Is 39 training days good enough for the National Guard and Reserves?

I've been in the ARNG for 10 years, and USAR for 9, plus mobilization (several years under First Army, as a matter of fact). There will never be enough time, regardless of whether you're AC or RC. There's just too many commitments in addition to the training mission. Additional days for those who can manage it along with their civilian careers would be very welcome, in my opinion.

I think it is difficult for any reserve component unit to be fully trained. When I was an active duty Bradley Infantry Company Commander in Germany, it was a full time effort to stay trained and ready. Systems these days are even more complex and I have no idea how a RC unit is able to stay current on just one weekend a month and two weeks of AT. That being said, I think some of this also falls on reserve units for their training management. In my last unit was in the 75th Training Command and thus was not an MTOE unit. We had the responsibility to train Brigade and Battalion staffs. We wasted so much time during our battle assemblies doing mandatory training, ranges, and other non-related to our mission tasks. We checked the block on a lot of stuff but there was only a small core of officers and NCOs that knew their job. Outside of those, most did not even know the steps of MDMP and that was one of our core tasks to train staffs on. We had enough time to get a lot more done but because it could not go on an OER like 100% trained on SHARP or 100% qualified on pistol (our unit did not even have any weapons), we did not stress it.

Another point is the impact that additional training days will have on civilian employers. Most will do their duty and support their part time Soldier. But it can also get to the point where they start to question dedication once the duty goes beyond the one weekend and two weeks. At what point does it become a burden to the employer? This is especially true as they see the President saying that combat operations are over in Iraq and almost over in Afghanistan. I am not sure they will have the same support for RC Soldiers when it comes to deploying for long training missions that are not combat operations. If the RC loses the support of the community and employers, it will be very costly. All too often, active duty Soldiers do not realize the impact of deployments on a part time Soldier because they do not experience that. It is easy for him to say we need more training time but what will the cost be on the Soldier if employment security is gone?

My son is in the Guard. From what he has to say after a drill weekend. It is not the amount of days that they train, it is the training itself. It is not well thought out or structerd to get the most out of the time they have available to them. To many times they spend all weekend and accomplish nothing. This is a command problem.

Sir, I am currently in the Army Reserve and I feel that while the time we are given to train is both good and bad. For reserve/guard soldiers, it allows them to have a civilian job, attend schooling, as well as keeping them refreshed on their MOS training and other drills they do at BA. However, if a Reserve/guard unit were to be deploy they would need to train for a while before they are fit and ready to be able to be as prepared as an Active unit both physically and mentally as well as ready to perform their MOS in a deployment situation.

I don't think we train 39 days out of the year on Active Duty, but we do our jobs on a near-daily basis. Many National Guard and Reservists have a civilian equivalent of their Army positions. I'd like to think 39 days is sufficient, but it really depends on the unit's mission and the technical skills required for the personnel in the command.

Make better use of time at drill. The briefings & annual training requirements should be handled between drills, with credit given for early release on sundays. The tired tradition of standing around waiting to be released does more damage to soldiers motivation and commuting safety than anything else. The time at drill should be laser focused on METL & Be Know Do.

39 training days??? There are 48 battle assemblies and 14-29 days of annual training. Not sure where the 39 comes from. Additionally the current number of training days are never enough especially when you have no many enlisted soldiers in low density MOS that do not do their military job in their civilian employment. My background is medical so this is near and dear to me. We NEVER had enough time to train our medics, resp therapists etc during BA or AT because 1SG, Co CMDR always tasked them out to other lest meaningful things. It is bad enough it is catch as catch can during regular training.

I think it would be enough time if there was better training value. My unit recently had us flown out on chinooks only to land as a cluster f@#k, and then proceeded to do basic battle drills that could've been done by team leaders in the woods behind our home station. There's plenty of time but it often goes wasted because many of the young officers and NCOs have never been active or deployed and lack the training themselves. I could go on about the lack of good guard training for days lol

Depends on the unit as well as what the training is meant to accomplish - what level of readiness is the training goal? For I/C/S, absolutely it is enough, or would be if the admin burden of various 'awareness' classes didn't eat so much training time. Everyone recognizes that there is more training needed to get platoon/company/BCT level readiness. That's why the ARFORGEN cycle was developed and rotational readiness models are still being worked. Even the AC, with all their 200-220 days a year struggle to meet all the standards.

The good news is it appears the new Army leadership may finally put their money where their mouths are and resource Guard and Reserve requirements - more rotations through maneuver training sites. Even given 120 training days at home station, my Ordnance Detachment could not achieve proficiency on BN level tasks. Units need resources and training sites available for the BN to train together.

I remember GEN Casey calling the Guard to task early on in the GWOT response because we had to cross-level and break numerous units to put whole units together and get them out the door. LTG Vaughn's response was spot-on. "The Army got the ARNG it had been willing to pay for." Army plans for round-outs never materialized because they were never resourced. Low density units that were resourced at 60% or less because Army was still focused on the Fulda Gap rather than unconventional warfare were 60% or less ready - as would be expected.

I think there should be a way for Reserve/Guard members to come in on extra weekends, if they choose, to put in more time if they want. If there is already an active component at the base, wouldn't it be feasible to integrate one of these members into some training?

I think many would want to have more training, if it were feasible to attain.