reservists may volunteer for

active duty missions or they may be involuntarily activated under

Presidential Selected Reserve Call-Up (PSRC) authority. The authorized

end-strength of the Selected Reserve for fiscal year 1996 is about 940,000.

As shown in figure I.2, the Army National Guard and Army Reserve had the

greatest share of total personnel in the Selected Reserve.

Page 19 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix I 

Reserve Components

Figure I.2: End Strength of Selected

Reserve, by Reserve Component (fiscal

year 1996)

ARNG USAR ANG USAFR USNR USMCR USCGR

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

373,000

230,000

112,707

73,969

98,894

42,274

8,000

Reserve components

End strength

Legend

ARNG = Army National Guard

USAR = U.S. Army Reserve

ANG = Air National Guard

USAFR = U.S. Air Force Reserve

USMCR = U.S. Marine Corps Reserve

USCGR = U.S. Coast Guard Reserve

Source: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996.

The Individual Ready Reserve and Inactive National Guard is a pool of

about 695,000 trained individuals who have previous active duty or

Selected Reserve experience. These reservists generally have a remaining

service obligation and are subject to mobilization. These reservists may

volunteer for active duty missions, but may not be accessed under PSRC

authority.

Page 20 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix I 

Reserve Components

The Standby Reserve is a small pool of designated key civilian employees

who retain their military affiliation but do not belong to the Ready

Reserve. The Standby Reservists are not required to train and are not

assigned to units. These reservists could be mobilized to fill specific

manpower requirements, but are not subject to PSRC.

The Retired Reserve is comprised of former military personnel who are

receiving retirement pay or who are eligible for retirement pay at age 60,

but have not reached that age. Retired members who have completed at

least 20 years of active federal service, Regular or Reserve, may be ordered

to active duty by the Secretary of the appropriate military department at

any time.

Role of the Reserves The reserve component forces are considered an integral part of the U.S.

armed forces and essential to the implementation of U.S. defense strategy.

Reductions in the size of the active force and increased U.S. participation

in peace operations since the end of the Cold War have increased reliance

on the reserve forces, as illustrated by the inclusion of reserve component

units in warfighting contingency plans and peacetime operations.

As an integral part of the Total Force,1

 the Reserves and the Guard provide

a broad range of capabilities to the active component. Army National

Guard and Army Reserve units provide combat, combat support, and

combat service support capability to the active Army. The Air National

Guard and the Air Force Reserve perform a broad range of combat and

combat support missions, including strategic airlift, tactical airlift, aerial

refueling, aeromedical evacuation, and special operations. Naval Reserve

units participate in most mission areas of the Navy, including maritime

patrol, carrier and helicopter wings, intelligence units, and medical

support units. The Marine Corps Reserve provides combat, combat

support, and combat service support. The reserve components also

participate in a wide range of peacetime support activities, including

counterdrug operations, disaster aid, and host-nation assistance. In

addition to their federal missions, the Army and the Air National Guards

also respond to domestic emergencies such as natural disasters and

domestic unrest.

Reservists have traditionally provided a broad range of support to the

active component during peacetime, often supplementing active forces in

1

The Total Force policy was instituted in 1973 to more closely integrate the active and reserve

components of the armed forces.

Page 21 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix I 

Reserve Components

nation-building and humanitarian assistance operations during annual

training periods. Increased participation in peace operations has placed

new demands on the reserve forces. Peace operations typically require

more support forces than combat operations. In these operations, more

emphasis is placed on tasks such as handling refugees, coordinating and

distributing humanitarian aid, serving as a liaison with local officials, and

augmenting command staffs for civil-military matters. Many of these

capabilities, such as civil affairs and psychological operations, reside

predominantly in the reserve component.

Training of the

Reserves

As part of their service obligation, most reservists are required to

participate in prescribed training activities. Selected Reservists are

required to participate in training to maintain their readiness and

proficiency. Each year they must participate in at least 48 4-hour inactive

duty training periods—the equivalent of 24 8-hour days, or 12 weekends a

year. Selected Reservists must also participate in annual training periods

of about 2 weeks. Annual training is generally performed during one

consecutive period. However, some reservists, particularly those in the Air

Force and the Navy components, often fulfill the annual training

requirement during several shorter periods.

The Department of Defense (DOD) authorizes extra inactive duty training

periods for those units and individuals who need to meet additional

training requirements, for aircrew qualification training, and for unit

management activities. DOD also authorizes active duty training for

full-time attendance at training activities that primarily benefit the

individual, such as specialized skill training, refresher and proficiency

training, and professional development education programs.

Members of the Individual Ready Reserve and Inactive National Guard are

not required to meet the same training requirements as Selected

Reservists. However, they are required to serve 1 day of duty each year to

accomplish screening requirements and may participate voluntarily in

inactive duty training. Members of the Retired Reserve are not subject to

mandatory training. However, they are encouraged to participate

voluntarily in order to maintain their readiness.

Page 22 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix II 

Scope and Methodology

To evaluate the accessibility of volunteers, we interviewed officials at the

Office of the Secretary of Defense, service headquarters, selected major

commands, reserve component commands, and other DOD commands and

offices. We discussed past experiences with obtaining volunteers for peace

operations and obtained their views on factors affecting accessibility. We

obtained DOD and service policies on the use of volunteers, procedures for

accessing them, and historical funding data.

We also sought to obtain data on the use of volunteers for peace

operations between fiscal years 1992 and 1995. Although we obtained

some data, comprehensive data showing the number of reservists

deployed, their military specialties, the length of deployment, and the total

cost was not readily available from any of the services.

During our review, we identified relevant studies prepared for DOD. These

included studies conducted by the Rand Corporation, the Institute for

Defense Analyses, and the Army Research Institute. We met with or

contacted the individuals responsible for these studies and obtained

documents they prepared for DOD. Also, we obtained documents prepared

by staff working for the Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed

Forces concerning peace operations and the reserve components.

We obtained information from the following Washington, D.C., area,

offices:

• Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs; Director

for Operational Plans and Interoperability, Joint Staff; and the National

Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve;

• Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans and the Army Deputy

Chief of Staff for Personnel;

• Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Reserve

Affairs, the Office of Air Force Reserve, the Air Force Deputy Chief of

Staff for Personnel, and the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and

Operations;

• Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve

Affairs and the Bureau of Naval Personnel;

• Reserve Affairs Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps; and

• National Guard Bureau, the Air National Guard Readiness Center, and the

Army National Guard Readiness Center.

We visited the following commands: U.S. Army Reserve Command,

Atlanta, Georgia; Air Force Reserve, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia;

Page 23 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix II 

Scope and Methodology

Naval Reserve Command and Marine Reserve Force, New Orleans,

Louisiana.; and U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida. In

addition, we contacted the following commands: U.S. Army Forces

Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia; U.S. Army Special Operations

Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Air Mobility Command, Scott Air

Force Base, Illinois; and U.S. Atlantic Command and the Navy’s Atlantic

Fleet, Norfolk, Virginia.

Finally, we met with officials of the National Guard Association of the

United States, the Reserve Officers Association, and the Enlisted

Association of the National Guard.

We performed our work between April 1995 and March 1996 in accordance

with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Page 24 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix III 

Comments From the Department of Defense

Page 25 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
Appendix IV 

Major Contributors to This Report

National Security and

International Affairs

Division, Washington,

D.C.

Sharon A. Cekala

Valeria G. Gist

Thomas W. Gosling

Carolyn S. Blocker

Dallas Regional Office Penney M. Harwell

Hugh F. Reynolds

(703097) Page 26 GAO/NSIAD-96-75 Peace Operations
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