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. 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. The preferred method for accessing reservists depends on the nature of the mission. 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. Among the key capabilities provided have been airlift, aerial refueling, and special operations, such as civil affairs and psychological operations. (See table 1.) 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. 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 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. 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 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. 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,the level of complaints from reservists and their employers peaked during 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. 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. 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 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.