Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1979

8.

Reserve Forces

The principal components of the Army, as identified in Title 10 of the U.S. Code, are the Regular Army, the Army National Guard of the United States, and the Army Reserve. The traditional role of the latter two—the Army’s reserve components has been to provide trained units and qualified individuals for active service in time of war or national emergency. The Army National Guard has the additional role, as part of the organized militia, of protecting life and property and preserving peace, order, and public safety.

The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve have not undergone a major reorganization since 1967-68, but each year their structures have been adjusted to reflect total Army needs. In recent years changes have accommodated the 24-division force and the annual Total Army Analysis. Modifications have also been made to improve command and control, training opportunities, and logistics management.

The major change in the Army National Guard’s force structure during the year was the beginning of the conversion of signal units to achieve an integrated tactical communications system and the conformance with doctrine developed for echelons above divisions. Other changes in the guard’s force structure included the reorganization of units in Alaska’s maritime area to create a battalion-size combat force with an organic waterborne capability and the continued reorganization of aviation units to comply with plans noted in last year’s report.

As of 30 September 1979, the Army National Guard contained 3,308 company-size or smaller units dispersed throughout the country in over 2,600 communities. Major units in the structure were:

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Army Reserve force structure changes during fiscal year 1979 consisted of eleven unit activations, twenty-nine inactivations, and nine conversions. The planned reduction of Army Reserve civil affairs units was accomplished with the inactivation of the 362d Civil Affairs Brigade, Dallas, Texas; the 307th Civil Affairs Group, St. Louis, Missouri; the 309th Civil Affairs Group, Southfield, Michigan; and the 451st Civil Affairs Group, Portland, Oregon.

At the close of the fiscal year, the Army Reserve troop basis contained approximately 3,200 units. Major organizations in the structure were as follows:

The maintenance of strength levels needed to achieve prescribed readiness goals continued to be a critical problem for both of the Army’s reserve components. Programmed strength levels for the Army National Guard (ARNG) and the Army Reserve (USAR) were based on estimated achievement capabilities rather than on peacetime objectives. Therefore, while selected reserve strength stabilized during the past year following an eight-year decline, a much more successful recruitment and retention effort will be required before authorized peacetime strength objectives can be attained. The table that follows shows the current strength situation.

Army Selected Reserve Manpower Programs
(figures in thousands)

The strength of the ARNG at the close of the year was 346,974 or 83.1 percent of authorized strength. Paid drill strength totaled 345,528 as compared to 340,996 one year earlier. Enlistments of

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84,850 were 89.6 percent of the program. The goal of reaching an accession mix equally divided between new recruits and veterans, not expected to be reached until 1981, was attained early in the fiscal year. By the end of fiscal year 1979, the ratio had swung slightly in favor of nonprior service personnel (51 to 49) and for the first time since fiscal year 1972, new recruits exceeded the number of veterans who enlisted.

The Army National Guard continued to meet minimum standards of not enlisting more than 18 percent who were in mental category IV and not more than 45 percent who were not high school graduates. The number of high school graduates among enlistees reached 60 percent and the number in mental category IV was 9.9 percent, the lowest in seven years. Mental category I recruits without prior service reached 3.3 percent, the highest level since fiscal year 1973, when 7.7 percent was registered.

The upward trend in the strength of the inactive National Guard continued. The number carried in this category was 3,067 as of 30 September 1979 as compared to 2,275 one year earlier.

During the past year, ARNG commissioned and warrant officer strength was greater than it had been since 1961. The gains can be attributed to the implementation and expansion of officer and warrant officer accession programs. While the Officer Candidate School (OCS) program was the largest source of commissioned officers for the ARNG, the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) received increased emphasis as a source of ARNG officers. New initiatives within the ROTC area include the Simultaneous Membership program which allows advanced ROTC cadets to be members of ARNG units in an officer trainee status and the Cadet Troop Leaders Training Program which allows fourth year ROTC cadets who have completed Military Science III, to spend two weeks with ARNG units during their annual training. Because of the high percentage of minorities and women enrolled, ROTC is viewed as a significant source of minority and female officers for the ARNG.

