The Individual Ready Reserve: A Mobilization Asset

In the event of a future military mobilization, the Individual Ready Reserve IRR would be an immediate source of pretrained individual manpower. The IRR would be tasked to provide personnel as fillers for deploying active and reserve units and as individual casualty replacements in any theater of operations. The role of the IRR would be particularly critical in the event a mobilization were required with little or no warning. It takes time to institute a draft, substantially expand the current training base, and to produce trained and deployable soldiers. This time period would be no less than 90 days from the initial day of mobilization up to 180 days depending on the military occupational specialties MOS needed. It is in this first three to six months that the IRR plays such an important role. If the soldiers comprising the IRR or the personnel and training mechanisms responsible for their management are not ready, then the value of the IRR as a mobilization asset is questionable. This study examines the IRR as a mobilization asset and focuses on those elements which are critical in its early utilization. It observes that some automated systems need refining both in determining mobilization requirements and in actually effecting a mobilization call up. Training is examined in relation to skill retention and the absence of standardized and effective programs for mobilization refresher training is highlighted. The study concludes that an effective mobilization training program for the IRR needs to be implemented.