Seapower and the reserve components

Joint Force Quarterly,  Dec, 2004  by Gordon I. Peterson

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After the United States was attacked on 9/11, Coast Guard, Navy, and Marine Reservists did not wait for President George Bush's mobilization proclamation of September 14, 2001 to spring into action. Within minutes, Coast Guard Reservists reported to their active duty units in the tri-state New York City metropolitan area to support relief and emergency rescue operations at the site of the World Trade Center. Within days, more than 1,100 bolstered the ranks of active duty personnel engaged in security operations at ports and along waterways around the United States.

Each of the seven Reserve components responded similarly on 9/11 and during the following months, often without waiting to be ordered. "Before the fireball disappeared from above the Pentagon, Air National Guardsmen and Air Force, Navy, and Marine Reservists were patroling the skies over Washington, D.C., New York, and several other American cities," said Thomas Hall, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. "They volunteered and responded to the Nation's needs without hesitation and with a deep sense of purpose." (1)

At the peak of their mobilization in response to the President's declaration of a national emergency, nearly 38,000 sea service Reservists were on active duty by spring 2003:4,442 Coast Guard, 21,316 Marine Corps, and 12,045 Navy. For the Coast Guard and Marine Corps, this mobilization represented more than half of their selected Reservists (SELRES).

Just as the war on terrorism represents a watershed in national security affairs, it has also obliged the Department of Defense (DOD) and the services to reassess their Reserve organizations, including their resources and how they mobilize and demobilize. In July 2003, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directed the Secretaries of the four military departments, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Under Secretaries of Defense to rebalance active and Reserve capabilities. He indicated that the relationship is not optimal for future needs and that three initiatives are needed:

* structuring active and Reserve forces to reduce the need for involuntary mobilization of the Guard and Reserve

* establishing a more rigorous process for reviewing joint requirements

* making mobilization and demobilization more efficient.

The Navy and Marine Corps were well under way in reviewing their Reserve components before Rumsfeld's tasking. The Coast Guard, a multimission and military service assigned to the Department of Homeland Security, also launched a strategic assessment of its Reserve component in 2003 to address post-9/11 mobilization needs.

Based on their service-unique organizations, missions, experiences since 9/11, and visions of the future, all the sea services are taking steps to reshape, realign, or rebalance their Reserve components to meet 21st century requirements.

Team Coast Guard

The Coast Guard Reserve is best described as a force provider for its parent service. Under the Team Coast Guard concept implemented in the 1990s, individual Reserve training units were eliminated and selected Reservists were integrated into active operational units. This provision for force augmentation allows the service to use trained Reservists for day-to-day operations and surge units for emergent missions such as disaster relief following a flood, environmental cleanup of an oil spill, or DOD contingency operation overseas--while continuing to perform traditional missions.

Contrasting the Coast Guard Reserve with the other services' Reserve components, Vice Admiral Thomas Barrett, Vice Commandant, said, "Our Reservists come in different packages; one size doesn't fit all." (2)

Of its 8,000 selected Reservists, the Coast Guard mobilized more than 5,400 following the 9/11 attacks, the most since World War II. Given its lead role for maritime homeland security, it assigned the majority to the United States to support units safeguarding military loadouts in ports and participate in Liberty Shield. The surge mode during the past two years saw Reservists mobilized primarily as individuals assigned to active fleet units; the six port security units (PSUs) are a principal exception.

Each PSU numbers 135 selected Reservists and S active duty members. While mainly intended for harbor defense and port security overseas, the units can be employed for homeland security missions. PSUs should be prepared to deploy within 96 hours.

Some 550 selected Reservists deployed overseas during expeditionary operations in support of the Coast Guard's Title 10 responsibilities as part of the war on terrorism during Iraqi Freedom. Most served in the four PSUs deployed to the U.S. European and Central Command areas of responsibility in the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf. "[Reservists] have been tremendously effective in helping us meet the surge requirement," said Admiral Thomas Collins, Commandant of the Coast Guard. (3) Vice Admiral Timothy Keating, then commander U.S. Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces Central Command, also praised Coast Guard Reserve-augmented units during Iraqi Freedom, telling the U.S. Naval Institute Forum 2003, "They are employed around the clock" providing port security and interdicting oil smuggled out of Iraq.