It has been a remarkably challenging and successful past year for the Naval Reserve. We are continuing at an unprecedented pace in support of the war on terrorism, while at the same time navigating the Naval Reserve through the complex process of Transformation. Today, Navy’s ability to surge rapidly and decisively to new crisis points rests primarily on active force capabilities with some Naval Reserve augmentation. Yet, any new crisis could potentially strain Navy’s ability to sustain existing commitments, thus increasing the value of maintaining - and using, when needed - flexible operational capabilities resident in the Naval Reserve. We ask a lot from our individual Reservists. And they have responded heroically. As Operations Noble Eagle and Iraqi Freedom demonstrate, mobilized Naval Reserve capabilities are often required to meet the risks associated with surge, and to sustain Navy commitments. Despite various opinions to the contrary, my Reserve Force has not been overtasked during the continuing Global War on Terrorism. We’ve recalled nearly 19,000 Naval Reservists to-date, or approximately 25 percent of our force. We’ve recalled entire commissioned units as well as individuals with unique skills. While attrition across my force has been averaging in the high 20 percentile, our Career Decision Surveys targeted to those personnel demobilizing indicate that their attrition is holding at a mere 12 percent. We are confident that we have policies in place to manage and mitigate the strains we place on our Sailors and their employers. The bottom line is that Naval Reserve personnel are staying Navy, and we were able to reduce our enlisted recruiting goal by 2,000 endstrength this year.
Observing the work performed by our Naval Reservists over the past year, I have concluded that heroes are just ordinary people who do extraordinary things.
Among the Naval Reserve heroes who represent the extraordinary sacrifices made by all of our members in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle and Iraqi Freedom are people such as these:
• Commander Neal Bundo, from Crofton, Maryland, and members of Navy Command Center Unit 106 at the Pentagon mobilized and drilled around-the-clock to maintain the watch in the aftermath of the destruction of the center and the murder of fellow Sailors. • Utilityman Second Class Marianne Johnson, who lives in San Diego and is a single parent of two daughters and an accounts receivable clerk for Pepsi. She was mobilized to Pearl Harbor with Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303 to provide security support for Commander, Navy Region Hawaii. Although she could have waived her commitment, she arranged for a friend to take her apartment and temporary custody of her children for a whole year.
And there are Naval Reserve heroes among the spouses of our reservists.
• The husband of Susan Van Cleve was also recalled with Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303. Without any formal Ombudsman training, Mrs. Van Cleve took on the task of representing the dependents and relatives of more than 180 mobilized Seabees. What’s remarkable is that the Van Cleves, from Lake Elsinore, California, have five children at home under age five.
Ordinary people. Summoned to do extraordinary things. I call them heroes. Anyone associated with the Reserve Components of this nation could go on and on with such stories because there are thousands of them. They are the people whose dedication we honor and must support.
We are at the height of the mobilization in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom, with more than 12,000 sailors providing support around the world today. A perfect example of this is Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 201, based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas, which was ordered to active duty by President George W. Bush, as a unit of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 embarked aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Reports indicate that the “Hunters” of VFA 201 are leading the Air Wing in every measurable category.
The majority of Naval Reservists that have been mobilized are individuals with unique specialties. They included significant numbers of law enforcement officers and security specialists. Medical, supply, intelligence and other specialties continue to be heavily tasked. Entire units of the Naval Coastal Warfare commands were activated.
Naval Reserve fighter pilots flew combat air patrol over our great cities. P-3C Orion pilots and crews are still flying surveillance missions. Logistics aircraft crews maintain a continuous presence in Bahrain and their operations tempo has increased by 25 percent, most of which is being done without mobilization.
Top Five Priorities. And while our deckplate sailors continue training to support combatant commanders, at the headquarters level we are still adhering to our Top Five priorities for the Naval Reserve. Let me briefly review highlights of these goals to illustrate how we are making progress.
Manpower. Our recruiting numbers look good, and we are meeting goal. A continuing challenge is to fill targeted rates. While we initially saw that the percentage of prior service Navy entering the Naval Reserve bottomed out after 9/11, it quickly rebounded, and we finished the year over end strength. Our attrition rate hovers near 25 percent, sharply down from a few years ago but short of our goal of 22 percent. One major improvement is that we are consolidating our recruiting efforts with the active Navy and expect that benefits will accrue to both.
