re: Four members of Army Reserve identified as those killed in action during Epic Fury

One more time Corky

Your assumption is from the 70s.

Total Force is confusing to you

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I probably would be and I am not going to run to wiki to look it up, doing other stuff tonight. But I am still wondering why it isn't more active duty doing it. It almost seems like something that was meant to be a "break glass in case of emergency" thing has become a "use at will, as you wish". To me that seems odd, but maybe there are reasons (more experienced people in the guard perhaps?). I dunno.

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The guard and reserve used to be a “break glass in case war” force but since 9-11 they’ve been used extensively. Even though the major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are over they still deploy quite a bit(I think it’s mostly on a volunteer basis). I don’t know for certain but I imagine it’s to keep the skills in the reserve component at least somewhat honed.

I imagine units like “expeditionary support command” are mostly administrative in nature meaning they don’t require a highly skilled warrior or much specialized training so why waste time training a full time soldier to do it when you can get a national guard volunteer who doesn’t mind going to Kuwait to push some paper around and get away from his nagging wife and the 9-5 grind of civilian life for a few months.

But - again I am trying to learn here - isn't the guard a state level thing? The New York Guard. The Texas Guard. If they sign on they can "volunteer" okay I get that, but can they do the opposite and say "thanks but no thanks"? (Note I certainly presume not, but who knows, like I said, I am in learning mode).

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But - again I am trying to learn here - isn't the guard a state level thing?

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Not really but kinda. They are trained and funded by the US Army or the US Air Force. The governor can use them for state missions at his discretion for the most part using state funds. They can also be activated by the president for federal missions.

In this case the big army probably sent a message to the “expeditionary support command” unit of whatever state these guys were from(or multiple states) and said “We need X number of guys to deploy to Kuwait for Y number of months. The unit then asks all their guys who wants to go.

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I imagine units like “expeditionary support command” are mostly administrative in nature meaning they don’t require a highly skilled warrior 

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This is coming from a guy whose knowledge of logistics and supply are 1) be nice the the Supply SGT, 2) SLANTREPs are due daily, and 3) Equipment adrift is a gift but had to do some exercises attached to ESCs and TSCs:

They are highly specialized units. SPO shops are more black magic than Voodoo spaghetti on Halloween in Jamaica. The logistics they figure out using Just In Time logistics from across the entire world is shite I can't comprehend, but they make it happen. The Army is responsible for logistical support for the entire force, not just the Army, and the ESCs and TSCs are the units responsible for that success.

While a Support Battalion might be worried about IEDs on an MSR or ASR, ESCs and TSCs are worried about the Strait of Hormuz being closed, the Montreux Convention being invoked, or a ship blocking the Suez Canal then finding ways to get the bullets and beans to the Joes despite that.

Times have changed.

Some missions are 100 percent Guard and Reserve.

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The guard and reserve used to be a “break glass in case war” force but since 9-11 they’ve been used extensively. Even though the major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are over they still deploy quite a bit(I think it’s mostly on a volunteer basis). I don’t know for certain but I imagine it’s to keep the skills in the reserve component at least somewhat honed.

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It’s widely thought that Dubya Bush joined the air national guard to avoid the draft and a Vietnam deployment, but he denied that. It really aggravated me that he used the guard to avoid going to war but used the guard to fight his war. I’d never seen them deployed in that big of a manner.

My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.

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Times have changed. Some missions are 100 percent Guard and Reserve.

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May God bless him and his family and loved one's. A hero.

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Why is Army Reserve involved at this state of the war?

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They are doing what they have done since 1908. Serving as a part of the Total Force.