Mrs. BYRON. Thank you. General Scheer. STATEMENT OF MAJ. GEN. ROGER P. SCHEER, CHIEF, AIR FORCE RESERVE General SCHEER. I would like to echo the thanks of my colleagues to your committee for your support of our end-strength and I would also like to thank Mr. Montgomery for the GI bill that has proven in the past and continues to prove a real boon for our recruiting, retention and overall readiness. We met our end-strength again last year. I believe that was 10 years in a row and these people who you have supported in your end-strength authorizations are now flying and maintaining C-5s, 141s and F-16s and they are doing that very well. As our competition throughout the Air Force would show, we scored very high again last year in fighter competitions, tanker and airlift. All of our operational readiness inspections were satisfactory. Perhaps most importantly, today, all of our flying units are rated combat ready. Ninety percent of our non-flying units are now combat ready. That is a 17 percent increase during the past year. Our 1989 requirements show an end-strength request of 1,200 part-time people as a direct result of the C-5 built at Westover and our new maintenance program for Strategic Air Command in the KC-10. However, our full-time manning remains low and the downside of that is really since the advent of the Total Force, our fulltime manning levels as compared to part-time have decreased from 25 down to a little over 18 percent. Our medical manning last year increased by over 1,000 people. We are now 93 percent manned in the medical area and still show a shortage of some 50 surgeons and 300 nurses. But, overall, while we have some severe shortages, we are stronger than ever. I can assure you that as a direct result of your support and the great work of our reservists we are able to meet any contingency requirement that may be levied on us. Thank you. [The prepared statement of General Scheer follows.] DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE PRESENTATION TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE STATEMENT OF: MAJOR GENERAL ROGER P. SCHEER Headquarters, USAF MADAM CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE: INTRODUCTION Thank you for the opportunity to appear before this Subcommittee on Military Personnel and Compensation and share with you the status of our force, the challenges that lay ahead, and the progress we have made during the past year. Air Force Reserve units remain combat ready and well-trained, and are capable of being mobilized in 24 hours and deployed within 72 hours. In Fiscal Year (FY) 1987 we again met our programmed endstrength and, today, are more ready than ever. The strength of our effectiveness as a partner in the Total Force continues to be productive interface with the Active Force, quality personnel, substantive missions, and modern equipment. The recent signing, and anticipated Senate ratification, of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty signals the beginning of an age that may mitigate the nuclear threat while increasing the need to counter a conventional threat. This presents an increased challenge to ensure the combat readiness of our Nation's conventional forces, forces we are striving to man, equip, and train in an environment of severe budget reductions. The end-strength of the Air Force Reserve nearly doubled between Fiscal Years 1973 and 1985, dramatically increasing our combat capability; however, over the past two years that rate of growth has substantially slowed. In fact, recent FY 1989 cuts are taking the form of a net reduction in total Department of Defense (DoD) end-strength. As we draw down forces during this period of reduced defense spending, we remain committed to a reasoned Total Force structure, one employing the most efficient force mix, which maximizes the Total Force combat capability. To meet this challenge, the strongest defense for the dollar, we must continue to attract and retain people who demonstrate pride in their performance and are motivated to provide the strongest, most combat ready Air Force Reserve possible. PROGRAM CHANGES Manpower and Force Structure As you know, fiscal constraints have forced us to examine closely our present force structure. The FY 1989 amended budget has reduced our force structure, aircraft and personnel, from the original FY 1988-1989 submission. For example, our current request eliminates 25 percent of the combat capability of each F-16A/B and C-130B unit (Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, and Peterson AFB, Colorado, respectively). Due to the nature of the reservist (tied to a particular geographical location by civilian occupation), experienced crews and support personnel will be a permanent loss when a Reserve unit is reduced in size. We deeply appreciate your continued support in authorizing our requested endstrength to sustain training for the Air Force Reserve wartime mission, especially during this era of reduced defense spending. We attained an end-strength of 80,415 in FY 1987, which is the tenth year in a row that we have met or exceeded the programmed endstrength. Even in the face of recent reductions, Air Force Reserve unit end-strength will have increased 70 percent from FY 1976 to FY 1994. This expansion results from the addition of new missions and the transfer of missions and aircraft from the active force. Simultaneously, however, the ratio of full-time support (civilians and Air Reserve Technicians) to Reserve unit end-strength