From the Commanding General

“First in Training”

Vol 39.2 SUMMER 2015

See more photos on Pages 10 & 11

By Maj. Gen. Leslie Purser

Commanding General 108th Training Command (IET)

This year the Army Reserve is faced with the most challenging fiscal situation since before 9-11. Across the USAR, school funding has been reduced by the Army by 35%. Our ability to train our force is challenged.

Initially the 108th was given $9 million less than the previous year. With that amount it would have been a challenge to fund everyone for statutory AT. However, we discovered a calculation error and raised it to USARC’s attention, thus receiving additional AT funding, but we still had a shortfall of about $4 million from last year. At the beginning of the FY we began mitigation strategies to stretch funds and we have updated them as the year has progressed. All Command Teams must continue to develop and refine these mitigation strategies to ensure every Soldier gets 14 days of AT.

At USARC, just about all funding has been pushed out. There is no reserve, so Command Teams must ensure they spend their remaining resources wisely. I’ve asked them to create order of merit lists to ensure those in promotion peril receive first priority for school seats, and that the priority of training established by USARC is adhered to. Fortunately, USARC has authorized the use of AT dollars to fund Professional Military Education (PME) schools, so we can breathe just a little easier. This authorization still does not allow us to have Soldiers perform directed missions AND attend PME courses using AT funds, so it’s one or the other. For some MOSs, such as 11B, 42A and 92Y the PME requirement may include more than one phase. In these instances, the AT for PME authorization will only allow us to fund one phase (14 days) during this fiscal year.

This subject is being discussed at the highest levels of the USAR. The Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee (ARFPC) consists of senior National Guard and Army Reserve officers who meet regularly to discuss issues. In April they addressed the challenges of tracking the funds execution against programmed funding for different training categories, primarily Professional Military Education. While training requirements are the same across all components, access to training for RC Soldiers is complicated by pay and allowances costs and travel. Both the USAR and the ARNG predict their DMOSQ to decrease 3-5% each year under current conditions. The panel concluded that these issues will continue to be addressed in the next Army Training General Officer Steering Committee.

We will depend on all of you and specifically our Command Teams in the field to prioritize your resources to ensure that Soldiers who must go to school get the opportunity to go to school. To that end our basic

We are committed to doing all we can to mitigate the impact of reduced resourcing and to prioritize our funds to achieve the highest levels of readiness possible within our funding ability. move now is to ensure those with confirmed seats keep them. Part of the funds cuts is as a result of utilization of seats. If we don’t fill our quotas (which we requested) Army cuts the funds. We are committed to doing all we can to mitigate the impact of reduced resourcing and to prioritize our funds to achieve the highest levels of readiness possible within our funding ability. As Command Sgt. Maj. Riti said, this is tough, but we are tougher. We can and will overcome this, but it takes everyone to ensure we are using our limited funds wisely. Despite the funding shortages that prevent our training support to others, I consistently hear compliments about what you are doing to support the Army, and am very proud to be part of your team. Thanks for all you do as members of this great unit.