Training. Our training emphasis is on supporting the Chief of Naval Operation’s Task Force Excel and Commander, Naval Education and Training, through integration of Naval Reserve personnel at all levels in the Navy Training Organization. This integration will enable the Naval Reserve to be in a position to take advantage of training initiatives underway throughout the Navy. We are also providing Joint Professional Military Education and ultimately building a cadre of Reserve Officers with joint experience and designated as Fully Joint Qualified. This will involve working closely with joint gaining commands to identify billets requiring joint experience to be filled by Reserve Officers, an opportunity that has previously been non-existent. Additionally, in order to take advantage of current and future training available through Distance Learning, we have been working hard to develop and implement a policy to provide drill pay to those personnel completing Distance Learning courseware at the direction of their Commanding Officer.
Equipment and Information Technology Compatibility. In Fiscal Year 2004 we see a continuation of the decline in procurement of equipment for the Naval Reserve. Total Naval Reserve equipment procurement steadily decreased from $229 million in Fiscal Year 1997 to about $91 million in Fiscal Year 2003.
Among the few bright spots in the Fiscal Year 2004 equipment budget is funding for the acquisition of one new C-40A logistics aircraft. These aircraft are of vital importance to fleet logistics since the Naval Reserve provides 100 percent of the Navy’s organic lift capability and direct logistics support for combatant commanders in all operating theaters. In addition, the Fiscal Year 2004 budget calls for the procurement of another C-40A aircraft.
Other programs slated to receive procurement funding in the Fiscal Year 2004 budget include: the C-130T Aviation Modernization Program that will make 18 logistics aircraft compliant to fly worldwide; surveillance equipment upgrades and small boats for Naval Coastal Warfare forces; and ground and communication equipment for the Naval Construction Force.
Despite these welcome Reserve modernization efforts, essential F/A-18 modifications, P-3C upgrades, and SH-60B helicopters still require substantial investments. Currently one squadron of Reserve F/A-18A aircraft lack the capability to deliver precision-guided munitions and need ECP-560 upgrades to avionics, software and accessories. Under the Navy-Marine Corps TACAIR integration plan, a Naval Reserve squadron is slated for disestablishment in Fiscal Year 2004.
P-3C aircraft used by the Naval Reserve constitute approximately 40 percent of the Navy’s capability. Currently, these aircraft provide only limited support to operational commanders because they lack the Aircraft Improvement Program (AIP) upgrade. Active component AIP aircraft were used extensively in Afghanistan due to their improved communication and surveillance capabilities. To enable our P-3C squadrons to fully participate and integrate with the active component in support of operational requirements, an investment needs to be made to upgrade our 42 P-3C aircraft in the Naval Reserve’s seven P-3C squadrons. Improving Reserve squadron integration with active forces will reduce active component’s operational tempo and increase overall Navy mission capability. Spending to achieve equipment compatibility and equivalent capability between active and Reserve components is always a wise investment. Finally, the Littoral Surveillance System (LSS) provides timely assured receipt of all-weather, day/night maritime and littoral intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data. For Fiscal Year 2003, Congress appropriated funds for a second LSS to support Naval Coastal Warfare. I’m encouraged that the emerging Homeland Security requirement to secure land and sea borders from potential terrorist attack is an emerging mission to which LSS capability can contribute. It is joint, transformational, and is consistent with Naval Reserve capabilities. I look forward to working with our Coast Guard friends in assisting them in protecting our coastal waters and ports.
In the Information Technology area, we have implemented the New Order Writing System (NOWS) online, and it is up and running smoothly. Within budget constraints, we continue with implementation of the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). By the end of 2003, 100 percent of the Naval Reserve Force will be on the NMCI. Our goal is a seamless information and communication systems integration between the active Navy and the Naval Reserve. To meet our primary mission of delivering sailors, equipment and units to combatant commanders requires information technology improvements in the manpower, personnel, communications, training and financial management areas.
Force Shaping. On July 20, 2002, the Naval Reserve stood up the Naval Reserve Forces Command. In doing so, it eliminated the old title of Commander Naval Surface Reserve Force and merged separate Naval Reserve air and surface chains of command. This ongoing alignment, which is examining every facet of Naval Reserve operations – is making the Naval Reserve more flexible and responsive, improving its systems and focusing on customer service. The alignment of the New Orleans headquarters staff allows one-stop shopping for the active duty Navy to reach the Naval Reserve Force and has provided additional full time support to the fleet.
