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Research
Paper on Effects of Mobilization on U.S
Air Force Reserve Enlistment
The war on terrorism has motivated
many previous Air Force members to go back to active service;
devoted dedication has assisted mobilization and recruiting in
general. Some officials also planned to leave service to change
their minds and stay. The last major mobilization of reservists
before Operation Desert Storm occurred almost 50 years ago
during the Korean conflict and the latest mobilization was
carried out during operation Enduring Freedom. The large number
of reservists serving before 1990 had largely no experience with
a large-scale reserve mobilization. They passed through the
trails of the mobilization. In fact, the likelihood of a reserve
mobilization during Operation Enduring Freedom perhaps played
most of the role in making the decisions. The mobilization and
the subsequent involvement of reservists in various other
operations passed through different difficulties and problems.
These problems had social, economic and professional effects.
The mobilization has changed various perceptions in important
ways. It is however clear that in spite of the problems the
Reserve Components are expected to play a considerable role in
combination with the regular forces to counter regional crises,
as well as in peacekeeping, peace enforcement, and humanitarian
support operations. Mobilizations are likely to be more common
in the future and are likely to have important effects on
reservists' attitudes and the degree of support they receive
from their families and civilian employers. But all this
mobilization, activation and deployment had an overall negative
effect on Reserve enlisted airmen retention.
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There are more than a few categories of service in the Air Force
Reserve for mobilization, which were moved. The men and women
who serve in the Reserve are among the best trained and most
battle prepared military professionals. Most Reservists serve in
the Unit Program after mobilization, in which they are obligated
to report for duty .A smaller but equally important category of
Reservist is the Individual Mobilization Augmentee which are the
Reservists who are allocated to active duty units to do jobs
that are essential in wartime but do not require full-time
manning during times of peace. A small number of Reservists are
chosen to serve on limited tours of active duty, generally at
headquarters staff level or in other special assignments.
Reservists are categorized by several criteria in the Ready
Reserve, Standby Reserve, Inactive Ready Reserve or Retired
Reserve. When the mobilization of these reservists takes place
the effects start mounting prior to their arrival for duty. The
effects continue even after their joining and some times these
effects get very serious that governmental intervention becomes
essential.
During operation Enduring Freedom carried out in Afghanistan
included the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) that
comprised of active and reserve personnel. Reserve elements
included the 193rd Special Operations Wing, Air National Guard,
the 280th Combat Communications Squadron, Air National Guard and
the 919th Special Operations Wing and The Air Force Reserves.
AFSOC units are trained for direct action, unconventional
warfare, special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense, and
counter terrorism operations. [Special Operations Forces] The
Air Force Reserve has always been an essential and vital
ingredient of USA’s presence in air and space. As a Federal
force, the Air Force Reserve contributes considerably to the Air
Force mission and is actively involved in Air Force operations
in the operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. On any given
day, it is not uncommon for thousands of Reservists to be on
duty at locations throughout the world. About half of them
directly support ongoing contingencies.
The principal responsibility of the Air Force Reserve is
readiness, providing the nation's leaders with Air Force Reserve
units and people who are trained and ready for duty at a
moment's notice. Apparently what looks to be a simple on the
face of it, is a task of noteworthy magnitude. The reserves that
join after the mobilization carry out all the tasks happily and
with enthusiasm. [BEYOND READINESS]
Post Mobilization Actions
Before mobilization after September 2001, all active and reserve
members were banned from separating and retiring, vide Stop Loss
rules endorsed due to wartime requirements. When USAF began
removing Stop Loss restraints, service officials braced for a
flood of losses by April, about a third of members in all skill
areas were free to leave. While there were some resignations,
the much-expected heavy evacuation did not take place. Still
further heartening was what happened among members who
previously had said they would separate or retire as soon as
Stop Loss was finished. The Air Force released additional skills
from Stop-Loss in late June. Restrictions remained for
three-officer fields, special operations pilot and navigator and
security forces and eight enlisted fields including flight
engineer, airfield management, operations resource management,
air traffic control, intelligence applications, Para rescue,
fuels, and security forces. After Sept. 11 some 38,000 Air
National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command members were called
up for volunteered active duty during the mobilization. During
and after the late 1980s, the US Air Force once totaled 608,000
active duties, which reduced to just a little over 350,000. The
civilian employee force was also reduced by almost 100,000, from
about 250,000 to around 150,000. A lot was mobilized for the
operation in Afghanistan and this mobilization was to leave
considerable effects on the soldiers and their families too.
