Americas Defense Meltdown - IT Acquisition Advisory Council

190 • The Army National Guard, the Army Reserve and the Marine Corps Reservefacilitates preparations for local operations as well as greatly reducing the time neededto respond to local emergencies. It also makes it possible for National Guard units toconduct most of their training during relatively short periods of time – single days,weekends, single weeks and fortnights. In other words, while most Army Reserve orMarine Corps Reserve units are lifecycle units, National Guard units are “continuousexistence” units.The basic unit of the National Guard is the National Guard regiment. Just as theNational Guard as a whole is a unique organization, the National Guard regiment isa unique type of unit. With capabilities in such diverse areas as local security, transportation,emergency medical care, rescue, decontamination, engineering, communications,liaison, transport and unmanned aviation, a National Guard regiment is amicrocosm of the National Guard as a whole. That is, each National Guard regimentis capable of fulfilling most of the definitive functions of the National Guard with littleor no reinforcement. While most National Guard units are configured as NationalGuard regiments, a few serve as specialized reinforcing units of various kinds. Theseinclude task force headquarters, mobile hospitals, aviation units, engineer units andlogistics units.The organization and equipment of each National Guard regiment is custom tailoredto the peculiarities of the community in which it serves. For example, regimentsthat serve in areas plagued with forest fires are provided with a great deal of firefightingequipment, while those that are located in places that are prone to flooding areequipped with boats and amphibious vehicles. Similarly, National Guard regiments incommunities where breakdowns of public order are of concern have more capabilitiesin the realm of “boots on the ground” local security while those that operate over largesparsely populated areas make greater use of unmanned aerial vehicles.All members of the National Guard are either veterans of another branch of service(to include the old Army National Guard) or are members of a lifecycle reserve unitof the Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Air Force that has completed its initial period ofactive duty. This requirement that all members of the National Guard receive theirinitial training in another branch of the service relieves the National Guard of theburden of providing entry-level individual training. It also ensures that each memberof the National Guard is familiar with the language, capabilities and culture of one ofthe other services. In addition to facilitating inter-service cooperation, the “outsourcing”of initial training also broadens the inventory of skills in each National Guardunit, thereby expanding its tactical repertoire and increasing its ability to adapt tonew circumstances.The “simultaneous membership program” encourages reservists of other branchesto join the National Guard at any point after their respective units have completedtheir initial periods of active duty. The most obvious objection to this program, that itcomplicates both mobilization and training by creating the possibility that one person