Army Plans to Double Training Days for Guard Units, Chief Says

The U.S. Army's top officer is planning to more than double the number of required annual training days for some National Guard units to reinforce the service's shrinking active force.

The service's current strategy of reducing the active force from 490,000 to 450,000 by 2018 is forcing leaders to depend on the National Guard to assist with potential future contingency missions, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.

"I am going to lean heavily on the Guard," Milley told an audience at a Dec. 14 National Security Forum sponsored by the Center for a New American Security.

In November, Milley asked Army Lt. Gen. Timothy Kadavy, the director for the Army National Guard, to assess readiness needs of the Guard.

"We are one Army, so what I need to do is not only maintain the readiness of the regular Army ... but I have got to increase the readiness of the National Guard," he said.

Currently, Guard units are required to train 39 days per year, Milley said.

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