Happy Birthday, U.S. Army Reserve!
Medical Reserve Corps
In 1908, Congress created the Medical Reserve Corps, the US Army Reserves’ official predecessor. The impetus for the creation of the Medical Reserve Corp resulted from prior shortages within the Army of medical personnel during wartime engagements. The newly formed Medical Reserve Corp would be dedicated to providing crucial medical services during conflict. And indeed, the Medical Reserve Corps saw its first battlefront during World War I, deploying more than approximately 30,000 medical doctors and 15,000 enlisted Army Reserve soldiers into medical units.
However, even as early as 1916, the Medical Reserve Corps was quickly reforming. By 1920, Congress created the Organized Reserve, which was redesignated the Organized Reserve Corps by 1948, changes synonymous with other Reserve reformations that we’ve seen in the history of our Reserve forces, such as the Navy, Coast Guard, and Air Force Reserve, thus far this year. The Organized Reserve Corps would get overhauled one more time during the Korean War to officially become the US Army Reserve, and created the model for Reserve service known today.
But following World War I, few Reserve officers were retained. However, as the United States began preparing for World War II, calls to active duty grew. During World War II, “a quarter of all Army officers who served were Army Reserve Soldiers,” and “more than 200,000 Army Reserve Soldiers” served in World War II.
Following World War II, Congress and the Department of Defense would come to rely on the Army Reserve, and indeed all Reserve departments, to meet the growing need for “a more combat ready Army Reserve to deploy together with the Active Army for operations worldwide.” And worldwide it was – the Army Reserve would participate in every major engagement throughout modern history with significant deployment numbers, including:
- Korean War – 240,000 Reservists
- Berlin Crisis – 68,500 Reservists
- Vietnam War – 6,000 Reservists
- Desert Shield/Desert Storm – Over 80,000 Reservists (with 35,000 deployed to Southwest Asia)
- Bosnia-Herzegovina – 16,000
- Following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks – Over 200,000 Reservists activated for the Global War on Terrorism
The “Army Reserve: A Concise History,” treatise included this important conclusion on the engagement and participation of the Army Reserve:
Army Reserve Warrior Citizens have been tested in the crucible of combat, earning their status as full partners in those operations; no longer a supplemental, strategic reserve force but rather an able and operational force upon whom the Nation must routinely call.
The Mission of the Army Reserve is “to provide combat-ready units and soldiers to the Army and the Joint Force across the full spectrum of conflict.” And at present, approximately 190,000 serve in the Army Reserve. As is often said, “the Joint Force cannot deploy, fight, and win without the Army Reserve.”
So today, we say HOOAH, Army Reserve, and the very happiest of birthdays! In celebration of the US Army Reserve’s 116th birthday, the Reserve created and shared this birthday message:
PS: For a very interesting read on the origins of HOOAH, read Task & Purposes’ article: The Mysterious Origins of ‘HOOAH,’ The Army’s Beloved Battle Cry.