The total Army National Guard AMEDD (Army Medical Department) officer strength at the beginning of fiscal year 1979 was 2,323, or 67 percent of authorization, with critical shortages existing in the Army Nurse, Dental, and Medical Corps. Since the implementation of the ARNG AMEDD Officer Accession Program on 5 March 1979, strength has begun to move upward. As of 30 September 1979, the Army Nurse and Dental Corps strength reached 85 percent and 93 percent, respectively, of authorized strength. Total AMEDD officer strength was 2,676, or 78 percent of authorization.

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After an eight-year decline, Army Reserve paid drill strength stabilized in fiscal year 1979. Drill strength was 189,990 at the close of the fiscal year, an increase over the 30 September 1978 figure of 185,753. Enlisted accessions amounted to 54,579 as compared to 52,869 for the previous fiscal year. While attrition remained a problem, the favorable results obtained thus far from new recruitment and retention initiatives are sufficiently encouraging to program an increase in Army Reserve paid drill strength to 201,800 by the end of fiscal year 1980.

For the second consecutive year, the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) registered slight gains-up from 149,427 at the close of fiscal year 1977 to 168,607 on 30 September 1978 and to 201,783 at the close of the current fiscal year. But the size of the IRR continued to lag far short of the pretrained manpower needed as fillers and casualty replacements during the initial stages of war. The practice of transferring individuals from the IRR to the Standby Reserve during the last year of their six-year military obligation, administratively discontinued in the spring of 1978, was eliminated by Public Law 95-485, which the President signed on 20 October 1978. In May 1979 the Army began testing a direct enlistment plan for the IRR that will be expanded in the coming year. A new enlistment option also began in May that permitted an enlistee to serve three years in a troop program unit followed by a three-year stint in the IRR. Other actions under consideration to bring the IRR up to required strength included programs to reenlist IRR members who complete their military obligation, extending the six-year military obligation to enlistees over 26 years of age, computing military service credit for delayed entry recruits from the time an individual began active duty or active duty for training rather than at the time of enlistment, and reducing attrition in the active Army to promote transfers to the IRR of those who completed the active service portion of their enlistment obligation.

Standby Reserve strength declined from 82,677 on 30 September 1978 to 30,544 one year later. The Department of Defense moved forward with plans to sharply reduce reliance on the Standby Reserve as a source of mobilization manpower. The strength of the Retired Reserves increased from 391,304 at the end of fiscal year 1978 to 400,825 as of 30 September 1979.

The success of last year’s reenlistment bonus test was followed by a comprehensive three-pronged incentive program to encourage enlistments and reenlistments in the Selected Reserves of all the military services. The program began in the Army

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Reserve and Army National Guard on 1 December 1978. It offered prospective recruits a choice of a $1,500 cash bonus or an education assistance package with a maximum value of $2,000 for reenlistment in selected units. The reenlistment bonus, available to guardsmen and reservists with up to nine years of service, offered $900 for a three-year extension or reenlistment or $1,800 for a six-year retention commitment in selected units. Thus far, the bonus programs have proved effective tools in obtaining nonprior service recruits and retaining experienced soldiers, although much remains to be learned about the true drawing power of the incentives and the most effective bonus levels in terms of cost and reenlistment/retention ratios.

Army opposition to the findings of the Reserve Compensation System Study, which was noted in last year’s report, was extended to include the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) proposals made in August 1979 on inactive duty training pay and retirement points that were based on the study’s recommendations. The Army, in a reclama to the OSD proposals, continued to favor the current system supplemented by bonuses to alleviate particular problem areas.

Experience under the Militia Careers Program, which was described in last year’s report, is not yet sufficient to indicate its effectiveness in drawing high quality, technically skilled recruits into the Selected Reserve. The split training option, also reported on last year, has proved most successful. In the Army National Guard, for example, the new incentives and initial training options have led to an increase in the number of recruits who were high school graduates or seniors to 63.0 percent this year as compared to 55.3 percent in fiscal year 1978. Also, recruits in mental categories I through III were at 90.1 percent compared to 86.7 percent during the previous fiscal year.

