Americas Defense Meltdown - IT Acquisition Advisory Council

192 • The Army National Guard, the Army Reserve and the Marine Corps Reservethus inherently more humane. The same basic approach used in the deployment ofstanding companies within the United States is also of use in community-buildingefforts that take place in foreign countries. As such efforts make considerable demandsupon the home communities in question, the laws governing the activation ofthe National Guard require that the state legislatures of the states involved give theirexplicit permission before standing companies can be sent overseas.In time of war, activated National Guard units serve in two different ways. Whilesome National Guard units provide for the immediate defense of the communities inwhich they serve, others are assigned to multi-service task forces of various kinds.Within these joint task forces, activated National Guard units perform services thatmake use of their capabilities. These services include rear-area security, the guardingof prisoners of war, the establishment of military government, and, in the case ofspecialized units, the provision of medical, engineering, logistics and transportationsupport.Aviation UnitsMost reserve aviation units belong to the Air National Guard, the Air Force Reserve,or, to a somewhat lesser degree, the Navy Reserve. Nonetheless, a proportion of theunits of the National Guard, the Army Reserve and the Marine Corps Reserve areconfigured as aviation units of one sort or another. In particular, these units are oftypes that habitually work closely with forces on the ground. Thus, they are equippedwith helicopters, light fixed-wing aircraft, transports and ground attack planes. (Asthe old cartel arrangements that precluded certain services from flying certain typesof aircraft have been abolished, the order of battle of the Army Reserve includes anumber of ground attack squadrons.)As is the case with all other reserve units, the structures and schedules of reserveaviation units are custom tailored to their peculiar needs. This usually results in arrangementsthat resemble those of comparable units in the Air National Guard andAir Force Reserve. That is, rather than being lifecycle units of one sort or another,reserve aviation units are continuous existence units in which most members servefor relatively short periods of time. In order to provide for such things as maintenance,however, reserve aviation units are provided with much more in the way of full-timestaff than other units. Some members of this full-time staff are uniformed personnelserving tours of active duty. Others are on special contracts that call for them to workas civilians at the base where the unit is stationed, but serve with the reserve unitwhen it assembles for training or active service.TransitionIn the middle years of the 19th century, the recasting of artillery pieces was an incrementalprocess. At any given time, pieces cast on new patterns were arriving, the