Last month, I received an e-mail from a business school classmate updating me on his company, family, and Navy Reserve unit. He is the last remaining drilling reservist from my class and, despite loving the Navy, is seriously considering leaving the service. He is the chief operating officer of a fast-growing technology company, and is finding it increasingly difficult to meet the significant operational demands required by today's selected reservist.
Not surprisingly, many of our most capable Navy reservists are also the ones with the most demanding civilian jobs. Unfortunately, they also represent the population who struggle most to balance the two jobs, and often are at the greatest risk of resigning. Contrast that to some of their Navy Reserve colleagues who had less demanding civilian jobs and were more available for active duty or drill. The latter group almost always outperformed and outlasted the former-and justifiably as they had done the most work and could often be counted on at a moment's notice. I worried, however, that losing some of our most talented civilian executives from the rolls was problematic for both our Navy and nation. We must consider the possibility that real-world, ongoing, and heavy demands on our Navy Reserve could lead to unintendedand difficult to measure-manpower quality costs.
Manning is often viewed in terms of full-time equivalents (FTE), the number of 40-hour-per-week employees on the rolls. Unfortunately, the FTE concept is fundamentally flawed-people are not equivalent units and, in my opinion, one great team member is equal to ten average contributors. So, as the cost of our high reserve mobilization rates is examined, one must look beyond manning levels to evaluating the quality mix of our force. I will share with you the e-mail from my colleague, an 0-4, and encourage you to send in your thoughts about how to meet this emerging challenge.
"The NR-Navy Reserve now, not Naval Reserve-has evolved a great deal in a short period of time. Under Vice Admiral John Cotton's watch, my sense is that the improvements have been significant, especially around breaking down those barriers between the active and reserve components. It feels like I am being valued as a part of the Navy, not one of those reservists like it used to be.
"But the downside of NR service today is the personal impact of the evolution from a strategic to an operational reserve force. The impact is especially felt by guys who have extremely demanding civilian jobs. In my community, the current optempo leaves me wondering if my prior mobilization will protect me from another mobilization (mob) for much longer. Since my first mob was in the early days of OEF, I am doubtful that my veil of protection will last for more than 12-18 months at max. Given my current civilian position, another mobilization would be devastating to my career.
"I don't know that this situation is easily rectifiable, or that the brass would even want to change the current paradigm. Perhaps the thinking is that if you wear the uniform, you go wherever, whenever. I appreciate and sympathize with that view. Unfortunately, the unintended consequence is that officers with jobs that are less amenable to taking time away-jobs that generally reflect high achievement-are increasingly feeling the pressure.
"Otherwise, we run the risk of losing great talent and diversity from the service. It is a tough situation, because I understand the needs of the service here. And maybe it all means I have no business wearing the uniform if I cannot deploy in the near future, at a moment's notice.
"But I'd like to believe there is a better way to manage this process, because at the end of the day, I do believe that I, as well as a lot of other folks questioning their mobilization risk, can contribute a great deal over the many remaining years of our service if we can better manage the risks we face now."
Mr. Michel is founder of Military.com, a company focused on connecting service members, veterans, and their families to the benefits earned while in the service. He is a former naval flight officer and a member of the Naval Institute board of directors.