The Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 established an independent Commission on the National Guard and Reserves which is charged by Congress to conduct a comprehensive examination of how the Guard and Reserves are used in national defense, including homeland defense, and to recommend any needed changes in laws and policies governing the National Guard and Reserves. An additional requirement to make recommendations on legislatively-proposed changes to the National Guard was assigned to the Commission by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007.

The final report of the Commission, to be submitted to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and the Secretary of Defense in January 2008, will include recommendations covering the Guard and Reserves' roles and missions, capabilities, organization and structure, training and readiness, compensation and benefits, career paths, and the funding they receive. An interim report on the legislatively-proposed changes to the National Guard is due March 1, 2007.

During its tenure the Commission is conducting interviews, meetings, and hearings involving stakeholders in the Guard and Reserves — members and their families, employers, military leaders, and state and local government leaders, among them.

The Commission is examining the Guard and Reserves at a time when their operational tempo has increased significantly — beginning with Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm and continuing through Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq prior to the September 11 attacks on the U.S., and Afghanistan and Iraq following the attacks. The U.S. mobilized about 400,000 members of the Guard and Reserves in the seven years between the first Gulf War and 9/11, and more than 550,000 in the five years following 9/11.

The 13 Commissioners are appointed by the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and the Secretary of Defense on the basis of their knowledge and expertise in areas such as national security, military readiness, personnel compensation and benefits, and roles and missions of the Armed Forces, National Guard, and Reserves.

Key Issues

The Commission's authorizing statutes specify the scope of the work it is to perform.

The major issues related to the National Guard and Reserves that are to be studied under the Commission’s original FY 2005 charter include:

• Roles and Missions — Appropriate roles and missions in meeting national security needs, now and in the future.
• Capabilities — Best use of reserve components and personnel to support Armed Forces operations and achievement of national security objectives, including homeland defense.
• Operational Support — Effectiveness of the Department of Defense plan to implement the new personnel accounting category which has been developed to properly account for reserve members on active duty in support of total force missions.
• Organization and Structure — Effectiveness of the current organization and structure of the Guard and Reserves and adequacy of Department of Defense and individual service plans for their future organization and structure.
• Training — Adequacy of current organization and funding of training and changes needed to best achieve training objectives and operational readiness.
• Readiness — Effectiveness of policies and programs for achieving operational readiness — troops trained and equipment on hand, maintained, and functioning — as well as personnel readiness, including medical and personal readiness.
• Personnel Compensation and Benefits — Adequacy and appropriateness of compensation and benefits, including the availability of health care benefits and health insurance — For both regular and reserve components of the Armed Forces, likely effects of proposed compensation and benefit changes — The feasible options for improving compensation and benefits and, for each, the cost-effectiveness and any foreseeable effects on readiness, recruitment, and retention of regular and reserve personnel.
• Career Paths — Effectiveness of traditional military career paths and identification of alternative career paths that could enhance professional development.
• Funding — Over past years, adequacy of the funding provided for equipment and for personnel in both active duty and reserve military personnel accounts.
• Other — Other issues deemed relevant to the purposes of the Commission.

Major issues being studied in response to the FY 2007 law include:

• Legislative Proposals — The advisability and feasibility of implementing two legislative proposals which would increase the responsibilities of the National Guard Bureau (NGB) within the Department of Defense, expand the role and raise the rank of the Chief of the NGB to general, make the Chief a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, give the NGB more influence in the Pentagon’s budget process, and elevate the role of the National Guard at U.S. Northern Command.
• Chief of National Guard Bureau — The advisability and feasibility of permitting the chief of the NGB to hold the rank of general in the current NGB organization as an alternative to giving the chief a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the rank of general.
• Dual Status — The advisability and feasibility of permitting activated National Guard officers to serve in both state and federal status as a means of achieving unity of command over units composed of both active duty and National Guard personnel.
• DoD Processes — The adequacy of Department of Defense processes for defining the equipment and funding necessary for the National Guard to meet its statutory responsibilities, including homeland defense and related missions.