The U.S. Army has proposed to expand its deployment of reserve forces in fiscal 2017 to support the Defense Department‘s six combatant commands globally, Federal News Radio reported Monday.
Jared Serbu writes the military service’s fiscal 2017 budget seeks to fund 1,878 man-years of National Guard and Army Reserve personnel, up 870 from the 1,008 man-years the branch requested for the current fiscal year.
“From now through at least 2020, the primary limiting factor for us achieving full spectrum readiness is our personnel manning,” Gen. Daniel Allyn, vice chief of staff at the Army, told House Armed Services Committee members Friday.
“We need more flexible access to the reserve component, specifically for emerging missions,” Allyn added, the station reports.
The Army wants to deploy additional reserve troops to help find terrorist cells in the Caribbean and Central America regions, train soldiers in Africa and establish an international civil presence in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.