An operational reserve: Is the concept still operative after a decade of war?

In the past decade, the U.S. military's Reserve components have faced an unprecedented rise in operational tempo. Since 2001, over 700,000 Reservists have been mobilized in support of domestic and overseas operations. In recent years, defense policymakers and certain military advocacy groups have championed a new concept – the Operational Reserve. The Operational Reserve is a significant departure from the historic role of the Reserve and National Guard as it serves with the expectation of being routinely and regularly employed in ongoing military missions. This concept was enshrined in both the 2006 and 2010 Quadrennial Defense Reviews (QDRs) with minimal discussion of the long-term consequences. In the roughly eight years since the inception of the Operational Reserve concept, an examination of its impact is overdue. Reserve personnel are increasingly distributed in geographic concentrations unrepresentative of the nation they serve. This concentration and repeated deployments places a disproportionate burden on certain communities, employers and local governments. As the Reserve population becomes more exurban and rural, particularly in the Army National Guard, convenient and reliable access to quality medical care and mental health services becomes an even more significant consideration. Recent reports have shown a surge in demand for behavioral health and counseling services among Reservists returning from deployment as well as a sharp spike in Reserve suicides between 2009 and 2010. Many counties and states with high densities of Reserve personnel are among the least equipped to deal with the pressing medical and family support needs caused by repeated combat deployments.