Addressing stressors for National Guard personnel : insights from leadership / Chaitra M. Hardison, Daniel B. Ginsberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hardison, Chaitra M., author.

Ginsberg, Daniel Brian, 1974- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Air National Guard.

United States.

Other Title:

Addressing Stressors for National Guard Personnel

Place of Publication:

RAND Corporation 2024

Summary:

The National Guard is a dual-missioned armed force available to conduct federal missions as a component of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force and state missions under the control of governors. Since the drawdown from Afghanistan that began in 2020, the pace of National Guard overseas operations as a key organization in the Department of Defense (DoD) has declined, though the National Guard maintains a relatively intense mission load. However, domestic demands seem to have been much higher than in past decades, with DoD and the states intensively tasking the National Guard (its Air and Army components) to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, civil unrest, border operations, and natural disasters. This high demand for National Guard support of domestic operations has raised concerns about potential impacts for Guard members and their families and about a variety of possible personnel management challenges (including potential retention and recruiting issues) for the National Guard. In this report, the authors develop a picture of the National Guard's recent mission demands, identify the challenges that the pace of operations has created for Guard members and their families, and explore what service and support programs are in place to address these challenges. The authors explore these issues using a three-pronged approach: reviewing publicly available articles and reports, holding interviews with National Guard senior leader stakeholders and subject-matter experts, and reviewing existing internal National Guard documents provided by the interviewees.