Historical Attempts to Reorganize the Reserve Components

Throughout the post-World War II period, the National Guard and Reserves have maintained separate identities despite periodic proposals to merge both reserve components. The two most serious proposals came in 1947, when the so-called Gray Board convened by Secretary of Defense James Forestall to examine the status of reserve forces recommended the abolition of the National Guard, and in 1964, when Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara recommended merging all reserve components of the army under the management of the National Guard. Both proposals failed because of strong congressional opposition, fueled by the effective lobbying of associations affiliated with the National Guard and Reserves and other interest groups. Since the introduction of the Total Force Policy in 1973, reserve forces have been increasingly integrated with active-duty forces, to the extent that the distinction between the two has begun to fade. Some observers argue that this integration has gone too far in view of the traditional citizen-soldier role of the National Guard and Reserves.