Armed Forces Reserve Act

The Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 was a response to the severe weaknesses in the U.S. reserve forces and inequities for veterans revealed by the partial mobilization during the Korean War. Pressured by reserve and veterans' organizations, Congress sought to improve reserve organization and most immediately to restrict the vulnerability of Korean War veterans to future service. The act established three categories of reserve forces—ready, standby, and retired—subject to different liabilities for mobilization. The most important of those categories, the ready reserve, was authorized a strength of 1.5 million personnel, including the entire National Guard. The ready reserve could be mobilized in a national emergency declared by the president. The act allowed individual reservists and Guardsmen to volunteer for active duty. That enabled the armed forces to use them in routine peacetime operations and contingencies without incurring the political and diplomatic risks associated with mobilizations. The act strengthened the influence of reserve and Guard officers in the military planning process.

Bibliography

• Eileen Galloway, History of U.S. Military Policy on Reserve Forces, 1775–1957, 1957.
• Charles J. Gross, Prelude to the Total Force: The Air National Guard, 1943–1969, 1985

An act passed on July 9, 1952, to reorganize the reserve forces into the categories of ready, standby, and retired, and to restrict the use of Korean War veterans in future service. It allowed Reservists and Guardsmen to volunteer for active duty, thereby enabling the armed forces to use them in peacetime operations and to avoid mobilizations. It was amended by the Reserve Forces Act of 1955.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.