Capt. Catherine I. Williams, a reservist from the 422nd Medical Detachment, spends time with children from the Kenyan Manda Bay community, which is being supported by Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, Army Reserve chief, said the reserve will meet its goal of being at 206,000 soldiers by Fiscal Year 2010.

The chief of the Army Reserve said, “We’ve got to re-look at how we look at end strength – not three separate [numbers], but one, an Army of 1.1 million.”

In an interview with AUSA NEWS, Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz added, “We would be at 200,000, but we gave the AC [active component] 7,500 soldiers.”

Stultz used this example: “Say two of your soldiers leave, just transferring components. And two other soldiers transfer in. That’s not a gain. We don’t gain anything until we bring a new person into their place, not just moving back and forth.”

He noted that the recently concluded Commission on the National Guard and Reserve looked at the single rather than multiple end-strength issue.

Stultz said that the Army Reserve is meeting its recruiting and retention goals, and he told Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Army chief of staff, the Army Reserve will meet its goal of being at 206,000 soldiers by Fiscal Year 2010.

“We bottomed out at 188,000” after starting out with 220,000 names on the rolls. “That’s not a bad thing. We had a lot of house cleaning to do.”

In an address to the Reserve Officers Association, Stultz said, “I want cohesive units that have capabilities not names” and that means having the necessary equipment in time for training long before deployment. “There can’t be tiered readiness.”

He is still looking at drawing his recruits primarily from soldiers leaving active duty and still have several years of obligation left. “We’re growing [the Army Reserve] on soldiers who come into the ranks with capabilities.”

He said, “Retention right now for ’07 is great news. [In the past] we always made it on the back of careers. We raised the goal from 65 percent to 85 percent and made it. For first terms, we kept it at 65 percent and made 150 percent. A lot of them are staying with us.”

Adding later, the re-enlistees are saying: “I like what I’m doing. I think the Army really cares about my family.”

He said, “The way ahead is partnerships with employers. I’ve been meeting with Chambers of Commerce, just talked to the American Trucking Association. I tell them: ‘Let the Army Reserve recruit for you.’”

He said his message resonated with the trucking industry. “They are short 25,000 long-haul truckers, average age is 50. I’m trying to recruit soldiers into the Army Reserve to be truck drivers. They have a career in the Army Reserve and a career in commercial trucking.”

Similarly with one of Northern Virginia’s largest hospitals, he has found a partner. “INOVA can’t find X-Ray technicians. I can. [Hospital officials said] and you’re going to find the person, screen the person, train them and certify them. Why wouldn’t we have them?”

In short, Stultz said, “I find a job that has huge implications for recruiting. I would love to see a sign on a truck say: ‘This truck is operated by a citizen-soldier.’”

Adding in an interview with Army News Service, “Let’s look at the civilian skills that transfer over to Army Reserve skills.”

He said in his trips to Capitol Hill he has been exploring with congressional staffers tax incentives that would encourage employers to hire more citizen soldiers. “We’ve got to solve this employer situation. The Army Reserve doesn’t pay the mortgage” for its soldiers.

Another way of increasing incentives for employers would be to look at sharing the cost of benefits, especially health care.

He sees a similarity to 401K retirement plans. “When I talk to employers, that resounds because cost of benefits is huge to them.”

At the same time, he is talking with staffers about boosting the incentives, including more flexibility in how they serve, to be offered to medical professionals to join the Army. “In tuition repayment, we are woefully behind.”

Citing his civilian experience as an executive with Proctor & Gamble, Stultz said look at the corporation’s value equation. “We made a product like Tide at a cost. We made another product Gain at a lower cost. Where did the consumer set the value and the cost? We changed one side of the equation from one weekend a months, two weeks in the summer. That had an impact.”

Adding, “We really have to get into this continuum of service [where] you can flow back and forth” from active service to civilian life to reserve service and maybe back to active service. “We’ve got to adjust policies, compensation and retirement.”

It also means allowing for career progression in the Army Reserve as it adds 16,000 more spaces over the next few years as more units are stood up.

Stultz considers himself fortunate to be in command of the Army Reserve as it celebrates its centennial. “I am trying to use this opportunity to thank our soldiers and make America aware of what a treasure you have here in these soldiers in the Army Reserve. They didn’t have to do this … yet they are willing to things on hold to serve.”