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1973 – Secretary of Defense Melvin R Laird announces the adoption of the “Total Force Policy” as the new doctrine of American military preparedness.
The war in Vietnam had just ended. One of the major conclusions drawn from that experience was that the American people had not supported the war because it was fought without a stated declaration and the Johnson Administration failed to mobilize and use large numbers of Reserve Component (RC) forces, including the National Guard.
By conscripting (drafting) individual men for service there is little notice by the larger community. However, when an RC unit is mobilized, often taking dozens to hundreds of personnel at one time, attracting big local headlines and impacting whole communities in numerous ways. Only by having a supportive populous, one backing the effort, can American military objectives be met. By restructuring missions, training and equipment to more fully integrate RC units in with their active duty counterparts, it was hoped that the U.S. could never commit itself to another war without the debate sure to come by mobilizing the Guard and Reserves.
This proved true first in Operations DESERT SHIELD/STORM in 1990-1991 and again in Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM starting in 2001. So many necessary elements of the American military now belong to the RC that active duty forces can not fight a major conflict with RC mobilization. This is just what the planners of Total Force envisioned.
https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2005/08/24/august-23/
The war in Vietnam had just ended. One of the major conclusions drawn from that experience was that the American people had not supported the war because it was fought without a stated declaration and the Johnson Administration failed to mobilize and use large numbers of Reserve Component (RC) forces, including the National Guard.
By conscripting (drafting) individual men for service there is little notice by the larger community. However, when an RC unit is mobilized, often taking dozens to hundreds of personnel at one time, attracting big local headlines and impacting whole communities in numerous ways. Only by having a supportive populous, one backing the effort, can American military objectives be met. By restructuring missions, training and equipment to more fully integrate RC units in with their active duty counterparts, it was hoped that the U.S. could never commit itself to another war without the debate sure to come by mobilizing the Guard and Reserves.
This proved true first in Operations DESERT SHIELD/STORM in 1990-1991 and again in Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM starting in 2001. So many necessary elements of the American military now belong to the RC that active duty forces can not fight a major conflict with RC mobilization. This is just what the planners of Total Force envisioned.
https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2005/08/24/august-23/
Reserves
NGB
Army
Air Force
Military History
Posted >1 y ago
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