Reserve military unit

“ These reserves are particularly useful when the configuration of the country leads to double fronts of operations: they then fulfill the double object of observing the second front, and, in case of necessity, of aiding the operations of the main army when the enemy threatens its flanks or a reverse compels it to fall back toward this reserve.
Of course, care must be taken not to create dangerous detachments, and whenever these reserves can be dispensed with, it should be done, or the troops in the depots only be employed as reserves. ”

“ Whenever an army takes the offensive, it should always contemplate the possibility of being compelled to act on the defensive, and by the posting of a reserve between the base and front of operations the advantage of an active reserve on the field of battle is gained: it can fly to the support of menaced points without weakening the active army. It is true that to form a reserve a number of regiments must be withdrawn from active service; but there are always reinforcements to arrive, recruits to be instructed, and convalescents to be used ”

“ After giving this question of a reserve for the army the most careful thought, after having heard the opinion of many officers of our army,—and those too best qualified to give opinions on a matter of this sort,—I am convinced that, under our system of military enlistment, it is impracticable to [Pg 56] accumulate, with either a long-term or a short-term enlistment period, a dependable reserve force of fairly well trained men. To use our army as a training school would destroy the army as such, and fail utterly to create any reserve that could be depended upon as a large body of troops. ”

“ Battalion reserves must start with the assaulting column and get across "No Man's Land" as soon as possible; they must not get out of hand. Such a reserve is usually checked in the vicinity of the enemy's front line trench, where it can be thrown in to assist the advance or extend a flank as needed.
The brigade reserve is kept well in hand just clear of the friendly front line and support trenches. Reserves of companies and battalions must start moving over the top of the ground with the rest of the assaulting troops. ”

“ The impracticability of that plan has been clearly shown by Representative James Hay, Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs of the House of Representatives, in a recent magazine article in which he says:
"Military authorities, backed by the opinions of many persons high in civil life, insist that we should be provided with an adequate reserve of men, so that we may in any time of trouble have men who will be prepared to enter the army fully trained for war. ”

“ Ans.—If enemy commences withdrawal before front lines have given way, troops in action push forward until enemy in their front are driven away. Cavalry and horse artillery are thrown against flanks of retreating enemy, or on their front. Purpose to further disorganize the enemy, beat him to bridges, defiles, etc. In meantime reserve is sent into the pursuit, while troops engaged are assembling to constitute a new reserve. General scheme is to keep in continuous contact with enemy, giving him no chance to reorganize. ”

“ Among the numerous measures carried out by the late Lord Cardwell during the period of his administration of the War Department, none has exercised a wider or more beneficial influence than the introduction of short service and reserve for the non-commissioned officers and men of the army. Indeed, when we consider the results achieved, it seems rather surprising that such a change had not been made long ago, not only in the interests of the men, but also in the reserve of strength which it gives to the country in the event of war. ”

“ As soon as consolidation begins, wire entanglements should be constructed. Every effort should be made to secure the objective against recapture. Any men available should be used to continue the offensive.
All commanders down to and including company commanders must keep some portion of their command as a reserve. The company commander needs his reserve to work around points which are holding against the leading lines, to protect his flanks in case the companies on his right and left are delayed in their advance and to exploit his success and gain ground to the front. ”

“ Those who have had military service and who have not reached the age of fifty are considered reserves. Officers remain in the reserve until the age of sixty. Various factors—primarily occupational situations, physical condition, and lack of reserve training—operate to erode this force, and those considered useful, or trained, reserves constitute one-half or less of the group. Most of the some 250,000 men released in the latest five-year period, however, are available, physically fit, and familiar with the weapons and equipment in use by the armed forces. ”

“ One key problem in trying to balance the demands of states for National Guard to perform homeland security missions with the deployment of Guardsmen to deal with international crises in Afghanistan, Iraq, and perhaps elsewhere, is that the military reserves are the well from which the active duty forces must draw for units with unique skills. If the military needs large numbers of military police, engineers, or civil affairs specialists, it has no choice but to draw from the reserve components. ”

“ Reorganization of Reserve Divisions With the nation victorious in war and alone armed with the most awesome weapon known to man, the atomic bomb, a lasting peace appeared at hand. Some military planners believed, however, that the need for ground combat units remained unchanged. Planning for a postwar conventional force had begun in 1943, and over the next three years those plans, which included reserves, were debated in Congress and by the War Department and state officials. ”

“ To appoint one over the heads of others would bring friction. We know war. Supply is a part of war. And we shall keep matters in our own hands——" and promotions, too, as the reserves might whisper.
A point which the regulars dwelt upon even more emphatically was that the reserve officers did not know discipline and army forms. Some of these reservists had directed thousands of men in organizations [387] at home, without knowing how to drill a company. In their experience, building railroad yards and warehouses did not require military etiquette. ”

“ He proposed that, instead of the revival of the militia, a bill for which was before the house, a reserve force should be established by compelling all soldiers who left the service at the end of ten years, under the act of 1847, without re-engaging, to serve five years after discharge in a reserve, which was to undergo six days' local military training in each year. ”

“ Greece has summoned all her army reserves, and ordered them to rejoin their regiments. All the men are answering willingly to the call.
The army reserve is that part of the military force of a country which is not made a portion of the regular standing army. For instance, our States Militia, or National Guard, is an army reserve. The men belonging to it can follow other professions, and need not be soldiers all the time; but they learn how to be soldiers, and can be called on by the government whenever soldiers are needed. ”

