The chairman of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro says DOD declared the United States has an operational reserve, but has not made changes to ensure its sustainability. At a March 1 press briefing unveiling the commission’s second report, Punaro claimed: “The equipment readiness of our Guard and Reserve today is totally unacceptable … for the units that remain here in the continental United States, 88 percent of those units are not ready. If you’re talking about red, yellow, green [readiness ratings] … red would be ‘not ready’ … in the Air Guard it’s 45 percent red. The National Guard has indicated to me this is worse than the worst readiness days of the hollow force in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.