A Guide to the Army Reserves

Army Reserves Defined:

The army reserves are a military reserve organization primarily composed of ordinary citizens of a country who enter a military role while maintaining a civilian career. The majority of individuals who are in the Army Reserves are not normally kept under arms; the primary role of a member of the Army Reserves is to be available to fight when a nation mobilizes their armed forces unit for a total war or to defend their country from invasion.

Army reserve forces are typically not considered part of a permanent military force. The existence of the unit allows a nation to reduce its peacetime military spending while maintaining a unit that is constantly prepared for distress and military action.

In a few countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom for example, the members of the reserve forces are civilians who sharpen and maintain their military skills through training—typically mandated by the underlying government for one weekend a month. In other countries, such as Finland, Taiwan, South Korea, Israel, and Sweden; however, participation in the army reserves is mandatory for a number of years.

A typical military reserve force is held separately from a reserve formations, which is a group of military units and personnel not committed to a battle by their governing agent or commander so that they are available to fight and address unforeseen situations, exploit opportunities, and bolster defenses.

In countries where duty is not required (such as the United States), reserve members are typically former military members themselves who have reached the end of their enlistment or have resigned their commission. Members of the army reserves can also be comprised of civilians who undertake basic and specialized training in parallel with regular forces while retaining their ordinary civilian roles. In these instances, the army reserve members are deployed independently to make up for shortages in regular armed units.

In wartime, the army reserves are used to provide replacements for losses during combat; the member soft the reserve units are placed in-action units and formations. Furthermore, the reserves can also be used to form new units and formations to strengthen the regular military unit. In times of peace, the reserve members can be utilized for internal security operations and disaster relief.

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