The U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) completed the assumption of the Army Reserve’s recruiting mission in May 1979. All Army Reserve recruiters were fully integrated in the command, but continued to work closely with Army Reserve units in local communities.

For new accessions, the Army National Guard relied on its full-time recruiting force, which was in its second year of operation. The guard continued to make good use of Armed Forces Entrance and Examining Stations in screening potential recruits. The guard’s reliance on ROTC for a large share of its junior officers should be enhanced as a result of the recent approval of simultaneous membership in the Army National Guard and

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ROTC. Officer shortages during fiscal year 1979 were critical in three areas: combat arms, Medical Corps, and Army Nurse Corps.

The number of women in the Army’s reserve components increased during the past year. More than 22,000 women served in Army Reserve troop program units, some 12 percent of unit strength. The number of women in the Army National Guard at the close of the fiscal year was 14,634, which represented 4.2 percent of the guard’s total strength. Particularly gratifying has been a significant increase in the number of women entering the guard’s officer ranks through ROTC and OCS. During the past year, enrollment of women in OCS has more than tripled.

Minority strength in the Army National Guard showed no substantial change over the course of the year. Minority strength on 30 September 1979 of 90,934 was 26.2 percent of the assigned strength. It included 2,751 officers and warrant officers and 88,183 enlisted men and women. Included in the figure was a black strength of 59,047, which was 17 percent of the assigned strength, and a Hispanic strength of 25,088, or 7.2 percent of the assigned strength. The minority officer recruiting effort helped increase minority officer representation in the Army National Guard by .78 percent in fiscal year 1979.

Minority strength in the USAR showed no substantial change over the course of the year. Minority strength on 30 September 1979 of 49,950 was 26.3 percent of the assigned strength. It comprised 2,439 officers and warrant officers and 47,511 enlisted men and women. Included in the figure was a black strength of 44,177, which was 23.3 percent of the assigned strength.

As a result of studies on the reserve component technician program noted in last year’s report, Congress recommended that a test be conducted to determine if the military services could attract sufficient numbers of quality guardsmen and reservists to fill technician positions on a full-time military basis in order to alleviate a number of problems cited in the studies. These included career stagnation, civilian and military grade differences, and loss of reserve membership by Army Reserve technicians. The Army National Guard and Army Reserve were to convert 1,778 positions (1,042 ARNG and 736 USAR) from a civilian status to a military status during fiscal year 1979. Actual conversions amounted to 1,098 for the Army National Guard and 726 for the Army Reserve. The test will run through 30 June 1980.

Another action taken to improve the technician program was the formation, late in fiscal year 1978, of a team within the office

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of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel to manage the Army Reserve portion of the program. During fiscal year 1979, the team took a number of actions to bring about increased efficiency through more centralized management.

The Army National Guard technician requirement for fiscal year 1979 was 34,523, while the number authorized was 26,738. Actual technician strength at the close of the fiscal year was 26,794. The Army Reserve requirement for technicians was set at 9,670, while 8,430 was authorized and the actual strength as of 30 September 1979 was 8,258.

The good results the Army’s reserve components were having in recruitment and retention were offset to a large degree by the continued high attrition rate—only about one half of those who enlisted completed their six-year term of service. Some of the measures taken to combat this problem were noted in the previous historical summary. The Army also tightened discharge standards, recast initial training options to improve retention, and revised payments of enlistment bonuses to encourage people to honor their commitment. Also, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau has formed an attrition management work group chaired by a general officer which will collaborate with organizations formed at the state level in developing plans and recommending actions to lower the attrition rate.

While the Army was working toward lowering the overall attrition rate within its reserve components, efforts to administratively purge individuals who were not performing well continued. The Expeditious Discharge Program, which was described in detail last year, went into operation on 1 November 1978. Later in the year, the Department of Defense issued revisions to its directive on ridding the Selected Reserve of members who were not performing satisfactorily. The revisions stated that members who have not fulfilled their military service obligation could be ordered to active duty to complete twenty-four months of service, transferred to the IRR for the balance of their obligation, or discharged. Selected Reserve members whose participation was not satisfactory but who had completed their military obligation could be transferred to the IRR or discharged. Changes in Army regulations incorporating these and other revisions contained in the DOD directive had not been formulated by the close of the fiscal year.

