Fixing the outdated duty status system plaguing guardsmen and reservists is a top priority, says one lawmaker who joined a group of senators and representatives in co-sponsoring legislation last month that would make comprehensive reforms.
The Duty Status Reform Act looks to streamline and consolidate “the duty status structure from nearly 30 statuses down to four.” Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) introduced the bipartisan effort in June, acknowledging that too many classifications have caused longstanding confusion.
“As the Guard’s mission has evolved, the duty status system has become increasingly complex. This legislation will simplify the structure and strengthen the Guard’s ability to carry out its missions by standardizing pay and benefits, bolstering readiness and better supporting those who serve,” Sen. Moran said in a press release.
“Getting to the point of Senate and House introduction has been a long road,” said retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, president of the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) in a same-day press conference. “For years, the Guard and Reserve community has worked to explain that our duty status system is too complicated, too outdated and too burdensome for the missions today.”
The problem is nothing new, with the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act directing the Pentagon to fix it. The RAND Corporation confirmed in a report last summer that the bureaucratic jumble has resulted in six key problems, including pay inequities, complex rules, service disruptions and more.
“This legislation ensures the reserve component receives fair and equitable treatment when answering the call to service at a moment’s notice,” said Rosen in a press release.
It is a group effort, as HR 6976 currently boasts 38 co-sponsors. The four proposed classifications include two for active duty, one for the reserve component, and the final for remote assignments.
“In our ever-changing operational environment, our military leaders need the flexibility to act quickly and effectively. But the duty status system has limited commanders’ ability to quickly mobilize guard and reserve units. The broken duty status construct is hurting our readiness and fixing this long-standing issue has remained my number one priority since returning to Congress,” said Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), a former Navy officer.
McGinn called the proposed law “one of the most impactful pieces of legislation for the National Guard and Reserves in decades.”
Other speakers at the NGAUS presser agreed, including retired Lt. Col. Susie Dunham, Military Officers Association of America’s director of government relations for currently serving affairs. Dunham, who recently retired after 23 years in the Air Force and Air National Guard, said the legislation will improve mission readiness, among other benefits.
“Simplifying the number of duty statuses not only improves readiness, but also has direct benefits for the warfighter, whether serving on overseas missions or at home,” Dunham said. “This legislation also closes gaps on how the departments delivers healthcare, education and housing benefits to the Guard and Reserves — gaps caused by today’s overly complex duty status system.”
Some of the bill’s sponsors are former service members themselves, including Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), who was in the Marine Corps Reserve and is the highest ranking combat veteran elected to Congress. Kaylan Swartz, the vice president of government affairs at With Honor, said the military backgrounds of Bergman and Cisneros “provided both policymakers with the … knowledge to forge a bipartisan solution to an overly complex system for our reservists,” and that the Act “is exactly the kind of policy that With Honor Action believes is possible when members of Congress put smart policies above partisan politics.”
NGAUS estimates the legislation would cost around $500 million yearly across the Departments of War and Veterans Affairs, while saving around $69 million.
At the NGAUS presser, Nick Weinstein, the legislative director at the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, indicated that the solution was simple.
“The sooner that this reform passes,” he said, “the sooner we have a more effective Guard.”
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