In today’s ongoing, seemingly unending wars, the reserve components – the Reserve and National Guard formations – are picking up a lot of the load. That’s in part what they are designed to do: to provide a pool of trained service members who can be called to the colors when needed and who are in the economy working, producing, and living their lives in the meantime. My Desert Storm deployment was an example; I had come off active duty the year before, moved to Colorado and joined a Colorado National Guard medical company, and in a matter of months found myself back on active duty preparing to deploy for what we were then calling Operation Desert Shield.
It was a great outfit, full of people who had known each other most of their lives, who had worked together for years, and who all knew just what they were doing. We went in, did our jobs, and then we went home.
On Monday, speaking to…
