dePloYment exPerIences of reserve comPonent famIlIes 153 chapter 9 UNDeRsTANDING The DePloymeNT exPeRIeNces of ReseRve comPoNeNT fAmIlIes

The nation’s reliance on the reserve component has steadily increased since the first Gulf war in 1990–1991. Over 500,000 reserve component members have been activated to support the global war on terrorism since September 11, 2001, conducting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as missions in the continental United States. Guard and reserve members comprised more than 40 percent of the troops in Iraq in 2004 (Commission on the National Guard and Reserves 2007), and in 2005 represented approximately 30 percent of the force supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (Chu 2006). More recently, about 20 percent of the forces in Afghanistan and Iraq consisted of guard and reserve personnel (Chu 2006). Although this number represents a decline relative to the peak of operations in Iraq, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2005 suggests that the utilization of the various reserve components will continue at a high rate. Specifically, Congress modified the stated purpose of the reserve components, and in doing so formally acknowledged the components’ evolution from a strategic reserve into an operational reserve. Instead of being relie