Options for Improving Strategic Utilization of the Air Reserve Component for Sustained Active-Duty Missions

Since the mid-twentieth century, the U.S. military's reserve components have shifted from primarily a strategic force to today's operational force composed of both part-time and full-time members. The aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001, led to an increase in the demand for U.S. military forces to project U.S. power around the globe and to the emergence of the reserve components as an operational force. However, there is inherent tension and contradiction in the operational force cons...