Reserve Components: Opportunities to Improve National Guard and Reserve Policies and Programs

The seven reserve components are the Army, Naval, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Reserves and the Army and Air National Guard. GAO focused its review on the Ready Reserves, which will augment the active forces in the event of a national emergency. The Army National Guard and Reserve account for about 65 percent of the 1.6 million ready reservists and about 52 percent of the $19.8 billion fiscal year 1988 reserve component budget. The Ready Reserve is composed of the Selected Reserve and the Individual Ready Reserve. The approximately 1.2 million members of the Selected Reserve drill one weekend a month and have an annual 14- or 15-day active duty training period, while members of the Individual Ready Reserve are not required to drill regularly. The reserve components are integrated into the management structure and systems of their respective services. During peacetime the Army and Air National Guard elements are supervised by DOD but are under the control of their respective state governors.