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This mobilization was a test of the patriotism as well and in
spite of the post-9/11 show of patriotism, the US air force
officials were worried that receiving and maintaining enough
members to meet both present requirements and the proposed
increases was not an easy task. The patriotic enthusiasm not
withstanding, the air force continued to struggle with the basic
problem of getting and holding enough people, particularly in
some critical specialties. The enlistment of mobilization
figures released last October is heartening. The Air Force
brought in 35,381 people during 2001, against a target of
34,600.Many had signed up before Sept. 11 and a considerable
number were encouraged to come back after the terrorist attacks.
If it were only to be based on the fresh recruitment, the Air
Force would not have met its objective.
The Air Force made a considerable endeavor to catch the
attention of more such veterans during mobilization. It opened a
Voluntary Retired Enlisted Airman Extended Active Duty Recall
program, which allowed enlisted members who have not been away
more than three years to come back to specialized skills posts
for 24 months. It had made a similar bid to retired officers,
and several hundred returned in the six months after Sept. 11,
including more than 100 pilots. Most of those went into timed
staff positions. Former service recruits are principally
precious because most already are skilled and can be moved into
shortage skills with little or no extra training. This depends
on how long they have been out of service and whether they're
still proficient in skills the Air Force needs. It was also well
known that most would not serve long enough to merit additional
training. If the enthusiasm prior to 9/11 gave an increase to
active duty recruiting, it has had a less fortunate side effect
for the reserve forces. [Bruce D. Callander Stabilizing the
Force]
Effects of mobilization
Effects on Attitudes
Mobilizations are always likely because the situations can arise
at any time for the achievement of the objectives. All the
mobilizations however have very significant effects on air force
reservists’ attitudes and the level of support they receive from
their families and civilian employers. It is well known that the
Reserve Components are estimated to have even severe effects, as
a result of mobilizations .The increasing dependence on reserves
also increases the Costs and Benefits of Reserve Participation.
The cost and benefits can have effect on reservists' attitude
and those of their employers and families. The attitude of the
reservists also effects their decisions to stay in the reserve
enlistment. The mobilization leaves lasting imprints on reserve
personnel, their feelings and awareness and also of employers
and families of the reserves during and after mobilization. Once
the mobilization modifies their thoughts in considerable ways,
then retention and recruiting may lead to a steady and firm
reforming of the force with unanticipated and possibly
completely different results [RAND]
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The motivation for staying in the guard or in reserve appears to
have changed. Amongst enlisted personnel, there is less stress
on immediate compensation and promotion and greater weight
placed on educational benefits. Among officers, loyal and job
satisfaction reason are more frequently talked about. Expanded
educational benefits may have concerned a new group of young
en-listed personnel whose primary motivation is obtaining money
for college rather than long-term reserve service. There is, on
the other hand, a small but definite boost in the levels of
displeasure with military pay and opportunities for
education/training among both officers and enlisted personnel.
Part of the dissatisfaction with pay is an indication of the
apparent higher risk of mobilization and the likely economic
losses.
The Mobilized and Non Mobilized Reservists
As a result of the focus on the analysis, a comparison of
mobilized and non-mobilized reservists was possible which is a
rich source of experiential information on the attitudes and
problems faced by mobilized reservists. This also enables to
conclude more directly the effects of a large mobilization such
as the one during Enduring Freedom on those who were mobilized.
There is a vast difference between mobilized and non- mobilized
reservists not only in terms of their awareness, sensitivity,
and attitudes about the reserve, their families, and their work
environments, but also their position, grade and other potential
service problems they would face once mobilized.