In February 1979, the Army established the long tour management program for Army Reserve officers and enlisted men

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on active duty training orders for periods of more than 179 days and statutory active duty tours. The program, which is managed and administered by the Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center, provides a mechanism for selecting, assigning, promoting, and retraining participants who serve in such areas as recruiting, retention, personnel management, and special projects. At the close of the fiscal year, over 600 officers and 1,900 enlisted personnel were receiving effective management support under this program.

The Army National Guard’s automatic data processing (ADP) capability has not undergone a major revision since 1970, while demands for information at both the state and national levels have greatly increased and have outstripped the guard’s ADP capacity. During the past year, the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Logistics, and Financial Management) approved upgrading the Army National Guard’s ADP equipment to a level equal to that of the active force. New equipment deliveries are expected to begin in fiscal year 1981 with completion by the end of that fiscal year. The result should be a superior ADP capacity that will eliminate current reporting deficiencies, permit broader adaption of standard Army management information systems, and increase mobilization readiness reporting accuracy.

During fiscal year 1979, the phased implementation of the Officer Personnel Management System-Army Reserve (OPMS-USAR) was completed, with the result that a personnel management officer at the Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center oversees the career development of each Army Reserve officer, both commissioned and warrant. Under OPMS-USAR this past year, approximately 13,000 IRR officers received training in their mobilization specialties with active Army units for periods of up to 35 days, over 6,200 officers were scheduled for active duty training in conjunction with required education courses, and more than 5,100 Army Reserve officers were enrolled in correspondence courses. Unfortunately, funding shortages late in the year forced the cancellation or deferral of many mobilization training tours which caused a management credibility gap and lowered morale among the affected reservists.

Funding problems also placed strains on the credibility of the Enlisted Personnel Management System-Army Reserve (EPMS-USAR), and caused many of the 2,100 counterpart training tours scheduled for IRR enlisted personnel to be canceled or deferred. Since EPMS-USAR became operational in fiscal year 1978, the Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center has

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provided intensive personalized management and counseling to more than 20,000 enlisted personnel in the IRR.

Adaptation of the active Army’s Standard Installation/Division Personnel System (SIDPERS) continued at a slow pace. The Army National Guard began development work on its version of SIDPERS, but lack of sufficient manpower for the project has hampered progress. The Assistant Chief of Staff for Automation and Communication approved a detailed functional system requirement document for the Army Reserve’s SIDPERS and a number of programs were completed. The system integration test for SIDPERS-USAR was scheduled for the summer of 1980.

Results of a test of the Mobilization Preassignment Program (MPP) carried out from 7 August 1978 to 9 March 1979 indicated that the plan was effective in preassigning IRR members to specific units and mobilization stations in the event of war. During the MPP test, 7,778 of 18,965 individuals separated from active duty were preassigned to early deploying units and mobilization stations (M + 60 day requirements). Also, 122,260 of those already in the IRR were preassigned through the Mobilization Personnel Processing System (MOBPERS). The test limited the issuance of preassignment orders to individuals having skills that matched mobilization requirements at Fort Benning and Fort Lewis, but Forts Dix, Jackson, Knox, and Sill have been added since the conclusion of the test. At the year’s end, expansion and/or modification of the Mobilization Preassignment Program was awaiting decision on several key questions related to the plan and to the system that supports it.

Planning to use retired Regular Army and reserve component personnel to fill post, camp, and station positions within the continental United States, thereby freeing personnel for overseas duty, moved forward during the past year. The Reserve Component Personnel Administration Center completed work on a data base of information on category I personnel (those meeting age and grade criteria, are medically qualified, have a continental U.S. address, and have been retired less than five years), and prepared to begin work on a file listing category II (same as category I, but for those retired more than five years) assets. Meanwhile, the major Army commands and field operating agencies identified positions that could be filled by retirees. Analysis of these assets and requirements will provide information on which to base policies for issuing preassignment orders during peacetime to eligible retirees for predetermined mobilization positions. During the coming year, the development of the retiree

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recall and preassignment program will be expected to adhere to the following schedule.

