Addressing Stressors for National Guard Personnel: Insights From Leadership

The National Guard serves as a reserve component of the armed services and military force under control of the 54 States, Territories, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Since the drawdown from Afghanistan that began in 2020, the pace of National Guard operations overseas has declined. However, domestic demands seem to have been much higher than in past decades, with the Department of Defense (DoD) and the states intensively tasking the National Guard (its Air and Army components) to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, civil unrest, border operations, and natural disasters. This high demand for National Guard support of domestic operations has raised concerns about potential impacts for Guard members and their families, as well as a range of personnel management challenges (retention, recruiting) for the National Guard Bureau (NGB) force. For this report, we held interviews with senior leaders in the National Guard, within both the NGB and the states, to lay out a starting picture of the Guard's recent mission demands, identify the challenges that the pace of operations has created for Guard members and their families, and explore what service and support programs are in place to address these challenges. The study interviews took place from summer 2022 through the beginning of 2023.