USA: Reserve Vice Admiral Identifies Changes Ahead for Smaller Navy Reserve Force

Reserve Vice Adm. Robin R. Braun, Chief of Navy Reserve and Commander, Navy Reserve Force, spoke with reservists about the changes facing the force during her visit to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, May 18.

Braun broke from her duties at the Pentagon to directly explain the evolving shape of the Navy Reserve to more than 360 area reserve members gathered at the Commander, Naval Air Forces auditorium.

The changes to the reserve force in coming years are due to priority shifts in budget and policy, said Braun. The majority of the billet reductions will be within Naval Expeditionary Combat Command.

Braun also identified 540 new billets for reservists in the Navy’s recently established Surge Maintenance program, which seeks to supplement shipyard repair and refit facilities with skilled labor drawn from a pool of qualified reserve component Sailors.

Reserve opportunities are also anticipated aboard the Navy’s growing fleet of littoral combat ships, with more than 600 billets coming online in the next several years.

The reserve force is positioning itself, Braun says, to assume more responsibility from the active duty fleet.

“We know that a Reserve Sailor is about 1/3 of the cost of an active duty Sailor,” Braun said, citing a prior study. “Currently, we need every Sailor we have.”

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Press Release, May 23, 2013; Image: US Navy