“ You state in your order that you are going to be with the reserve all the time, and you send copies to all your officers, especially to Major Good who is commanding the cavalry, and you report what you have done by telegraph to the Chief of Staff. You decide to have the 3d Infantry be the reserve. If the 3d Infantry is the reserve and you are with it, it ought to be under your orders. The 3d Infantry will follow along behind the 2d Infantry until the latter regiment deploys. ”

“ An elephant battery of twelve-pounders also moved with the reserve force. Other corps in the neighbourhood or on the line of march might complete the whole reserve force to a numerical strength of about eight thousand men.
Thus, within a month, the whole army might, when concentrated on the frontier, amount, in round numbers, to nearly thirty thousand men, with one hundred pieces of artillery. Nearly one-third of which force would consist of British troops, including the artillery, of which not more than one-third were natives. ”

“ Reserve officers and men are required to devote 240 hours to political education and military training each year. To be able to respond to emergencies in peacetime and to fight in war, the focus of the reserve force is shifting from quantity and scale to quality and efficiency, from a combat role to a support role, and from the provision of general-purpose soldiers to soldiers with special skills. It is working to become an efficient auxiliary to the active force and a strong component of the national defense reserve. ”

“ It called for a ground military establishment consisting of the Regular Army, the National Guard of the United States, and the Organized Reserve Corps, 16 which were to form a balanced force for peace and war. The Regular Army was to retain only those units required for peacetime missions, which were the same as those identified after World War I. The dual-mission Guard was to furnish units needed immediately for war and to provide the states with military resources to protect life and property and to preserve peace, order, and the public safety. ”

“ In the past our difficulty in keeping pace with the various improvements so rapidly introduced was increased by the fact that we not only had to re-arm the regular army, but had to create an immense stock of weapons for the reserve troops, militia, depôt troops, and again as a reserve for the whole of the forces. ”

“ As every army which is beaten in an enemy's country is exposed to the danger of being cut off from its own frontiers if it continues to occupy the country, these distant temporary bases are rather temporary points of support than real bases, and are in a measure eventual lines of defense. In general, we cannot expect to find in an enemy's country safe positions suitable even for a temporary base; and the deficiency must be supplied by a strategic reserve,—which is purely a modern invention. ”

“ On that reserve a nation interested in its military security, and aware of the means necessary to secure it, will be able to draw to whatever extent is necessary. How the Empire can be defended without that reserve against nations that possess it is a question that we are bound to ask ourselves, and to which there can only be one answer. ”

“ As only large commands have a reserve, which would always be commanded by an officer, noncommissioned officers need not give this much consideration, but it must be understood that while this fourth subdivision of the advance guard is the only one officially termed reserve, the last subdivision of any advance guard actually is a reserve, no matter what its official designation. ”

“ Reserves play an important part in modern warfare. From the executive, who prepares national reserves, down to the chief of a platoon of skirmishers, every commander now desires a reserve. A wise government always provides good reserves for its armies, and the general uses them when they come under his command. The state has its reserves, the army has its own, and every corps d'armée or division should not fail to provide one. ”

“ Rapid concentration of effort, anticipating that of the enemy, is the ideal of tactics and of strategy,—of the battle-field and of the campaign. It is that, likewise, of the science of mobilization, in its modern development. The reserve is but the margin of safety, to compensate for defects in conception or execution, to which all enterprises are liable; and it may be added that it is as applicable to the material force—the ships, guns, etc.—as it is to the men.
The United States, like Great Britain, depends wholly upon voluntary enlistments ”

“ In addition to the above Reserve Forces, all foreign nations possess a last resource in the shape of a great number of men, many of whom, however, have received no training at all. Being totally unorganized, they could only be used as reserve men to fill the depôts of the organized Forces, and should not rightly be counted in to swell the numbers of available troops. ”

“ The regulars cannot, from not being accustomed to the work, go clambering over rocks, or beating covers after their foes. Therefore I conclude that in these wars [1] regular troops should only act as a reserve; that the real fighting should be done either by native allies or by special irregular corps, commanded by special men, who would be untrammelled by regulations; that, except for the defence of posts, artillery should be abandoned. ”

“ To long service and small reserves a large standing force is the natural corollary. It may be added that it is more consonant to the necessities of warfare, and more consistent with the idea of the word "reserve," as elsewhere used in war. The reserve in battle is that portion of the force which is withheld from engagement, awaiting the unforeseen developments of the fight; but no general would think of carrying on a pitched battle with the smaller part of his force, keeping the larger part in reserve. ”

“ The only constant element in the Reserve units were the men, who, owing to age or health or other conditions, would never be fit for Imperial Service. Divisional and other military organization was the same in both Lines, but the 1st was composed of Officers and other Ranks ready for service abroad, the 2nd was composed partly of surplus Imperial Service personnel, partly of troops prepared, so far, only up to Home Service, which still formed the statutory function of the Territorial Force. ”

“ The training in the active reserve consists of two periods of training and maneuvers which last for four weeks each, in the Territorial army one period of two weeks, and in the Territorial reserve, no fixed period. There are more than 2,000 reservists per battalion produced by the length of the reserve service, and when the troops are mobilized the active units can be easily maintained at full war strength. The number available in this way gives enough men for each battalion and regiment in the field with enough men left over for routine home guard work. ”