Jan. 21, 2004
By Will Dunham

 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seeking to avert an exodus of part-time soldiers, the chief of the U.S. Army Reserve on Tuesday faulted the Army's treatment of reservists and proposed to give them a firmer notion of when they may be plucked from civilian life for active duty.

The Army has been stretched thin by operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and has relied heavily on part-time Army Reserve soldiers, as well the Army National Guard.

Army Reserve soldiers have complained about getting very little notice before being summoned to active duty, repeated mobilizations, and equipment shortfalls.

Lt. Gen. James Helmly said changes are needed to prevent a "crisis" in retaining these soldiers in the all-volunteer U.S. military. There is concern within the Army that thousands of reservists will leave the military as soon as they are given the chance, undermining U.S. defense readiness.

"We have not, in the Army Reserve, applied the positive leadership necessary both in terms of how we treat people but also in our personnel practices and procedures to entice them to feel wanted, respected, admired," Helmly told reporters at the Pentagon.

Helmly said the Army Reserve needs to get the message across to reserve soldiers that "we value your service and we're not going to run this like a doggone flesh farm."

Aiming to give reservists more predictability in their lives, Helmly said he has proposed that these soldiers be told that reservists will be put on alert for short-notice mobilization -- in as little as five days -- during a window of six to nine months during any four-year period.

At all other times, mobilization would occur only in response to an emergency, Helmly indicated.

The Army Reserve currently has no official guidelines for when a soldier may be mobilized. The proposal still is being considered by the Pentagon leadership.

More than 30,000 Army Reserve soldiers are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan operations. The percentage of Army Reserve troops in the U.S. force in Iraq will increase this year as the Pentagon rotates weary troops home and replaces them with fresh ones.

"The culture in the Army Reserve is changing. We're changing from a force in reserve in which people believe they'll never get mobilized, and telling them up front, 'the intent is to prepare you and your unit for mobilization, and the likelihood is that you will be mobilized and brought to active duty,"' Helmly said.

But Helmly said that in building up the U.S. forces in Iraq, about 10,000 reserve soldiers were given less than five days notice before being mobilized, giving them scant time to prepare their families and civilian employers.