The United States Marine Corps Reserve: Reorganization for an Integrated Force

: The Marine Corps Reserve is an essential piece of the Marine Corps, and throughout its existence, the Marine Corps Reserve Component has been and continue to serve as an integral part of the Marine Corps. As the Marine Corps seeks out new ways to evolve and remain relevant, so too must its Reserve Component. With the introduction of Expeditionary Force 21, the Marine Corps is pro-actively changing to meet the next potential threat. An archaic structure such as the strategic reserve paradigm cannot deliver results when the nation calls its citizen soldiers to war. Since its inception, the Marine Corps Reserve must continue to evolve to meet the current operational environment and improve interoperability for future contingencies. Since the DoD recognizes that the Reserve Component are becoming an operational reserve, the Marine Corps should seize the opportunity to innovate its Reserve Component before its mandated. This paper examines a proposed method to integrate the two components to meet the needs of an operational reserve force, one that is integrated with the Active Component in peace and wartime, not one that must adjust in a combat theater.