What Are US Reserve Forces Really For.

In view of the use of reserve forces in three previous wars, the failure to use them in Vietnam was puzzling, and created doubt as to what reserve forces are for. A literature research was made seeking an explanation for the Presidents decision against use of the reserve forces and the effect of the decision on the reserve forces. A personal interview was had with General Harold K. Johnson, US Army Retired Army Chief of Staff, 1964-1968, to determine, inter alia, the effect of the decision on the prosecution of the war. The present Total Force approach, makes the reserve forces the initial and primary source of augmentation for the Regular Army in any future emergency. The reserve forces have three secondary purposes 1 to make unnecessary a large standing army, 2 to serve as the link between the Regular Army and the citizenry, and 3 to inhibit civilian authority from engaging the US in ill-advised and unwise military ventures.