What makes the rankings and positions more exciting is that
particularly for one group, these rankings are based on skills,
where as for the other, they are based on judgments. It is
significant to be clear about what this report does and does not
do. The attitudes and perceptions of reservists regarding their
reserve participation, unit readiness, and family and work
environments are changed. The most vital and positive change is
the shift in employer attitudes, which is now more favorable on
the part of their civilian non-mobilized supervisors. This may
have been to a certain extent a result of the considerable
contributions reservists make during previous mobilizations.
This change appears to have reduced the conflicts amongst the
reservists usually feel between satisfying reserve
responsibility and those of their civilian job. Reservists
however report much less arguments with employers about
attending drills and annual training and in spending additional
time on reserve commitment while on the job. [RAND]
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Family Attitudes/Support
The effects of the mobilization include the apparent attitudes
of spouses, which are generally stable but have some
psychological effects as well. The stable attitudes of the
families although is a little surprising but this has encouraged
the mobilization. The information in this regard is important
are particularly so because of the significance of spouses'
attitudes in reenlistment or continuation decisions. There also
looks to be about the similar or less divergence with family
time as a result of drills, annual training, and extra time
spent on reserve commitment. Comparing the mobilized with
non-mobilized reservists, it is found that important differences
exists in the known attitudes of spouses and civilian
supervisors. A large number of mobilized officers reported
unfavorable attitudes on the part of both spouses and civilian
supervisors as compared to non-mobilized reservists. Between
enlisted personnel, an increase in incidence of unfavorable
spouse attitudes among mobilized reservists is found, but little
or no difference in supervisor attitude was noticed. Where
differences exist, they have a tendency to be much larger among
the junior ranks. The junior mobilized officers and enlisted
personnel at the same time were also much more displeased with
pay and benefits than non-mobilized personnel. However, overall
satisfaction with reserve service showed modest difference
amongst mobilized and non-mobilized personnel.
Continuation of Service
The effect of mobilization on retention and continuation of
service is also very prominent in some cases. Although some
reservists across most grades reported much poorer subjective
probabilities of reenlistment continuation during the
mobilization the simple analysis of continuation rates found
little difference .the information is reflective that there is
apparently no remarkable change in overall behavior that could
be attributable to the operation Enduring Freedom. There is
slight or no differentiation in the overall retention rates of
mobilized and non-mobilized reservists. However, among officers
who spoke of serious doubts about continuing, mobilized
reservists had much lower retention rates than non-mobilized
officers. [RAND]
The mobilized reserves tasks require that the individual should
contribute full time in Duty, Annual Training, or in training
necessary for promotion or skill retraining. The reserves job
may recall the individual to active duty and require him to
position himself full time for periods of desired time. The
whole time tasks often clash with civilian jobs and are likely
to cause more disagreements with civilian employers. No
elasticity in the reserve work schedule can play disorder with
scheduled family events or with deliberate or permitted
opportunities at the civilian job. Both economic and
non-economic reasons effect retention decisions and are
decisions entirely at the discretion of the individual. The
individual weighs the costs and benefits both financial and
non-monetary of reserve participation against other alternatives
and chooses the most preferred alternative.
Training
One of the major effects of mobilization is on the training of
the staff. It is understandable that the greater parts of
reservists do not perceive grave problems in their organizations
ability to meet training goals. The difficulties and problems
that ranked in the top five are mentioned by only very few
percent of the enlisted and equally very few of officers as
well. There is considerable resemblance in various groups in the
level and type of concern spoken by reservists about the
problems facing by their training establishment in meeting
training objectives. If uncertainty about the future status of
the organization is not considered than the lack of time for
planning and administration, lack of access to good training
facilities, and lack of supplies and modern equipment/weapons
remain the primary concerns. There is little difference in the
rankings of problems by mobilized and non-mobilized reservists,
telling that the experience of mobilization has not changed
awareness. There is a good amount of stability in the problems
mention by the reservists in the different components, although
there is a difference in their perceptions of how serious these
problems are. Generally, the air force part appears to be pretty
pleased with their ability to meet training objectives but the
naval reserve and the two-army parts are somewhat less hopeful.