During the past year, as in previous years, the lack of sufficient quantities of modern, first-line equipment was a major factor in preventing the Army’s reserve components from attaining prescribed readiness objectives. While roundout units received the same equipment priority as their parent unit, and support units scheduled to deploy by M + 30 days were issued equipment on a priority just below the active Army unit they support, recent NATO mobilization exercises indicated that the major equipment shortages and instances of equipment incompatibility noted were in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve. Of particular concern was the incompatibility of reserve component radio teletypewriters and tactically configured automatic data processing equipment with models used in the active forces. A recent appropriation of $89.9 million earmarked exclusively for Army Reserve component communications should help to alleviate this specific situation.

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As will be noted, gains were made in equipment during fiscal year 1979. These gains may be threatened, however, if the decision to preposition additional division sets of equipment in Europe results in the withdrawal of equipment from the reserve components.

The value of major items of equipment issued to Army Reserve units in fiscal year 1979 amounted to $63.6 million as compared to $67.5 million during the previous fiscal year. Acute shortages existed in data processing, heavy engineer, and communications and electronics equipment. A new maintenance improvement program shows excellent promise in promoting more effective use of the time Army Reserve mechanics spend at their tasks. Army Reserve equipment, assets at the close of fiscal year 1979 are shown below.

The Army National Guard was also beset with equipment shortages, but its holdings were nevertheless impressive. For example, the Army National Guard had 28 percent of the Army’s assets of 105-mm. gun tanks, 35 percent of its tube artillery, and 33 percent of the Army’s armored personnel carriers. The following chart shows the overall equipment status of the Army National Guard at the close of fiscal year 1979.

During the past year, the modernization of Army National Guard equipment proceeded at a fast pace. Approximately 176 major items were upgraded at an expenditure of over $2.5 million. Plans proceeded on a four-year program scheduled to begin early next year to convert all gasoline-powered M113 armored personnel carriers in the guard’s inventory to diesel power.

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The Army National Guard took a number of actions during the past year to improve logistics management. It worked with the Materiel Development and Readiness Command toward the adoption by the guard of the Direct Support System. Better property accountability should result from the development of a new automated information system to track lost, damaged, or destroyed property. Plans were completed to convert the remaining two ARNG divisions and three separate brigades to the Standard Division Logistics System. Also, the Army National Guard completed the planning and budget justifications necessary to receive the minicomputers used with the decentralized automated service support systems found in nondivisional direct support and general support units. Initial receipt of the hardware will start next year and extend through fiscal year 1983, at which time all eighty-four eligible ARNG units should be automated.

New obligational authority for the Army Reserve military construction program continued to decline in fiscal year 1979—$37 million as compared to $51.2 million in 1978. Carry-over funds not expended in 1978 brought the total available for obligation in 1979 to $68 million, which was about the same as the amount available in fiscal year 1978. Many of the Army Reserve’s more than 1,000 reserve centers, 213 area maintenance support facilities, 3 installations, and 5 subinstallations are twenty- and thirty-year-old structures and require replacement, renovation, or expansion. The Army Reserve construction backlog to meet building needs was set at approximately $700 million. Army Reserve leaders expressed concern at the adverse effect inadequate facilities were having on recruitment, retention, proper maintenance, and effective administration.

The Army National Guard military construction program received $52.2 million in new obligational authority in fiscal year 1979, an increase of $2.8 million from the fiscal year 1978 appropriation. Another $4.2 million in carryover funds brought the amount available to $56.4 million. Obligations for the year totaled $55.2 million, 98 percent of the amount available-the highest obligation rate ever attained. During the year, contracts for sixty-seven major and thirty-one minor projects were awarded. Of the major projects, which cost $49.1 million, twenty-four were for armories.

The backlog of Army National Guard construction projects increased by $64 million during fiscal year 1979, to $736 million:

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$369 million for armory replacement, additions, alterations, or rehabilitation (565 of the guard’s 2,807 armories were considered inadequate); $98 million to bring 183 of 1,749 administrative and logistical facilities up to acceptable standards; $178 million for 239 projects at Army National Guard training sites; and $91 million for minor construction and planning.

