Army Wants Guard and Reserve to Be More Combat Ready
By Russ Bynum
September 17, 2016
FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — Before citizen-soldiers of the 48th Infantry Brigade deployed to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Georgia National Guard troops spent months training away from their families and day jobs as they prepared for war. Now a shrinking Army wants them able to get ready for combat sooner.
The brigade's 4,200 soldiers are the first of 13 National Guard and Army Reserve units nationwide chosen to test a new role that pairs them with commanders on active-duty who will oversee their training.
The Pentagon hopes the change will make the Guard and Reserve troops better prepared to fight overseas at a time when the Army has roughly 100,000 fewer full-time soldiers than it did at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2016/09/17/army_wants_guard_and_reserve_to_be_more_combat_ready_110077.html
