Reserve Component Unit Stability: Effects on Deployability and Training

Abstract : Personnel stability is highly valued by all military forces, particularly in combat units and other formations that deploy to a theater of operations. Yet, Army units, including those in the Reserve Components (RCs), commonly experience high levels of instability?that is, the departure of some unit members and their replacement by others. In fact, basic features of RC units inevitably generate a considerable amount of personnel instability, which is accentuated as they prepare for mobilization and deployment. This monograph examines the rate of instability, its primary causes, potential effects on training, and policy options for dealing with instability and its effects in deploying units.