This thread has gone quiet for a while now so I figure that I would stir the pot. And just for brevity's sake I will be referring to the Reserves because that is what I know, but most of what I am talking about includes the National Guard as well.

I left the regular AC army and went straight into a RC Training Support Battalion (CS/CSS). I have now witnessed this whole issue first hand. During my first year at my unit (2010-2011), it was a ghost town. Half the unit was mob'd to the nearest readiness center (pulling guard duty or some BS) and the other half was sitting on their fourth point of contact with no mission because the Reserves hadn't validated its own units since 2004/5. To make matters worse, our unit was so understrength at our home station that our AC numbers were just about even with the RC. Forget about training. In those circumstances, the culture shock alone is enormous. The officers are usually pretty politic and understanding, but the NCO's....lets just say we had one SFC come straight from Drill Sergeant duty and it was a rough couple of BA weekends. I know as a Captain, I just breathed deeply, kept my opinions to myself, and shifted my “no major changes rule” from 90 days to a year.

Break to 18 months ago. We reflagged under a new brigade and were told that we would be supporting Reserve unit training. We ramped up our basic soldiering skills and then tackled the essential unit non-specific platoon collective tasks along with our OC/T specific tasks (you have to know what to look for before you can evaluate it, and some NCO and Officers needed some refreshing). End result, our unit just helped train a bunch of Reservists for the first time in 8 years. Job well done.

Here some preliminary impressions:

-All Reserve units are eaten alive by “DA Mandatory Annual Training”, its insane. I think we lose the equivalent of two to three Battle Assemblies in a year to these classes. I wish they were biennial for us part-timers.
-Reservists operate at a much faster tempo than the AC, we always try to cram 4 days of events in one weekend (and sometimes we succeed). AC can tend to waste time (make work).
-Maintaining individual and team skills is really all that should be expected from Reservists during the year. The two weeks of annual training are for raising a prioritzed list of collective tasks (METL) from a U to a P. I don't believe in double standards and there is no circumstance where a unit that only works together 38 days a year can be called a “T” on collective tasks when compared to the Active Component or deployed Reservists. A “T” is earned through repetition, repetition, repetition. Realistic expectations shared by all would be appreciated.
-The Active Component is valuable for training Reservists, but holy carumba, they need to remember that weak leadership is not the same as absent leadership. People forget how long it took them to develop leadership skills. It is an organic process that cannot be taught, only trial and error experience works.

My last comment is more general. Except for a few time/resource intensive units (airborne, air assault, special forces, etc.) the Army and the Nation would be well served by keeping a 4:3:3 (Active:Reserve:Guard) ratio of all unit types. Besides ensuring that skills and equipment are spread throughout the force there is a political motive. Too much Active Component and you end up in situations where we are fighting three wars simultaneously with no democratic incentive to stop the fighting. Not enough Active Component and you could lose the next war.

I have many more thoughts on the matter but this is starting to drift into a rant and I will stop right there. For those who thought this was a rant a while ago, my apologies. I am curious to hear any other stories about the AC/RC clash of cultures.