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Effects on Future Mobilization
The family and economic issues are dominant that reservists
could potentially face if mobilized. These issues include,
firstly: The reservists are likely to loose the potential
income, which is the most important concern of Reservists;
secondly the families feel a great amount of burden on spouses
and increased family problems. These problems include:
• Loss of income during call-up
• Burden on spouse
• Loss of civilian health benefits
• Increased family problems
• Problems for children
• Employer problems at beginning of call-up
• Loss of seniority/ promotion opportunity
• Getting the same job after
• Business/medical practice would be damaged
• Problems for patients/ clients/customers
• Employer problems after returning
• Child care during call-up
• Attitudes of supervisor/
• Co-workers Increased chance for
• Separation/divorce
• Spouse would need to work/would not find job
[RAND]
Employer connected concerns and problems particularly when
mobilized and returning, getting the same job back, damage to
business practice, problems for clients and patients-are some
out of the long list of problems. Possible problems during
mobilization differ noticeably among different groups of
reservists. Self-employed reservists and doctors obviously state
very high levels of concern regarding income loss and damage to
business or practice; loss of civilian health benefits stands
much higher among pilots than any other group; family problems
like load on spouse, problems for children, weigh heavily on the
minds of those with families. It is vital to be aware of these
differences when mobilizing. Mobilized and non-mobilized
reservists do not have drastically different awareness of
problems in a future mobilization, suggesting that reservists
have comparatively precise perceptions of the problems they are
likely to face if called up, with a couple of exceptions.
Non-mobilized reservists are more worried about income loss and
loss of civilian health care benefits than are mobilized
reservists,
Reserve Spouses and Child Care arrangements
Another effect of the mobilization was the handling of spouses
and childcare arrangements. Majority of all Reserve members are
married and most of the spouses had been married previously .The
characteristics of the Reserve spouse population disclose the
composition of the Component: Most spouses were female, white,
U.S. citizens, born in the United States, and spoke English at
home. The ratio of spouses from a minority racial/ethnic group
reduced as the Member’s pay grade group increased. Few spouse
had prior military experience. Almost all the spouses had a
graduate or high school degree college degree or postgraduate
training. Spouses' education level increased with the member's
pay grade group. Most of the spouses worked in the labor force
on a full- or part-time basis. Some worked outside the home.
Although spouses worked on average more hours per week than did
civilian wives, they earned similar weekly pay. Spouses most
often present financial need, future financial plans, and
personal motivation as reasons for working. Most spouses
reported noninterference between their jobs and the member's
service. Spouses had a very constructive opinion of their
spouse's participation in service. They were sympathetic of the
member's service and assumed that the member participate for a
combination of physical and intangible reasons. These were
retirement benefits, serving one's country, and pride in his or
her achievements in the Reserves. Spouses commonly established
with the member's military career plans and were pleased with
the pay and retirement benefits service afforded and with the
member’s prospect to serve the country. Participation was not
exceptionally taxing on spouses they understood that the member
spent about the right amount of time in activities. As in many
families, many spouses wished that the member spent more time in
family activities and spare time quest.
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The spouses were not common users of military programs and
services that were arranged for them. Some one half of spouses
did not know whether programs and services for family members
such as retirement benefit meetings or family support groups
were accessible. Those spouses who did know that these programs
and services were available to them most often attended
sponsored social events, mobilization get together, Medical
benefits conferences, or information programs. Spouses also
joined at a high scale in Civilian volunteer activities.
