Naval Reserve Forces: The Historical Experience with Involuntary Recalls

One seldom considered dimension in examinations of active-reserve force tradeoffs is our historical experience in calling up and using Naval Reserve Forces in circumstances and crises short of general war. The fact that Naval Reserve Forces have not been called in a host of conceivable recall situations, coupled with the sparse but mostly troubled experience when reserve forces were in fact recalled involuntarily, add useful perspective to the ongoing debate about the active-reserve force mix in the Navy. This memorandum examines that experience from the early days of the Korean War to the present. It includes a discussion of lessons from past experience which seem germane to current considerations.