60 Minutes: Reserves/Nat Guard in civilian workforce facing serious challenges

[JGarcia]

Yes, It is pretty bad in the Army Guard. The happiest Guardsmen I think are students. Those others Guard Soldiers with Federal jobs are next, though some agencies are better for Guard Soldiers to work at than others (TSA throws huge hissy fits).


But by and large there are many employers to include various municipalities that are very averse to hiring Guard Soldiers... Even in Oregon. I suspect that this has a lot to do with the quality of Soldiers we are able to get as well. I have seen that quality decline a great deal over the last few years. We used to get studs, now we get some real winners in and amongst the okay ones. We'll make due.

I think one of the civilians was on track when he mentioned the idea of the Fed providing incentive to companies that hire Guard Soldiers. This could help improve our Army, as it would allow quality individuals with the inclination towards service the opportunity to do so by ensuring that they could keep a quality civilian position.

Give employers a tax break to offset the cost to employ and retain a Guard Soldier; I think this would improve the quality of the ranks and help with our unit strength in the Guard. Not sure if it might hurt Active component numbers, depends on how successful the incentives for companies are.