actually declined from 25 to 20 percent. We request your continued support for growth in the Reserve support infrastructure. The Goldwater-Nichols DoD Reorganization Act growth restrictions on Reserve management headquarters, in conjunction with prior limitations to concurrent growth, creates an obstruction to effective management of our units' wartime training. Coinciding with growth in unit end-strength, no-growth restrictions imposed on the Reserve's support elements place an extreme burden on the Reserve's ability to support effectively mission requirements. We are striving to assure that support areas are operated in the most cost-effective manner possible. Under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A76, our support units compete with private sector base operating contractors to ensure that resources (personnel and dollars) achieve "the most efficient organization" (MEO). This MEO is designed to sustain mission operation while operating at a reduced cost to the Nine of the eleven Air Force Reserve managed bases are undergoing A-76 studies. Future (across the board) Base Operating Support (BOS) dollar and/or personnel reductions at our bases, driving these adjusted support areas below their MEO, may reduce support to the point of seriously threatening the combat capability of the supported units. PERSONNEL In the area of legislation, action of the 100th Congress has had a momentous effect on retention and the quality of life of our force. The Montgomery GI Bill is but one of those important pieces of legislation. However, the progress of one legislative proposal concerns us. Specifically, the Reserve Officers Personnel Management Act (ROPMA), HR 3856, was forwarded to the House of Representatives during the first session of the 100th Congress and remains before the second session. With the passage of the Defense Officers Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) in 1981, Congress directed similar legislation for the Reserve components. Provisions of ROPMA for promotion, continuation, and selective retention will provide us with the means to manage effectively our rapidly changing officer force requirements. Therefore, we ask that you expeditiously examine and adopt the major provisions of this bill. Recruiting and Retention The Reserve recruiting structure and techniques achieve exceptional recruiting and retention results. The Air Force Reserve Recruiting Service is unique as it maintains and operates its own force of 320 enlisted members and 11 officers. With a limited advertising budget, this recruiting effort, through 42 offices collocated with Reserve units across the country, targets a primarily "hometown" market. Our skill- and grade-oriented recruiting efforts are based on the local Reserve unit commander's need, and are conducted by recruiters who are members of the community. Also, these recruiters clearly understand the Air Force Reserve system and objectives. Not only is our retention high--reenlistment rates of 81 percent for first term and 88 percent for career personnel -- but we continue to attract high caliber people; 99 percent of our non-prior service enlistees are high school, or equivalent, graduates. Along with these quality accessions, 76 percent of our recruits are trained, prior service members. This recruiting and retention success combined with our high participation rate (98 percent in FY 1987), allow us to maintain a motivated, top quality force. Medical Readiness The Air Force Reserve has made consistent strides in medical readiness and our manning continues to improve. However, we are pursuing other alternatives to the recruiting and retention of critical skills needed to reduce the wartime shortfall. At the present time we are developing a new program for recruitment of personnel with critical skills into the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). This program is designed to extend the opportunity to belong to the Reserve, but eliminates training requirements that duplicate civilian skills. Also, we have designated a number of ad hoc committees to examine medical readiness training, accelerated accession time for physicians, aeromedical evacuation training, and retention of individuals with critical skills. As directed by Congress in the 1987 Defense Authorization Bill, we are expanding the Combat Casualty Care Course (C4) to encompass training of all Reserve physicians. We have acquired additional Reserve quotas in the active duty resident course, and more Reserve physicians are receiving training in advanced Trauma Life Support from the C-4 Mobile Medical Training team. All these efforts are aimed at offering well qualified professionals purposeful training and the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to Air Force medical readiness. With Congressional recognition and protection of quality medical care for our fighting forces, I am confident that we will show continuing progress toward our goal of 100 percent medical capability. Recall Exercises The Individual Ready Reserve is a manpower pool of individuals who have had some previous training (either on active duty or in the Selected Reserve) and have some remaining military service obligation. These members, not assigned to units, may voluntarily participate in training, but have no participation obligation. In order to assess this manpower resource, the Secretary of Defense mandated that the services order all IRR members to one day of active duty each year during the period of |