The COVID-19 Pandemic will have ramifications well beyond the death and infection of US citizens. The stimulus actions taken to stabilize the economy will compound the Government’s pre-existing debt crisis and reduce the impact of future budgetary sustainability measures. A confluence of social program needs, demographic imbalances, government liabilities, and burgeoning interest expenses will increasingly compete with resources available to the Department of Defense (DoD) for national security. Solutions to mitigate the impact of these competing pressures will be necessary when DoD budgets are “squeezed” by other fiscal or political agendas. This paper introduces such a solution by reviewing the rate of return of a Guardsman or Reservist compared to an Active Duty counterpart to begin considering optimizing the military workforce structure without reducing military workforce numbers.
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