However, few spouses participated in volunteer activities for a
variety of reasons. These included not convenient time or place,
unfamiliarity with other people, or lack of concern. Most
spouses had responsibility for one or two dependents. These were
usually children, but a small proportion of spouses had duty for
an old relative as well. Spouses also told that their family
members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors had positive
attitudes about the member's service. About one fourth of
spouses had a member who was mobilized for Operation enduring
freedom. During this time, spouses mostly relied on friends for
social support. Those who did turn to more formal support
services generally found them to be quite supportive. Although
most Reservists did not believe a lengthy mobilization would re
occur? Some more arrangements were also to be made for Families
regarding arrangements for powers-of-attorney, wills, and
childcare arrangements. In the event of a mobilization, more
spouses planned to use military support services, chiefly family
support services, legal help, financial counseling, and
chaplain/religious services. [Spouses Of Reserve Component
Members]
Child Care Arrangements
When called for active duty, men and women were taken from their
civilian careers and allocated for duty in the support of
operation "Enduring Freedom," both at home and abroad. Some were
called too active duty can mean a reduction of total monthly
income. Those reservists who are currently paying child support
payments based on higher monthly income may find that child
support arrears will begin to accumulate when monthly child
support payments are not met. Additionally, custodial parents
who are activated were affected in their ability to meet their
children's needs. Reservists experiencing a reduction in monthly
income were to contact their child support office to request a
review and modification of their child support orders.
Information needed to accomplish an adjustment could vary from
State to State, however, providing basic information needed to
process a request was to be included the reason for the request.
Families relied on a variety of measures for child care, most
frequently, day care centers,
Spouses or grandparents there was a change in the type of
childcare provider and location
Away from care by relatives in the child's own home toward the
more planned setting of Day care centers and schools. An
evaluation with the civilian population reflects that families
depended more than the civilians did on care at home or planned
day care. This is expectedly a function of the older average age
of children. Spouses also had childcare needs resulting from
Service. The bulk specified they would require childcare during
the member's annual training, and nearly as many would need
child care in the event of a mobilization. In almost one third
of families, the youngest child was in care for most of the time
in week, showing that the spouse's full-time work schedule.
However, the greater part of children was cared for on a
part-time basis.
In operation enduring freedom like any other war or national
defense, US air force as an organization of the armed forces was
mobilized for active military service in time of war to be
operative against terrorism, which was the result of national
emergency. In its full scope, the mobilization included the
organization of all resources for support of the military
effort. The aircraft carriers with most lately technological
advance of the 21st century, particularly the strategic B52 were
moved in location. This mobilization has vastly increased the
complexities of the planning and implementation of mobilization.
The ratio of the standing forces, which provided for defense
during the mobilization period, always varied and has depended
on factors as foreign policy, world tension, strength and
situation of US led allied forces in Afghanistan, and estimates
of the time required to implement mobilization. Because of the
tremendous power of USA Air Force and the high-speed weapons
with which they were to be delivered to their targets, it is
conceivable that USA air force war potential was safe before,
during and after mobilization. This situation had increased the
need for adequately prepared forces but the effects of the
mobilization were certainly existed.
Military mobilizations, for any kind of war, includes the
procurement and training of manpower for military purposes; the
selection of areas and the construction of facilities for
training and other military purposes; and the procurement and
issuance of arms, ammunition, uniforms, equipment, vehicles, and
stores. During operation enduring Freedom all was perfect but
the mobilization itself was a complicated and complex operation.
The procurement of USAir manpower was in itself a complex task
that included the calling up of reserves; the induction of large
numbers of raw recruits; and the allocation of manpower to the
air force units.
The procurement of manpower during mobilization was correlated
with the procurement of arms and equipment necessary for
training and for combat and was well synchronized with
timetables for training and strategic deployment. Mobilization
was very effective and was well organized. Yet the effects of
the mobilization were reality, which was taken care of, but the
overall effect of the mobilization was negative.
References
Special Operations Forces, in Operation Enduring Freedom:
Background and Issues for Congress http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/crs/
BEYOND READINESS http://www.afreserve.com/whatwedo.asp#structure
Bruce D. Callander Stabilizing the Force. http://www.afa.org/magazine/2002/0802recruit.html
RAND http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR812/MR-812sum.pdf
Spouses Of Reserve Component Members: 1992 RESERVE COMPONENTS
SURVEYS
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