NPR ran a story this morning on the challenges of deploying of the real citizen soldiers:
Challenges put on National Guard and Reserve forces by extended call-ups would seem to be a severe limitation on the quality and effectiveness of the proposed Civil Reserve Corps. NPR’s story
Extended deployments for National Guard and Reserve units mean trouble for the 6-percent of Guard members who own their own businesses. Managing a business while at war is nearly impossible.
What does this portend for the proposed Civil Reserve Corps or Barnett’s SysAdmin force? How likely is it the most qualified and best human assets will get engaged in SysAdmin-like work on behalf of the United States in the future without adequately supporting these people? Remember State has had problems moving its professionals around, US military recruiting costs have jumped, with an arguable drop in quality. This is a detail we need to work out.
Given the long range strategy of the CRC or the Sysadmin and the negative effects born of long term deployment for “part-time” soldiers it’d make more sense to apply a bigger Army to the sysadmin position. Perhaps the Guard and Reserve could be used to patch short term holes (the idea being said holes would be filled by our allied counterparts) in a one or two year rotational manner if/as needed.
If this war goes on much longer, what’s the long-term viability of the National Guard and Reserves as they are composed now? The pay and benefits will have to drastically raised and expanded if they are going to retain quality trained personnel just at current levels.It seems this type of proposed force would need to be a full-time deal. Recruit college grads, send them into our urban and rural disaster zones (i.e. Overtown & Liberty City in Miami, the polluted and ravaged West Virginia and western North Carolina) to get experience for 2-3 years and then head abroad to where they are needed.