Read without ads and support Scribd by becoming a Scribd Premium Reader.
See Premium Plans
 
 January 31, 2008Dear Chairmen and Ranking Members:The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves is pleased to submit toyou its nal report as required by Public Law 108-375, the Ronald ReaganNational Deense Authoriation Act or Fiscal Year 2005 (as amended byPublic Law 109-163). As you know, Congress chartered this Commissionto assess the reserve component o the U.S. military and to recommendchanges to ensure that the National Guard and other reserve componentsare organied, trained, equipped, compensated, and supported to best meetthe needs o U.S. national security.The Commission’s rst interim report, containing initial ndings andthe description o a strategic plan to complete our work, was deliveredon June 5, 2006. The second interim report, delivered on March 1, 2007,was required by Public Law 109-364, the John Warner National DeenseAuthoriation Act or Fiscal Year 2007, enacted on October 17, 2006. Thatsecond report eamined 17 proposals contained in the National DeenseEnhancement and National Guard Empowerment Act, and included 23Commission recommendations covering the broad spectrum o issues raisedby the legislation.The Commission applauds Congress’s timely and decisive action in imple-menting a number o these important provisions in the 2008 NationalDeense Authoriation Act. In careully considering the Commission’s recom-mendations, Congress has changed in a undamental way the Departmento Deense’s role or the homeland, and taken signicant steps to make thenation saer rom man-made and natural disasters. Secretary o Deense Gates
C
ommission
 
on
 
the
n
ational
G
uard
 
and
r
eserves
2521 S. C
lark
S
treet
, S
uite
650a
rlington
, V
irginia
22202
a
rnold
l. P
unaro
C
hairman
W
illiam
l. B
all
, iiil
eS
B
roWnlee
r
hett
B. d
aWSon
l
arry
k. e
CkleS
P
atriCia
l. l
eWiS
d
an
m
C
k
innon
W
ade
r
oWley
 J
ameS
e. S
herrard
iiid
onald
l. S
toCkton
e. g
ordon
S
tumP
 J. S
tanton
t
homPSon
P
hone
703.699.2800 FaX 703.699.2846 e
mail
Cngr@WSo.WhS.mil
E
stablishEd
P
ursuant 
 
to
 
thE
r
onald
W. r
Eagan 
n 
ational
d
EfEnsE
a
uthorization 
a
ct 
 
for
f 
iscal
Y 
Ear
2005,Pub. l. n 
o
. 108-375,118 stat 1880 (2004)
The Honorable Carl LevinChairman, Committeeon Armed ServicesUnited States SenateWashington, DC 2051
0
The Honorable Ike SkeltonChairman, Committeeon Armed ServicesUnited States House o RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515The Honorable John McCainRanking Member, Committeeon Armed ServicesUnited States SenateWashington, DC 20510The Honorable Duncan HunterRanking Member, Committeeon Armed ServicesUnited States House o RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515
 
also has taken timely and decisive action to implement those recommendations not requiring legisla-tion, and has advocated beore Congress or those requiring legislation.The nal report o the Commission was inormed by 17 days o public hearings involving 115witnesses; 52 Commission meetings; more than 850 interviews; numerous site visits, orums, andpanel discussions; and the detailed analysis o thousands o documents supplied at the Commission’srequest by the military services, government agencies, eperts, and other stakeholders. It containssi major conclusions and 95 recommendations, supported by 163 ndings.In conducting its work, the Commission has gathered inormation, analyed evidence, identiedsignicant problems acing the reserve components, and sought to oer the best possible recom-mendations to solve the problems identied. The problems we identiy in this report are systemic,have evolved over many years, and are not the product o any one ocial or administration. Manyo the Commission’s recommendations to solve those problems can be implemented immediately;however, a number o them may take years to implement eectively. Their ull implementation willrequire additional work by Congress and the eecutive branch.At the core o these changes is the eplicit recognition o the evolution o the reserve componentsrom a purely strategic orce, with lengthy mobiliation times designed to meet Cold War threatsrom large nation-states, to an operational orce. This operational reserve must be readily availableor emergencies at home and abroad, and more ully integrated with the active component. Simul-taneously, this orce must retain required strategic elements and capabilities.The Commission concludes that there is no reasonable alternative to the nation’s continued increasedreliance on reserve components as part o its operational orce or missions at home and abroad.However, the Commission also concludes that this change rom their Cold War posture necessitatesundamental reorms to reserve components’ homeland roles and missions, personnel managementsystems, equipping and training policies, policies aecting amilies and employers, and the orga-niations and structures used to manage the reserves. These reorms are essential to ensure thatthis operational reserve is easible in the short term while sustainable over the long term. In act,the uture o the all-volunteer orce depends or its success on policymakers’ undertaking neededreorms to ensure that the reserve components are ready, capable, and available or both operationaland strategic purposes.In reviewing the past several decades o intense use o the reserve components, most notably asan integral part o operations in Iraq, Aghanistan, and the homeland, the Commission has oundindisputable and overwhelming evidence o the need or policymakers and the military to breakwith outdated policies and processes and implement undamental, thorough reorms in these areas.The members o this Commission share this view unanimously. We note that these recommenda-tions will require the nation to reorder the priorities o the Department o Deense, thereby neces-sitating a major restructuring o laws and DOD’s budget. There are some costs associated with theserecommendations, but the problems are serious, the need to address them is urgent, and the benetso the reorms we identiy more than eceed the epense o implementing them.These issues are etremely comple, and people o good character and conscience will disagreewith some o the solutions we propose. That is to be epected. No signicant reorms have beenundertaken in the laws aecting the reserve components or more than hal a century. The lastmajor Deense reorm eort—the Goldwater-Nichols Department o Deense Reorganiation Acto 1986—made undamental adjustments to the roles o the Secretary o Deense, the Chairman o the Joint Chies o Sta, and combatant commanders but did not aect the structures or policies o the reserve components. We hope and anticipate that this report will generate lively debate amongthe institutions and key policymakers responsible or protecting U.S. national security.With the submission o this our last report, the Commission turns our ndings, conclusions, andrecommendations over to the legislative and eecutive branches, where we eel condent they willbe careully considered, improved upon, and implemented. We believe that this action will have thesame proound and positive eects as did the Goldwater-Nichols legislation.The Commission wants to epress our continuing deep appreciation or the signicant support andcooperation rom the Congress and the Department o Deense as well as the sustained, superb work
Search
Search History:
Searching...
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
  • p.

