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CNGR Final Report Summary: The Best Shot for a Stronger, Sustainable Reserve Component

Core Content

The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves (CNGR) released its final report on January 31, 2008, offering a comprehensive and authoritative review of the National Guard and Reserve forces. The report outlines nearly 100 recommendations aimed at transforming these reserve components into a sustainable operational force for both domestic and international missions. It emphasizes the need for long-term institutional changes, financial investment, and improved coordination between the Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal agencies.

Main Recommendations

The report is organized into six major categories, each addressing critical aspects of the transformation:

1. Creating a Sustainable Operational Reserve

• The National Guard and Reserves are essential for executing the nation's national security strategy and will remain so.
• The operational reserve model is necessary to avoid a return to the Cold War draft model.
• The executive and legislative branches must ensure the sustainability of this model.

2. Enhancing the Defense Department's Role in the Homeland

• DOD has a core competency in responding to natural and man-made disasters.
• Congress should mandate that the National Guard and Reserves lead DOD operations in the homeland.
• The Secretary of Homeland Security and Secretary of Defense should collaborate on civil support requirements.
• DOD must ensure that rapid responders are properly manned, trained, and equipped.

3. Creating a Continuum of Service

• The DOPMA and ROPMA should be merged into a single system.
• Reserve component officers should be designated as "joint qualified" under the Goldwater-Nichols Act.
• A combined pay and personnel system should be implemented.
• Active and reserve components should be included in the same retirement system.

4. Developing a Ready, Capable, and Available Operational Reserve

• The services and Congress must ensure adequate funding for reserve readiness.
• Training institutions and facilities must be resourced properly.
• Total force equipment requirements should be integrated into materiel development and procurement plans.
• A baseline review of reserve equipment is necessary, considering both current degradation and future force generation models.
• Critical dual-use equipment should be provided by 2013 to support homeland missions.

5. Supporting Service Members, Families and Employers

• A stipend or tax credit should be provided to employers to cover the cost of maintaining activated service members' families in health insurance.
• DOD should increase funding for family support services.
• The mission of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves (ESGR) should be expanded.

6. Reforming the Organizations and Institutions that Support an Operational Reserve

• The current reserve categories should be reorganized into Operational Reserve Force and Strategic Reserve Force.
• This change would better reflect the current and future roles of the National Guard and Reserves.
• The Selected Reserve, Individual Ready Reserve, and Retired Reserve categories are outdated and do not align with modern operational needs.

Key Information

• The report is described as the most comprehensive and independent review of the National Guard and Reserve in the past 60 years.
• It emphasizes the urgency of implementing reforms, particularly in the areas of homeland response and operational readiness.
• The financial cost of the proposed changes is significant, but the report argues that the cost of inaction is even greater.
• Secretary Gates was supportive of earlier CNGR recommendations, but the report suggests that a new administration and secretary of defense will be needed to fully implement the transformation.
• The recommendations are nonpartisan, with the report highlighting the importance of a social compact that includes support for service members, families, and employers.

Conclusion

The CNGR Final Report provides a roadmap for modernizing the National Guard and Reserve, ensuring they remain a critical part of the nation's defense strategy. It calls for a holistic approach involving both the DOD and Congress, with a focus on sustainability, readiness, and support systems. The report underscores the importance of the reserve components in both combat and civil support roles and highlights the need for policy and institutional reform to meet 21st-century security challenges.