Fleet Support. Earlier I mentioned the direct support we have been providing to combatant commanders, and we are prepared to do more. While we continue monitoring potential risks of sustained and repeated recalls, to date we have seen improved retention rates of recallees measured against the rest of the force. Every one of our 86,000 Naval Reservists wants to participate in winning the war on terrorism. We must ensure that they have the tools to do their jobs and integrate smoothly into the Fleet.
Transformation. Within the think tanks of Washington and in the Pentagon E-Ring hallways, there is much talk about how the Navy will participate in the DoD-wide Transformation process. And though the Naval Reserve’s traditional mission of reinforcing active forces and sustaining capabilities has always been valid, there are additional ways in which we can support Transformation.
The Naval Reserve is the ‘flex’ Navy needs to navigate, and even accelerate its passage through a challenging and uncertain future. As it did throughout the Cold War, Post-Desert Storm and Post 9/11 periods, the Navy will continue to depend on its Reserve as a mobilization asset, affordably extending Navy’s operational availability. At the same time, the Navy will continue to rely on Naval Reserve units and individuals to provide day-to-day ‘peacetime’ operational capabilities and to reduce the stress on active personnel tempo. The extensive operational warfighting and service support experience resident in the Naval Reserve will be crucial to assisting Navy in achieving its Sea Strike, Sea Shield and Sea Basing capabilities.
Some of our terminology will change as we transform. We no longer talk about CINCs; we talk about combatant commanders. We don’t talk about TARs; we talk about Full Time Support personnel. We’re not using the phrase Total Force, but we are talking about a transformational force that is simply one Navy.
The Navy is shaping itself in the 21st century in an environment of competitive resources, fluid planning assumptions, and operational uncertainty. As it begins the transformation, the Navy is also fighting the war on terrorism and maintaining a challenging global forward presence. Juggling such priorities involves risk.
The Naval Reserve’s traditional function as a reservoir of capabilities that are not needed continuously in peacetime, but are needed in crisis, is crucial to mitigate such risks.
As one example, Naval Coastal Warfare forces have been called upon to provide a security framework on the home front as well as overseas. The mission – protection of strategic shipping, shallow water intrusion detection, traffic control, and harbor defense – has resided exclusively in the Naval Reserve for more than 10 years. Today, this force protection presence is made up of 100 percent Naval Reservists, who conduct fully integrated command, control, communications, surveillance and harbor defense missions around the globe. Because these are ongoing requirements in this mission area, we will be integrating an active Mobile Security Force with existing Naval Reserve Coastal Warfare forces.
Another example is also tied to the aftermath of 9/11: the immediate requirement for Master-at-Arms and law enforcement specialist to provide force protection to the Navy. This was a very small mission area for the Navy that, when the need arose, they were unable to fill with active duty Sailors. The Naval Reserve took care of the requirement until the Navy could implement long-term measures.
However, the Naval Reserve can do more. Our agility can spread across a spectrum of other challenging areas: manpower, operations, planning, force structure and mix. We can be a great reservoir for experimentation and innovation. In these and many other ways, the Naval Reserve can mirror and complement the Chief of Naval Operation’s visions in Sea Power 21: to project power, protect U.S. interests, and enhance and support joint force operations.
Myths. Before I close, since this is probably the last opportunity I will have to appear before this committee, I would like to take this opportunity to briefly comment on several myths about the Naval Reserve that I have encountered during my tour as the Chief of Naval Reserve.
The first myth is the popular opinion of many that Reserve Forces have been overused during the GWOT. As I mentioned in the beginning, I can assure you that the Naval Reserve has not been overused and is ready and able to do more to support the Navy. I know this not only because of the conversations that I have had with Naval Reservists on a daily basis, but also because of some very interesting statistics that have come out of our 9/11 mobilizations, such as the one measure that indicates our current attrition rate for those mobilized for the GWOT is approximately 12 percent, which is considerably lower than our historical attrition rate. I’m a firm believer that the Naval Reserve Force needs to be used to be relevant.
The second myth is that it is unwise to place 100% of a mission within the Reserve. I firmly believe that certain missions are designed perfectly for the Reserve and are very cost effective. A perfect example is the 14 Naval Reserve squadrons of our Fleet Logistics Support Wing which have very successfully provided 100 percent of the Navy’s worldwide intra-theatre airlift support on a continuous basis for over a decade. There are currently 14 Naval Reserve logistics aircraft deployed outside the continental United States, which is a 230% increase since 9/11, yet we have done this while only mobilizing one airlift squadron.
