Reserve Forces Policy Board meets to discuss issues
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SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (USTCNS) --- Members of the Reserve Forces Policy Board met with leaders of U.S. Transportation Command last month to discuss a variety of issues.
Created by an act of Congress in 1952, the 24-member board is the principal independent policy advisor to the Secretary of Defense relating to reserve matters.
"This was the first visit of the board to USTRANSCOM," said Army Maj. Gen. Butch Pair, USTRANSCOM chief of staff. "They were here to gain insight into the unique roles and mission of USTRANSCOM, and how reserve forces support our mission."
The delegation of board members was lead by Army Maj. Gen. Richard Wightman Jr., who serves as military executive to the chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board. The major concern USTRANSCOM expressed is the importance of having immediate access to its reserve force in order to execute their mission of 'time definite delivery.'
"We are not asking for more," said Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Brown, USTRANSCOM deputy commander in chief. "We must have access to our reservists to meet critical dates in our operation plans."
Board members noted how well voluntary recalls to augment the active forces have worked in the past. However, USTRANSCOM leadership drove the point home. "At the very least, we need the ability to pre-identify mission-necessary reserve assets and keep them pre-mobilized for immediate access," Brown said.
To illustrate his point, Brown explained reservists fly 66 percent of the KC-135 refuelers.
"They must be there on day one," he said, "and only 11 percent of deployment is accomplished through airlift. The large bulk of deployment is left to surface and sealift. It is vital Military Traffic Management Command and Military Sealift Command are able to mobilize their reservists on day one as well. It is all about decision windows critical to plans implementation and success."
Specifically, three main issues were discussed with RFPB members:
(1) The commander in chief's access to reservists if USTRANSCOM requirements cannot be indefinitely sustained with volunteerism -- the commanders in chief require policy and legislation giving them direct access to limited numbers of involuntarily recalled reserve personnel;
(2) The need to standardize mobilization policies service-wide in order to get reservists processed and to their mobilization sites in a timely fashion - service estimates of two to 12 days for the mobilization process is too late for some USTRANSCOM Reserve billets;
(3) The full time support billet structure requires expansion to support the commander in chief reserve component requirements.
Wightman said this was not the first time or the only command expressing such concerns. He said board representatives would take the accessibility issue back to the full membership for consideration. By law, the board must provide the secretary of defense with a DOD Reserve Programs Annual Report. The secretary of defense, in turn, submits a report to the president and Congress.
Office of Public Affairs - transcom-pa@mail.mil
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