U.S. Army Reserve Chief outlines vision

WASHINGTON - The Army Reserve will tap into the civilian skills of its soldiers, expand its training role and begin pre-positioning its equipment, said its top officer.

The Army Reserve is "not just for emergency use only anymore," said Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Plewes, chief of the Army Reserve, at the Reserve Officers Association Mid-Winter Conference as he revealed his vision for the organization's future.

Plewes made a case for increasing full-time manning at Reserve units and doing a better job at recruiting.

He also said he felt the force should have no more manning cuts in its future.

In his speech, Plewes said the challenge is transforming the Army Reserve in support of The Army Vision.

In October 1999, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki presented the Army Vision, that the Army be on point for the nation, persuasive in peace, invincible in war.

Shinseki said his goal was a strategically responsive force - agile, versatile, lethal, survivable, deployable and sustainable.

"So I have to tell you up front here today," Plewes said, "there is not an Army Reserve vision separate from the Army's vision. No, my vision helps make the Army's vision a reality. Our task during the next decade is to be quick on our feet, responsive to the needs of the Army."

Plewes said the Army Reserve vision is to be "The essential provider for training and support operations engaged worldwide with ready units and soldiers."

"It's not just a slogan," he said. "These 15 words embody the spirit of our direction for the Army Reserve of the future; how we're going to remain what we are today - an effective and integral part of the Army. Everything we do will be directed toward that purpose."

Plewes said he thought the era of personnel cuts is over.

"I believe that our traumatic decade of decline is behind us. It's been a tough 10 years for the Army Reserve. We've downsized 36 percent, we've lost major headquarters, half of our ARCOMS (Army Reserve Commands) went away. We've taken the hard choices and today we have a streamlined Army Reserve.

"The fact of the matter is today we stand here with an Army Reserve for which I can say further reductions will actually reduce the Army's ability to meet national security strategy," he said.

In December 1999, Secretary of Defense William Cohen deferred the cutting of the last 25,000 reserve-component troops recommended under the 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review, citing their increased responsibilities helping the Army maintain its obligations.

During a short press conference after his speech, Plewes said he felt the question of the 25,000-soldier cut called for in the last QDR is not resolved, only postponed.

He said owing to the fact that these positions are no longer in the budget, the savings associated with their scheduled cut must be found somewhere else.

For example, the Department of Defense reimbursed the Army the $48 million it would have saved in fiscal year (FY) 2001 had the cuts gone through. But, he said there is still a question about the $150 million savings that were factored in for FY 2002 and money in the years beyond.

"Over the course of the five-year period, the Army took a look at what it would save had it taken the required cut, and it amounts to somewhere between 600 to 800 million dollars.

"So we've still got to face the dollar issue. If we retain the 25,000, someone has to find the money to pay them, because the money is essentially outside the budget, he said.

However, Plewes said he felt confident no one involved in the decision-making process, including Congress or Defense officials, was eager to make more cuts in personnel. He said the evolving and expanding missions of the Guard and Reserve since the time these cuts were dictated gave him hope a solution would be found.

Plewes said more than 13,000 Reserve soldiers have served in Bosnia, Germany and Hungary over the last three-and-a-half years and another 7,000 served in Guatemala and El Salvador last summer conducting relief efforts after Hurricane Mitch.

He also said during the press conference there are currently three Presidential Call-Ups in effect, in Kosovo, Kuwait and Bosnia.

"The Army today is undersized and overmissioned and we're part of not only that Army, we're part of the solution," he said.

To continue to perform successfully, Plewes said the Army Reserve must do a better job at recruiting.

He said last year there was a 10,500 shortfall of new soldiers, although retention of those already in was up 4.8 percent. This allowed the Reserve to maintain its desired end strength of 205,000 people in more than 2,000 units.

Even though deployed more, both for operational and training purposes, than at any other time in its history, Plewes believes it is no coincidence that the Army Reserve is readier than ever and full-time support at units is at its highest levels ever, yet more is needed.

"Full-time manning is a readiness issue. It's not simply a matter of equity or a matter of being nice. It is absolutely required for our readiness.

"We need 1,800 more AGRs (Active Guard/Reserve soldiers) and 1,400 more military technicians. We need them out in our units today to make our possibility of having the kind of readiness that we owe the Army a successful factor," he said.

He said the Army Reserve will play a big part in the Army's goal of strategic responsiveness.

Plewes said the idea of the Army being a strategic instrument of national policy is challenged by its limited forward presence overseas. But the Reserve can help enable that goal with its Garrison Support Units, Military Traffic Management Command transportation terminal units that run the ports, and medical support units that staff the hospitals.

There also are split-based operations, allowing the Reserve to deploy a minimum amount of troops and equipment, yet provide full logistical support.

He said the Reserve needs to capitalize and build on its core competencies and strengths and capabilities. But it also needs to build on those talents that Army reservists, as citizen-soldiers, bring to the battle.

"We'll also enable responsiveness by taking advantage of the civilian-acquired skills our soldiers bring with them to the Army Reserve. These skills enhance the ability to utilize the best business practices of the corporate world," he said.

Information technology superiority is a prime example of how reservists, with their civilian-acquired skills are benefiting the Army.

It's hard for the Army to retain soldiers with skills so highly in demand in the corporate sector, but Plewes said the Army Reserve can strike a chord with those who want to serve their country, just not on a full-time basis.

Plewes said, for much of its history, the Army Reserve has tried to make civilians look military, forgetting the skills they bring with them.

"Wear the uniform, put on a grade and an MOS (military occupational specialty) and that's what you do best. We have forgotten about the strengths that the civilian brings from the civilian sector," he said.

To that end, the Army Reserve Personnel Command is now maintaining a database of 13,500 soldiers with information technology skills. This is similar to the foreign-language capabilities of soldiers that have been a part of personnel records for some time.

"We are going to look at a new paradigm for how we present ourselves to the Army - a full array of capability - we're not just a rank and an MOS. We bring to the Army something that the Army needs in this high-tech world of the future," he said.

The general talked about shifting equipment out of Reserve Centers and pre-positioning it where it will be needed.

While plans are not yet finalized, some Army Reserve watercraft will be moved out of ports in the United States and stationed in the Persian Gulf. Units will go to the Gulf to train on their equipment.

Other equipment will move to controlled-humidity storage sites near ports. The first of these, scheduled to be built in Gulfport, Miss., will have 450,000 square feet of storage.

The equipment will be configured for deployment so soldiers can fall in on it and move quickly to theaters of operation.

Plewes also talked about depending even more on the forward-stationed Reserve soldiers of the 7th Army Reserve Command in Germany and the 9th Reserve Support Command in Hawaii.

Plewes said the Reserve is currently involved across the Army's training spectrum, but would like to see even more involvement.

Doing more in a training function allows the active component to return more soldiers to combat divisions, he said.