| Reserve Component Of The Armed Forces Of The United States |
Article Index for Reserve |
Shopping Reserve |
Website Links For Reserve |
Information AboutReserve Component Of The Armed Forces Of The United States |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT RESERVE COMPONENT OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES | |
| military of the united states | |
|
RESERVE COMPONENTS The seven reserve components of the U.S. military are: # Army National Guard Of The United States # Army Reserve # Navy Reserve # Marine Corps Reserve # Air National Guard Of The United States # Air Force Reserve # Coast Guard Reserve The Civil Air Patrol , Merchant Marine , and Coast Guard Auxiliary are civilian Auxiliaries to the Air Force , Navy , and Coast Guard , respectively. Additionally, the various Naval Militia s and State Guards (a.k.a. State Defense Forces) are not considered reserve components because they are not federally recognized even though they perform a military function. PURPOSE According to , the purpose of each reserve component is to provide trained units and qualified persons available for active duty in the armed forces, in time of War or national emergency, and at such other times as the National Security may require, to fill the needs of the armed forces whenever, during and after the period needed to procure and train additional units and qualified persons to achieve the planned mobilization, more units and persons are needed than are in the regular components. GENERAL INFORMATION The reserve components are the embodiment of the American tradition of the citizen-soldier dating back to before the American Revolutionary War . They are regionally based and recruited (unlike their active duty counterparts) and, in the case of the Army and Air National Guard, are the organized state militias referred to in the U.S. Constitution . Members of the reserve components are generally required to perform, at a minimum, 39 days of military service per year. This includes monthly drill weekends and fifteen days of annual training (giving rise to the old slogan “ One Weekend A Month, Two Weeks A Year ”). While organized, trained, and equipped nearly the same as the active duty, the reserve components often have unique characteristics. This is especially true of the National Guard, which performs both federal and state missions. In addition, reserve components often operate under special laws, regulations, and policies. RESERVE VS. NATIONAL GUARD The definition of the term “reserve” varies depending on the context. In one context, as used here in this article, it applies to all seven of the reserve components of the U.S. military. In another context, it applies to only the five reserve components directly associated with the five active duty military services but not to the Army National Guard nor the Air National Guard. In most respects, the Army National Guard and Air National Guard are very similar to the Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve, respectively. The primary difference lies in the level of government to which they are subordinated. The Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve are subordinated to the federal government while the National Guards are subordinated to the various state governments, except when called into federal service by the President Of The United States or as provided for by law. For example, the Washington Army National Guard and Washington Air National Guard are subordinated to the state of Washington and report to the governor of Washington as their Commander-in-chief . This unique relationship descends from the colonial and state Militia s that served as a balance against a standing federal army, which many Americans feared would threaten States’ Rights . The militias were organized into the present National Guard system with the Militia Act Of 1903 . Besides the theoretical check on federal power, the distinction between the federal military reserves and the National Guard permits state governors to use their personnel to assist in disaster relief and to preserve law and order in times of crisis. The latter is permitted because the National Guard are not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act unless they are under federal jurisdiction. The restrictions, however, do apply to the other five reserve components just as it does with their active duty military counterparts. RESERVE COMPONENT CATEGORIES All members of a reserve component are assigned to one of three reserve component categories:
MOBILIZATION Individual servicemembers or entire units of the reserve components may be called into active duty (also referred to as mobilized, activated, or called up), under several conditions:
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
REFERENCES This article incorporates text from the following sources: |
|
|