I didnt mean my comments as a total indictment of all NG units. That was just my very small and narrow view of the question. I have spoken with several other people that have had expiances similar to mine, as well as several who absolutely love the NG. I made sure to mention the time frame as well, as I believe that was before the realignment in the late 90s where the NG divisions were aligned to active duty divisions for training purposes. I can see where the training might have improved since then, as I believe it has in even the active forces since that time. In my experiance though, it seemed like it just wasnt taken seriously at all and severly lacked any leadership. My impression was that it being a combat arms company it was taken for granted theyd never see an over seas depolyment. Hopefully with the prospects of being actually deployed now, things have changed and the attitude has improved where training is taken seriously.

Train the National Guard Combat and Army Reserve CS units for ONE month, not two weeks/year with support from professional contractors and/or the active component Army units that these reserve units are aligned with. The Israeli and Swiss reservists have been using this one month AT format for decades with quantified success esp. Israel. Training areas would be better utilized by spacing unit training out over the full year, not just the Summer months. I am aware that it will take more than changing the training schedule to improve NG/Reserve combat readiness. It is in the details and the competence of the trainers that would drive a needed NG and Army Reserve transformation.

The British Territorial Army (TA) trains as follows. It seems to work for us. Snip from a TA site: "Trained soldiers generally attend most weekly Training Nights, one Training Weekend a month and a two week Annual Camp each year. We try to be understanding about the need to juggle domestic, work and military commitments and are prepared to make allowances where necessary. However, the rules are a little different for recruits and you will have to attend every Training Night and Recruit Training Weekend until completion of Phase 2 Training. Being a TA soldier is not easy. Winston Churchill referred to us as being "twice a citizen".

Interesting, that is the motto for the US Army Reserve Command.

Uh...that leaves 1/16 unaccounted for... Wait, that's it! They are unaccounted for...(UA)

Sorry about that last post, it was a bit unprofessional. I was trying to lighten the mood. (And UAs are a problem, unless a war is going on.) I'd have to say, after serving in the Reserve, that Active units talk a lot of trash to Reserve units, and we do the same back (Call me when you need a job, but call me at home, my hobby is your job, etc.) As long as our units can accomplish missions equivalent to the Active, we generate respect. Once we don't, we lose it. It's that simple (look at 23rd, 24th, 25th, Marine Regiments, 6th Engineer Support Battalion, ANGLICO companies, 4th Force Recon, etc.)

>>>It's that simple (look at 23rd, 24th, 25th, Marine Regiments, 6th Engineer Support Battalion, ANGLICO companies, 4th Force Recon, etc.<<< GreyBeard: The units you mentioned have a much more 'real world' training focus than the typical NG or Army Reserve units. Those Marine units have hard nosed Active Duty Marine NCOs running their training programs. I have observed, as a former Army WO AG/Reserve trainer, their strict discipline and training rigor first hand and the Army Reserve and NG training DOES NOT COMPARE by a long shot. Reason: in the Army Reserve and NG the unit trainers are usually hired from within their own units that they are training. The AG/Reserve trainers are not held responsible for Army's standard of training readiness, the unit's commander has overall responsibility. The Commander take the hit if the unit fails a readiness inspection not the AG/Reserve trainers. This is not the case with Marine Reserve trainers. With Marine Corps Reserve training those Marine Reservists belong to the Corps and must live up to Corps standards and ethos. Semper Fi!