NIFTY NUGGET, the mobilization and deployment exercise conducted in October 1978, uncovered or confirmed a number of deficiencies that were preventing the reserve components from performing in accordance with approved mobilization plans. Effective unit training remained a key element in gearing the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve to a readiness level that would match capabilities with requirements.

The NIFTY NUGGET experience increased the impetus to concentrate the limited time allotted for unit training (thirty-eight days per year) on wartime tasks. At the Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), which was responsible for the training readiness of Army Reserve units and for supervising the training of the Army National Guard, the development and execution of unit training programs was decentralized to the maximum extent. Battalion level headquarters were responsible for establishing training goals and objectives for subordinate units and supplying management guidance for allocating support resources for training; for coordination, supervision, and evaluation of training; and for the planning, organization and direction of combined arms training. Unit commanders took every opportunity to conduct integrated and concurrent training by incorporating other appropriate subject matter with instruction in the primary subject area. Unit commanders also conducted multiechelon training, combined arms training, and collective training. They placed primary emphasis on performance-oriented or “hands-on” training.

Other areas emphasized in training management include field training, realism in training, the correction of training deficiencies, and detailed preparation for training. The latter includes the formulation of three-year, annual, and quarterly training schedules, each of which become increasingly specific as continuous and developing areas of weakness are uncovered. Training was conducted as prescribed by the applicable unit Army Training and Evaluation program. Where such programs did not exist, commanders of affected reserve component units developed their own unit training programs in accordance with guidance provided by FORSCOM and other major Army commands. The

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frequency of internal evaluations incorporated into the unit training programs was dependent upon each unit’s training needs, personnel turbulence, and the availability of training resources. Periodic external evaluations were normally administered by the headquarters two echelons above the unit being evaluated. In those cases where reserve component units were sponsored by active Army units under various affiliation programs, the division or installation involved provided any necessary assistance.

The success of the test program described in last year’s report, whereby operational readiness specialists were assigned to ARNG and Army Reserve units to assist company commanders in training, led to the development of an expanded, fully-funded program. The new Additional Full-Time Manning (AFTM) Management Assistance plan, which will begin early in fiscal year 1980, provides for the assignment of 1,108 guardsmen, 1,060 reservists, and 1,070 active Army members to early deploying and essential nondeploying reserve component units. Program participants will be additional full-time cadre, will augment the on-board technician force, and will represent a major step toward an eventual goal of 7 percent full-time manning.

The Army started the Gaining Command Program early in the year. It established for each unit deploying within the first sixty days of mobilization a tentative wartime assignment with the gaining corps or communications zone headquarters. Excluded were divisions, separate combat brigades, and armored cavalry regiments. The new program has permitted the establishment of a planning relationship between active and reserve component units and a mutual exchange of ideas and views between commanders and staffs. Plans are underway to expand the program to include nondeploying units scheduled to provide support and sustainability to overseas units.

Overseas training for reserve component units continued to pay dividends by providing realistic, mission-oriented training opportunities in locations where the unit would most likely deploy if mobilized, and by giving reserve component and active Army commanders the opportunity to exercise command and control over the assembly, movement, deployment, and maneuver of units. The fiscal year 1979 overseas training program involved forty-eight ARNG units and twenty-five Army Reserve units. Another opportunity for overseas training, the Small Unit Exchange program, included exchanges involving Army National Guard units and comparable Norwegian and United King-

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dom units, as well as an exchange between Army Reserve special forces units and British special air service volunteers.

The Army National Guard’s continental United States exchange program rewards units at the company, battery, and troop level for achievements in training, readiness, recruiting and retention, and provides an incentive for units that normally must train at the same annual training site year after year by giving them an opportunity to conduct annual training in a different environment. Additionally, it provides battalion staffs with experience in providing support to attached units and exercising command and control. Exchanges are conducted by like units in an annual training status using Air National Guard airlift. This past year, sixteen ARNG company and battalion-size units from fifteen states participated in the program. The Army National Guard also stressed adventure training, which is the conduct of operations by units in environments that approximate combat. Units that conducted adventure training during the past year included the 207th Arctic Reconnaissance Group, Alaska ARNG, two ranger companies (one with the Puerto Rico ARNG and the other with the Michigan ARNG), and the special forces elements of the 19th and 20th Special Forces Groups.

