Army to add training time for some reservists

Above: Guardsmen undergoing warfare training at the Ripley National Guard Training Center in Little Falls, Minnesota

The Army is introducing a flexible training plan for some of its reserve component units that would add as many as 30 home-station training days in the year prior to being deployed overseas, an effort that officials say will both boost the readiness of Army National Guard and Reserve troops being deployed to the war and allow them to remain close to their families and jobs until it’s time to go.

The change, which will affect only National Guard or Army Reserve units alerted for deployment, is in line with the Pentagon’s relatively new policy of limiting involuntary mobilizations to one year, excluding individual skill training and post-deployment leave. The policy also requires that reserve forces be mobilized as cohesive units and includes a “planning objective” for reserve forces of five years back home for every year deployed.

Read the rest at Army Times