Managing the 21st Century Air Force Reserve

The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves concluded; the future of the all- volunteer force depends on needed reforms to ensure the Reserve Components are available for both strategic and operational purposes. The Total Air Force must implement management reform that allows the Air Force Reserve to manage its forces and preserve the balance of a strategic reserve, that provides operational capability to the combatant commander. This critical analysis suggests the Air Force successfully meet this challenge by rethinking the Gaining MAJCOM construct, modernizing the mobilization process, and embracing the development of Air Force Reserve Command's Force Generation Center. The concluding concept reveals the need for senior leaders to overcome cross-cultural biases that may prevent the suggested solutions for positive change. Gen Billy Mitchell said, In the development of air power, one has to look ahead and not backward and figure out what is going to happen, not too much [of] what has happened.