Readiness of Army Guard and Reserve Support Forces

GAO discussed the combat readiness of Army National Guard and Army Reserve support personnel. GAO found that: (1) most of the Army's support forces are reservists; (2) the Army Reserve lacks sufficient personnel, the necessary skills, and the equipment to perform its wartime missions; (3) the lack of ready and available reserve support force could adversely affect the Army's ability to meet its objectives during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization conflict; (4) although the Army indicated that about 75 percent of its reserves were qualified, it does not know how many are proficient in their jobs; and (5) only 32 percent of Army reservists took a skill qualification test because of inadequate incentives and command emphasis on the test. GAO also found that the Army initiated efforts to increase: (1) funding to purchase new equipment; and (2) personnel retention and solve training-related problems.