Nation: Trimming the Totem

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Despite two major efforts in five years to streamline the Army Reserve and National Guard, their usefulness in an emergency would still be seriously impaired by the many units that remain undermanned and underequipped. Last week the Pentagon announced a third reorganization plan for both groups, aimed at cutting fat and building reflex-fast muscle.

This time the Defense Department shied away from its politically unpopular proposal to merge federal Reserve and the state-run Guard. Instead, it recommended outright elimination of 15 understrength Guard divisions, four Reserve brigades and many other smaller units. Total authorized personnel would shrink by only 38,500—to 640,000—because surviving combat units would be reinforced to permit their deployment within eight weeks of call-up and some new outfits would be formed. All combat components would be in the Guard, which would have eight divisions and 18 brigades on quick-response status. The active Reserve would consist entirely of training and support units.

Any attempt to reduce the Guard and Reserve faces a fight; opposition to the latest proposal began building up even before the official announcement. But Defense Secretary Robert McNamara has succeeded in making some beneficial cuts in the past and shows no inclination to give up, despite the militia's status as a political totem.