Dual Status: A United States Army Reserve Military Technician Program Dilemma.

摘要

The Department of the Army (DA), as the agency responsible for providing well trained United States Army Reserve (USAR) units for national defense, is currently confronted with a dilemma. The dilemma is a result of the Army's commitment to provide the USAR units with full-time support personnel that will mobilize with the units when called upon to do so. It is centered around efforts to improve one element of the USAR Full-Time Support (FTS) Program, the Military Technician (MT) Program. All civilian members of the MT program are required to be Reservists in the unit they support as a condition of employment. Known as dual status, this requirement is the source of the dilemma. This requirement gives the MT program its uniqueness and without it military technicians are no different from other Department of the Army civilians (DACs). Since implementation, the requirement has caused numerous problems in administering the MT Program. With the creation of the Active Guard/Reserve (AGR) Program, another element of the FTS Program, many believe the dual status requirement has outlived its usefulness. In an environment of reduced force structure and reduced funding, the Army is committed to a program that is mandated by public law while the single requirement that makes the program unique is questioned by the program's work force and administrators. This study project will examine the events leading up to this current dilemma and how the Army can solve it without eliminating the MT Program.