The Congressionally chartered Commission on the National Guard and Reserves is getting company in its effort to review the now more extensive use of reserve components. The Pentagon has tapped its Defense Science Board to form a task force to study the “length and frequency of the deployment” of reservists. The task force is to assess the consequences of such deployments on force structure, morale, and mission capability and to identify the “optimal” length and frequency. Lastly, the task force must identify “mechanisms to reduce” said lengthy and frequent deployments.
Fresh off the first combat deployment of its new EA-37B, the Air Force is nearly doubling the planned number of new electronic attack jets and projecting more than $3 billion in spending on the program in the next five years.