THE FUTURE OF THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVES THE BEYOND GOLDWATER-NICHOLS PHASE III REPORT PRINCIPAL AUTHOR CHRISTINE E. WORMUTH CO-AUTHORS MICHÈLE A. FLOURNOY PATRICK T. HENRY CLARK A. MURDOCK JULY 2006 About CSIS For four decades, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has been dedicated to providing world leaders with strategic insights on – and policy solutions to – current and emerging global issues. CSIS is led by John J. Hamre, formerly US deputy secretary of defense. It is guided by a board of trustees chaired by former senator Sam Nunn and consisting of prominent individuals from both the public and private sectors. The 190 CSIS researchers and support staff focus primarily on three subject areas. First, CSIS addresses the full spectrum of new challenges to national and international security. Second, it maintains resident experts on all of the world's major geographical regions. Third, it is committed to helping develop new methods of governance for the global age, including through its programs on technology and public policy, international trade and finance, and energy. Headquartered in Washington, DC, CSIS is private, nonpartisan, and tax-exempt. Center for Strategic and International Studies 1800 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006 Tel: (202) 887-0200 Fax: (202) 775-3199 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.csis.org Cover Photographs: © United States Department of Defense Cover Design by Jake Harrington, CSIS The Future of the National Guard and Reserves The Future of the National Guard and Reserves Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. IV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................. VII INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................XV 1. FUTURE ROLES AND MISSIONS FOR THE RESERVE COMPONENT.....................1 2. RESERVE COMPONENT FORCE STRUCTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY................10 3. CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH EMPLOYING THE RESERVE COMPONENT AS AN OPERATIONAL FORCE .......................................................................................24 4. REALIGNING THE DOD WORKFORCE TO MAXIMIZE CONSTRAINED RESOURCES .....................................................................................................................49 5. THE RESERVE COMPONENT’S ROLE IN HOMELAND DEFENSE AND CIVIL SUPPORT..........................................................................................................................62 6. ADAPTING THE SOCIAL COMPACT........................................................................92 APPENDIX A: SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................A-1 APPENDIX B: WORKING GROUP AND SENIOR REVIEW GROUP MEMBERS ....B-1 APPENDIX C: LIST OF ACRONYMS .......................................................................... C-1 The Center for Strategic and International Studies The Future of the National Guard and Reserves ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Future of the National Guard and Reserves is the result of an enormous effort by many dedicated, talented, and knowledgeable professionals whose myriad contributions led to the publication of this report and the sharing of its major findings with a wide range of audiences inside and outside the Department of Defense. All are owed significant praise and appreciation for their commitment to the funding, research, debate, discussion, and effort that went into producing this report. This study began in January 2005 and was conducted as part of Phase III of the Beyond Goldwater-Nichols Project (BG-N) under the auspices of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Christine Wormuth led the study, working closely with the three key members of the core study team: Michèle Flournoy, P.T. Henry, and Clark Murdock. The study team was extremely fortunate to draw on the considerable experience, wisdom and intellectual energy of the more than 60 people who generously gave their time to serve on one or more of the study’s three working groups. Working group members included current and former civilian and military officials and a wide range of subject matter experts drawn from think tanks, academia, U.S. government, and congressional organizations, as well as organizations representing state government and the business community (See Appendix B for the list of working group members). The study team is truly grateful to all those who participated, knowing first hand that the scarcest commodity for many in the policy community is time. Each working group met five or six times each during 2005 and 2006 to review CSIS materials, and many group members also participated in April 2006 sessions to review and critique the draft study results. Discussion in the working group sessions was frank, open, often heated, and tremendously helpful in guiding and improving the study team’s effort. The study’s final report is an ISP Guard and Reserve team product; participation as a working group member does not imply endorsement of any or all of the study results. The study team would particularly like to thank Richard Weitz for his research and support of the working groups. The year-and-a-half long study also benefited from the vital contributions of a number of people and would be a much paler effort were it not for these The Center for Strategic and International Studies iv The Future of the National Guard and Reserves individuals. The study team would like to thank Richard Stark for his tireless efforts to build the study’s foundation and develop intellectual capital before the study even got underway. Dave McGinnis and Charlie Horner provided critical research, analytical, and practical perspectives on a wide range of study issues across all three working groups. The CSIS 2005-2006 Military Fellows also provided invaluable research, knowledge, and expertise. The study team would particularly like to acknowledge the indispensable and indefatigable contributions of Col. Matt Artero (CSIS Army National Guard Fellow), Col. Ray Bingham (CSIS Army Fellow), and Col. Mike Melillo (CSIS Marine Corps Fellow). The expertise and professionalism of all of the 2005-2006 Military Fellows is outstanding and contributed greatly to the substance of The Future of the National Guard and Reserves report. As anyone who has worked in Washington, D.C. knows, studies of this magnitude do not come to fruition without the dedicated research, analytical, and administrative support of energetic and talented younger professionals. The study team would like to thank Will Sullivan and Zachary Jacobson, two key ISP research assistants for their extensive research efforts, as well as Katie Ruppert, Anna Souza, Michael Virga, and Will Wagner who supported the project during their internships at CSIS. Jake Harrington and Shawn Brimley deserve particular thanks for their extensive support of the study in every area. Jake and Shawn provided research, analysis, writing, editing, graphics, scheduling, logistics, and budgeting capabilities, and did it all with grace, humor, and calm. The study team deeply appreciates their hard work. In addition to the working group members, the study benefited from meetings with representatives from a wide range of organizations within the Department of Defense and other agencies. We would like to thank all of those were kind enough to make time, both formally and informally, to meet with the study team, answer our questions and challenge our initial findings and recommendations. We would like to extend our gratitude to the Smith Richardson Foundation and the McCormick-Tribune Foundation for providing initial funding for this project. Through the FY05 Defense Appropriations Act, the U.S. Congress directed the Department of Defense to provide funding for Phase III of the BG-N effort. The Office of Program Analysis & Evaluation (PA&E) in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) monitored the study’s progress. CSIS and the study team would like to thank OSD for allowing the study team to proceed in its work with the same freedom and independence that it did during The Center for Strategic and International Studies v The Future of the National Guard and Reserves Phases I and II. The study team is particularly grateful to Preston Dunlap, who served as the task monitor for PA&E. The study team was fortunate to be able to look to Dr. John Hamre, president and CEO of CSIS, for key intellectual leadership and policy guidance. He met frequently with the Guard and Reserve study team and engaged in lively brainstorming sessions as the team identified potential problems, analyzed them, and developed recommendations. Dr. Hamre also hosted a tremendously useful “murder board” session with senior-level former officials in April 2006 (See Appendix B for the list of participants). This session was a critical source of end- of-the-runway adjustments, and CSIS wishes to thank each of the participants. Finally, the study team is particularly grateful for the superb editing provided by Vinca LaFleur. She wields a masterful red pen with patience and professionalism, and does both under tight deadlines. The Center for Strategic and International Studies vi The Future of the National Guard and Reserves EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The way the United States uses its National Guard and Reserves has been evolving over the last decade, but for many of those years the changes