You may have heard discussions about changing the mix of active component versus Reserve component. The Naval Reserve is working closely with the Navy to address High Demand/Low Density type units. Through innovative sharing of assets and essential skill sets, Reserve personnel have been used to train new Active Component crews as well as carry some of the load of the deployment rotation. VAQ 209, flying EA-6B electronic warfare jets based at NAF Washington, deployed overseas for 45 days this past summer flying combat patrols in support of Operation Northern Watch, their fifth such deployment in the last seven years. Yet when they were here at home, they provided personnel and aircraft to the Fleet to support multi-week flight training detachments. By doing this they maximize the value of the dollars Navy has already spent to train and equip them while sustaining and exercising their warfighting skills. The renewed demand for Naval Coastal Warfare units, as mentioned before, has caused Navy to reevaluate the requirement and to create Active Component units. Naval Reserve, in this case, has served to provide the storehouse of skills so that as the demands of warfighting changed Navy was able to quickly meet the new challenge. These are just two examples of how your Naval Reserve Force provides the organizational flexibility needed to navigate the rapid changes of a transforming world.
A myth that certainly has to be dispelled is that Naval Reservists cost more than their active duty counterparts. A cost comparison done for a seven year period from Fiscal Year 03 through Fiscal Year 09 shows that a Selected Reservist, not mobilized at any time during that period, costs approximately 21 percent of the cost of an active member. The cost of a Selected Reservist mobilized for a two year period during the 7 year time frame still reflects a considerable savings – less than half of that of an active member. In 2002, Navy estimated that it costs $1.26M to train an F-18 pilot, taking that “nugget” pilot from “street to fleet.” By the time that same pilot will become a member of the Reserve Force, Navy will have invested many more millions of dollars to hone his or her skills. When that pilot joins a Naval Reserve squadron we will have recaptured every one of those training dollars. My point is that the cost of a valuable mobilization asset should not be looked at only in the limited context of the period during mobilization, but, rather in the larger context; that of an amazingly cost effective force multiplier available both during periods when the nation’s active forces are able to handle the PERSTEMPO and OPTEMPO without Reserve augmentation and during those periods of crisis that require Citizen-Sailors to leave their civilian lives and jobs and be mobilized.
An additional myth is that the Naval Reserve should only be employed for full mobilization scenarios. Much like VAQ 209, which I mentioned earlier, our Naval Special Warfare units and Naval Special Warfare helicopter squadrons, either by providing personnel or by providing deploying units, have participated in smaller scale contingency operations such as Uphold Democracy in Haiti. Our Naval Reserve intelligence community is contributing daily to the processing and evaluation of intelligence information. Our maritime patrol squadrons and Naval Reserve Force frigates are continuously employed in the war on drugs. These scenarios do not involve full mobilization, they involve ad hoc contributions that keep our Naval Reservists engaged in something that is important to them - the safety, security and preservation of our country. If we want to continue the capable reserve force we have today, we must utilize their talents or they will not stay.
And the last myth is that it takes too long for us to mobilize and be ready. Fortunately, I have a timely example to use to dispel this myth. On October 4th, 2002, a mobilization order was issued to VFA-201. Within 72 hours 100 percent of squadron personnel had completed the mobilization process, and within 90 days, all refresher training had been completed and the squadron was deployed on board the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt. Every aviator has cruise experience, over 1000 flight hours, and many have 2000 hours in aircraft type. Squadron aviators provided leadership to the air wing in strike planning, flight execution, and carrier operations. Their experience in operations around the world and in adversary tactics continue to aid increased air wing readiness. Since mobilization, the Hunters of VFA-201 have flown more than several thousand Sorties, have flown over 300 hours in combat and have dropped over 60,000 lbs. of precision-guided munitions. Not only were we ready to respond to the call quickly, but, I am please to report that VFA-201 pilots had the highest qualification grades in the Air Wing and were awarded the Squadron “Top Hook” award. I am also pleased to report that VFA-201’s twelve F-18A+ aircraft are equivalent to F-18C aircraft primarily because of funding for equipment upgrades provided by Congress via the NG&RE; appropriation.
Summary. The Naval Reserve is meeting big challenges with a Force that is remarkably fit and ready to continue doing the heavy lifting for the Navy Marine Corps Team. If we are successful at procuring the compatible equipment we need, we can become even more effective at world-class service to the Fleet. We look forward to meeting the challenges ahead, both within the Naval Reserve and in support of the Navy’s strategic vision.
As I review the state of our Naval Reserve Force over the past year, I take pride in what the Naval Reserve has accomplished. All things considered, it has been a remarkable year.
