{"id":29584,"date":"2015-07-20T13:11:53","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T13:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2015\/07\/20\/commission-wants-easier-active-to-reserve-transition\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:48:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:48:40","slug":"commission-wants-easier-active-to-reserve-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2015\/07\/20\/commission-wants-easier-active-to-reserve-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission wants easier active-to-reserve transition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Congress tasked the commission, led by retired Gen. Carter Ham, to examine the structure of the Army and recommend ways to make the best use out of limited resources and a shrinking end-strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also specifically examine the impact of the controversial transfer of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopters from the Army National Guard to active duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission’s recommendations are due to Congress no later than Feb. 1, 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a public meeting Thursday, Ham said it’s a “high priority” to improve the shift of soldiers between active duty, the Reserve and the National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have heard over and over again from soldiers from all three components a desire to move more seamlessly between components,” Ham\u00a0told the Army Times, after the meeting in Arlington, Virginia. “Current policies and procedures make that fairly difficult.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An easier transition could make reserve components more appealing to\u00a0soldiers as the Army draws down to 450,000 soldiers\u00a0by the end of 2018<\/a>. That would mean retention of key skills and experience that the military could summon if needed, and at a fraction of the price of growing new recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If we can come up with some recommendations that might make those kind of transitions easier, that would be a benefit to the Army and to the nation,” Ham said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The personnel aspect jives with Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s broader aims to make the Army more nimble in its ability to attract and more quickly utilize and reward talent. Among other reforms, Carter\u00a0has said<\/a>\u00a0he wants to fundamentally change the promotion system to skew more to merit and skill and\u00a0create new midcareer entry points for needed skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel Brad Carson echoed that sentiment when he\u00a0referred in a memo<\/a>\u00a0to the “calcified personnel system largely unchanged since 1947” and warned “we will increasingly bleed key talent to the private sector.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tough words for congressmen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro, invited to speak before the commission, added some flare to the meeting. Among other quips, Punaro called sequestration the biggest threat to National Security in his lifetime and said “anytime you bump into a congressman on the hill that’s voted to keep the sequester, choke him to within an inch of his life,” drawing laughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Punaro, the chair of the Reserve Forces Policy Board, stressed that the reserve component is a cost-efficient way to have a strong military. He also cited the Abram’s Doctrine \u2014 if the military goes to war, Guard and reserves should go with it \u2014 in arguing that the reserve component should be a ready and able part of the nation’s fighting force. And while criticizing Congress, he also said the Pentagon needed to change as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’ve got to break out of these old ways of doing business at the Pentagon.\u00a0Congress has got to give the Pentagon more flexibility in the way they manage their money. So I think that’s another area where the commission can strike a blow for freedom,” Punaro said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among specific recommendations in his testimony to the commission:<\/p>\n\n\n\n