    • More From This User

    3 p.
    06-12-08 Salon-Supreme Court Restores Habeas Corpus, Strikes
    Mark Welkie
    184 Reads
    4 p.
    06-12-08 Salon-Longtime reporter_ ‘Bloggers have taught me a
    Mark Welkie
    270 Reads
    2 p.
    06 12 08 NYT Interrogation for Profit_editorial
    Mark Welkie
    178 Reads
    2 p.
    06-12-08 Nation-Supreme Court Judges Obama Right on Constitu
    Mark Welkie
    185 Reads
    2 p.
    06-12-08 Nation-Supreme Court Deals Death Blow to Gitmo by J
    Mark Welkie
    163 Reads
    2 p.
    06-12-08 Nation-Silence of the (MSM) Lambs by Eric Alterman
    Mark Welkie
    154 Reads
    1 p.
    06-12-08 Independent-Iraqi Sovereignty and US Bases by Patri
    Mark Welkie
    167 Reads
    3 p.
    06-12-08 Guardian-NATO’s Lost Cause by Tariq Ali
    Mark Welkie
    222 Reads
    3 p.
    06-12-08 FPIF-Trouble at the Pentagon by Frida Berrigan
    Mark Welkie
    206 Reads
    1 p.
    06-12-08 E&P-'NYT' Sunday Preview_Gore Vidal Questions McCai
    Mark Welkie
    157 Reads
    1 p.
    06-12-08 CQ-Supreme Court Lets Guantánamo Detainees File Cou
    Mark Welkie
    139 Reads
    3 p.
    06-12-08 Consortiumnews-McCain Makes Stuff Up by Robert Parr
    Mark Welkie
    145 Reads
    2 p.
    06-12-08 CD-Deadly ‘Diplomacy’ by Norman Solomon
    Mark Welkie
    188 Reads
    4 p.
    06-12-08 CAP-Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction by Eric Alter
    Mark Welkie
    140 Reads
    2 p.
    06-12-08 CAP-EnVIRONMENT by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Saty
    Mark Welkie
    140 Reads
    2 p.
    06-12-08 BuzzFlash-John McCain_He Just Can't Help Himself By
    Mark Welkie
    148 Reads
    4 p.
    06-12-08 Brennan Center for Justice-Flunk the Electoral Coll
    Mark Welkie
    144 Reads
    2 p.
    06-12-08 Boston Globe-Obama Promotes Middle-class Tax Cut By
    Mark Welkie
    131 Reads
    2 p.
    06-12-08 Be the Media by Robert C Koehler
    Mark Welkie
    248 Reads
    1 p.
    11-11-07 Rockridge-Responding to Conservative Name-Calling G
    Mark Welkie
    140 Reads
    3 p.
    11-11-07 Nyt-The Coup at Home by Frank Rich
    Mark Welkie
    109 Reads
    2 p.
    11-10-07 Spooks Refuse to Toe Cheney's Line on Iran by Garet
    Mark Welkie
    123 Reads
    2 p.
    11-08-07 the American Empire is Falling With the Dollar by P
    Mark Welkie
    129 Reads
    2 p.
    11-08-07 Politico-Senate Tries to Cap Emissions EPA Won't By
    Mark Welkie
    137 Reads
    2 p.
    11-07-07 WA-Phony Dem Debate Over Social Security by Joe Con
    Mark Welkie
    150 Reads
    Notes
    Load more