Twice the Citizen: A History of the United States Army Reserve, 1908-1983,

The United States Army Reserve USAR had its official birth on April 23, 1908, in an act To Increase the Efficiency of the Medical Department of the United States Army. From this modest beginning and limited mission, the Army Reserve has grown into a force of almost a million men and women who are very much a part of todays Total Army. The roots of the Army Reserve go back much further than 1908, however, for the concept of the citizen-soldier was an old one even at the time of the American Revolution. The idea of writing a history of the Army Reserve originated in November 1982 during the early stages of planning for the USARs Seventy-fifth Anniversary celebration in 1983. It became evident to Major now Lieutenant Colonel Richard B. Crossland and to Lewis C. Brodsky, Director of Public Affairs for the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve, that there was no readily available source of historical data about the Army Reserve. There were bits and pieces of USAR history scattered about, and there were legends enough to fill a file cabinet, but there was no comprehensive, book-length history of the Army Reserve. Major Crossland was thereupon assigned the task of writing such a book. Given the time frame in mind for the project less than one year, it was soon obvious that this was not a one-person job. Permission was therefore secured to bring in an Army Reserve officer on a special tour of six months or so to work on the book.