The Affiliation Program has proven effective in promoting the readiness of reserve component units. It was expanded in fiscal year 1979 by sixty-eight company- and detachment-size units (eighteen ARNG and fifty USAR), bringing the number of units in the program to ninety-three battalions (seventy-seven ARNG and sixteen USAR) and sixty-nine company- and detachment-size units (eighteen ARNG and fifty-one USAR). The program provides support to three types of affiliated units:

Roundout. Reserve component “Roundout" units are assigned to raise understructured active Army divisions to the desired configuration. These units are assigned resource priority equal to their parent active division.

Augmentation. Augmentation increases the combat power of standard mix active Army divisions or brigades by adding reserve component units. Reserve component units will deploy with, or immediately after, active units and be given resource priority which corresponds to this deployment.

Deployment Capability Improvement. Reserve component units which neither round out nor augment active units, but which require dedicated active Army assistance to meet deployment schedules and are affiliated to improve their deployment capability.

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For nonaffiliated units, the Active Component Support to the Annual Training (ACSAT) program was expanded during fiscal year 1979 and provided assistance to twenty battalion-size and forty company- and detachment-size Army Reserve units and to eight divisions, thirteen separate brigades, four armored cavalry regiments, and one TOW light antitank battalion in the Army National Guard. Also during the year, the division partnership pilot program that linked two Army National Guard divisions to active Army divisional elements got off to a good start. Mobile training teams and liaison visits by the 4th Division (Mech) and Army Readiness Region IX provided planning and training support to the California Army National Guard’s 40th Division (Mech). Subordinate divisional elements of III Corps provided similar support to the 49th Armored Division, Texas Army National Guard.

As in previous years, reserve component units participated in a number of joint command post and training exercises, including LOGEX 79, BRAVE SHIELD 19 and 20, REFORGER 79, and SOLID SHIELD 79. Realistic training was provided for an additional seventy-one early-deploying reserve component units which deployed to Europe and other overseas destinations and conducted their two-week annual training under the supervision of U.S. Army, Europe (USAREUR), or other overseas commands involved in the Gaining Command Program (GCP).

The use of computer-assisted war games by Army National Guard units increased in fiscal year 1979. Over seventy-five battalion staffs participated in Computer Assisted Map Maneuver System (CAMMS) exercises, while all but three roundout battalions and eight augmentation units took part in Combined Arms Tactical Training Simulator (CATTS) exercises. Manual battlefield simulations were also available to aid the training of company and battalion level staffs.

It appeared that the guard and reserve’s application of the Noncommissioned Officer Education System was proceeding along lines that were too divergent to make the most efficient use of available training facilities. This led to the assembly of a special action group composed of representatives from the National Guard Bureau, Office of the Chief, Army Reserve, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, TRADOC, and FORSCOM to develop a standardized program for both reserve components. The group developed detailed programs of instruction based primarily on ARNG and active Army courses. These were being put into general use as the fiscal year ended.

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The Army National Guard continued to provide support and assistance to state and local authorities. Over the twelve-month period, the National Guard responded 320 times to emergency conditions in forty-eight states and territories. This involved a total call-up of 39,829 guard personnel and the use of 384,463 man-days.

National Guard personnel were placed on state active duty twenty-seven times to assist authorities in controlling civil disturbances. Incidents occurred in eighteen states and involved 19,729 troops. They included twenty-one strike situations, two call-ups to assist law enforcement, and four demonstrations. Guard units assigned civil disturbance control missions conducted up to twenty hours of refresher training in control operations and conducted annual evaluations to determine state of preparedness during the period.

In this period, 20,100 guard personnel assisted civil authorities during 293 emergencies in forty-eight states and territories. Natural disasters accounted for 146 of the call-ups: 30 to fight forest fires, 46 for snow and ice storms, 54 for floods, 9 for tornadoes, and 7 for hurricanes. There were also 27 search and rescue missions, 36 water hauls, 33 medical evacuations, 53 support missions, and 2 security missions. Other emergencies included traffic control, chemical spills, power outages, train derailments, and emergency shelter.

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