Reserve Seeks to Partner with Business

[unhappycamper]

Reserve Seeks to Partner with Business
Army News Service | Gary Sheftick | February 25, 2008

WASHINGTON - Transforming the Army Reserve into an "operational force" includes forging a partnership with American businesses to share not only talent -- but eventually health care, retirement plans and training as well.

"Partnership for a Shared Workforce" is the vision of Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve, and he's pitching his plan to chambers of commerce and business forums across the country.

He wants the Army Reserve to be a preferred hiring pool for the private sector. He sees Soldiers of the future transferring back and forth seamlessly between the active component, the Army Reserve and their civilian occupations. And he sees them doing so with a continuity of health care and other benefits.

"Our biggest challenge right now is manning the force," said the former Proctor and Gamble executive who took over the reins of the Army Reserve two years ago.

Under his Army Reserve Force Generation model, known as ARFORGEN, units would deploy every four or five years. About 22,000 to 25,000 Reserve Soldiers are normally mobilized to support the war on terror, and Stultz said due to the current demand in theater, units are actually rotating now about every three or four years. New units and Army Reserve transformation should move the rotations back, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,162828,00.html