The Chief of Army Reserve (CAR) said his mantra when speaking to active-duty soldiers is “you go, we go.” The messaging comes as Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, who was confirmed as the 35th CAR in August 2024, acknowledges any future conflicts will demand participation from Army Reserve soldiers.
“It’s not lost on me that on America’s worst day, another attack, the Army Reserve is going,” he said during a Pentagon interview in February.
Harter hails from “a family of soldiers,” and watched his dad, a Purple Heart recipient and Vietnam veteran, embrace the Army life.
“He just lived the life,” Harter says, “and he loved his service.”
Harter initially served on active duty after receiving his commission as a field artillery officer in 1988. His first assignment was in Germany as a platoon leader, referring to it as probably the “greatest job we have in the Army.” After deploying in support of Desert Storm, other assignments took him to the 101st Corps Support Group in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and the U.S. Army Munition Center and School, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
It was the instructor position at Redstone that introduced him to the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) program, something he recalls knowing nothing about.
“My career had been pretty busy, and I started getting AGR officers in; I never heard of that – they were telling me what they do. It sounded pretty stable,” he explained. He and his wife already had one child and another son on the way, so when he was told he would have to go to South Korea for a two-year tour, he made a career decision to apply to AGR and was accepted.
Harter’s transition felt like less of a culture shock because, he says, “I went from active duty into the AGR program, so I wasn’t just a straight TPU (Troop Program Unit) Army Reserve soldier.”
He was put on a team that traveled to Army Reserve units to check readiness at the company level, an experience he describes as “fascinating.”
“These young Army Reserve soldiers, and these young leaders, and these young company formations, they were being asked to do the same thing that we had to do at Fort Campbell. And they’re trying to do it one weekend a month, two weeks in the summer,” he said.
Being exposed to that for more than four years, and being immersed in those challenges, “probably set me up for some success in the Army Reserve,” he adds.
Harter calls leading the 174,000 citizen soldiers and 11,000 civilians of the Army Reserve “a tremendous honor,” and a “grind of a job” that he and Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory Betty, the 15th Command Sergeant Major of the Army Reserve, want to do to make a difference.
“These 1% said, ‘Hey, yes, on America’s worst day, I’ll be ready. I’ll put myself in harm’s way,’” he said. “So it’s a tremendous honor, and I would just want my soldiers to know I’m in this with you. I’ll do PT with you. I’ll get in the dirt with you. You are the reason. You’re the only reason that I’m doing what I’m doing.”
Throughout his career, Harter has seen an evolution in Big Army’s reliance on the Army Reserve, specifically for its enabling capabilities — logistics, sustainment, medical and engineering.
That reliance, Harter explained, comes with a sometimes-high op tempo, and he is prioritizing giving soldiers the tools they need to create balance while ensuring they are a combat-ready force.
“We strive hard to allow our soldiers and leaders to attain balance because I am acutely aware that it’s not the Army Reserve that is making their mortgage payment; it’s their civilian job,” he said. “So it’s that balance that I got to make sure you’re ready to fight, survive, win on the battlefield … but allowing these kids to also have a life away from the Army Reserve.”
Harter outlined his four priorities for leading an Army Reserve that can support the Total Force:
- Build combat-ready formations,
- Mobilize and deploy,
- Adapt, transform and modernize,
- Invest in soldiers, civilians and families.
“The Army has a historically unprecedented responsibility to meet and exceed the force capabilities of our adversaries on a technologically advanced, multi-domain battlefield. That simply cannot happen without you, the Warrior Citizens of the Army Reserve,” Harter said in a message to soldiers.
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