The Individual Ready Reserve ("IRR") is a category of the Reserve Component of the Armed Forces of the United States composed of former active duty or reserve military personnel, and is authorized under 10 U.S.C. ch.1005. As of June 22, 2004, the IRR had approximately 112,000 members (does not include all service IRR populations) composed of enlisted personnel and officers, with more than 200 Military Occupational Specialties are represented, including combat arms, combat support, and combat service support. The Reserve Components of the Armed Forces of the United States are military organizations with members who generally perform a minimum of 39 days of military duty per year and who augment the active duty (or full time) military when necessary. ... Title 10 of the United States Code outlines the role of armed forces in the United States Code. ... is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In military service, an enlisted rank is generally any rating below that of a commissioned officer. ... An officer is a member of a military, naval, or if applicable, other uniformed services who holds a position of responsibility. ... A Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is a job classification in use in the United States Army and Marine Corps. ... CARS is the Combat Arms Regimental System, under which the combat arms units in the United States Army were organized. ... In the United States Army, Combat Support is a military term which refers to units which provide fire support and operational assistance to combat elements. ... Combat Service Support (CSS) is a United States military term. ...

An individual assigned to the IRR receives no pay or benefits and is not obligated to drill, conduct annual training, or participate in any military activities (except for periodic Muster activities) until activated by Presidential Reserve Callup Authority. An individual assigned to the IRR may receive pay or benefits for voluntarily performing specific types of active duty. By law, they are only required to retain possession of their service uniforms, retain their military identification card, and notify their service branch if they move and change their address.

Upon being called up, a service members will usually be screened for their medical and personal status in order to qualify or disqualify them for involuntary activation. In order for the IRR member to present their case, they will present their case to the mobilization authorities as to why they may delay, defer, or exempt their activation.

Callup Authority and Activation

"Presidential Reserve Callup Authority" (PRCA) is a Provision of a public law (US Code, Title 10 (DOD), section 12304) that provides the President a means to activate, without a declaration of national emergency, not more than 200,000 members of the Selected Reserve and the Individual Ready Reserve (of whom not more than 30,000 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve), for not more than 270 days to meet the support requirements of any operational mission. Members called under this provision may not be used for disaster relief or to suppress insurrection. This authority has particular utility when used in circumstances in which the escalatory national or international signals of partial or full mobilization would be undesirable. Forces available under this authority can provide a tailored, limited-scope, deterrent, or operational response, or may be used as a precursor to any subsequent mobilization.^[1]

When activated by Presidential Reserve Callup Authority, soldiers are required to follow the activation instructions contained in Army Regulation 135-91 specifying that members of the IRR can be required to join an Army Reserve unit if they are statutorily obligated and have a skill needed by the Army. Reserve soldiers are normally obligated to serve up to two years active duty, a requirement that is waiverable by the individual soldier, mission constraints, or the needs of the Army.

Involuntery activations in the Global War on Terror

Until the Global War on Terror, members of the Individual Ready Reserve had not been called up since Operation Desert Storm^[2]. The Global War On Terror is the official Department of Defense title for the United States ongoing campaign against Al-Quaida and other groups since the attacks of 9/11. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian...

Army

In March 2004, Army Human Resources Command began identifying IRR soldiers with Military Occupational Specialties that met the needs of the Army at that time. In June 2004, those soldiers were transferred into Selected Reserve units to begin drilling, training, and preparing for deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Approximately 5,600 IRR soldiers were notified during the initial call up. Since 2004, approximately 51% of IRR soldiers called up have actually reported. A Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is a job classification in use in the United States Army and Marine Corps. ... In the United States Armed Forces, the Selected Reserve (SR) is the the component of the Army Reserve most readily available for callup to Active Duty, out of Selected Reserve, Individual Ready Reserve, and Retired Reserve, under Presidential Reserve Callup Authority. ... For other uses of the term, see Iraq war (disambiguation) The 2003 invasion of Iraq (also called the 2nd or 3rd Persian Gulf War) began on March 20, 2003, when forces belonging primarily to the United States and the United Kingdom invaded Iraq arguably without the explicit backing of the... Combatants United States, Poland, France, Canada, Pakistan, India, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines (in the Philippines theatre only), Northern Alliance, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ethiopia, Somalia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Macedonia, Romania, Portugal, Bulgaria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Georgia Taliban, al-Qaeda, Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah...

Marines

The Marines began involuntary activating their IRR members beginning in early 2007. They were allotted up to 2500 Marines to be activated at any one time. So far, two major involuntary activations have occurred, targeting mostly Corporals and Sergeants and those with high-demand training (combat arms, logistics, maintenance, etc.). United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ...

History of Global War on Terror activations:

29 July 2004: is the 210th day of the year (211th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• 5,600 members of the IRR, mainly with specialties as military police or civil affairs officers, were called back to active duty to support U.S. forces in Iraq. This activation was the first time that the IRR had been called upon since the 1991 Gulf War, when approximately 20,000 IRR troops were called up in support of Operation Desert Storm.

April 2005: Branch insignia of the Military Police Corps The Military Police Corps is the law enforcement of the United States Armed Forces. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian... April 2005 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → Hamas and Islamic Jihad have declared, in principle, their intention to join the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). ...

• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has authorized the Army to mobilize up to 6,500 Individual Ready Reservists at any one time;^[3]
• 3,900 IRR members with critical specialties have been called to active duty;
• About half of those called have reported for duty;
• About 550 of those called have failed to report for duty, some claiming exemptions, others ignoring their orders.

August 2006: The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and The role of the Secretary of Defense is to be the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense... Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9, 1932) is a U.S. Republican politician and businessman, who was the 13th Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977, and the 21st Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... August 2006 is the eighth month of that year, and has yet to occur. ...

• President Bush has authorized the U.S. Marine Corps to recall 2,500 troops to active duty.^[4]

March 2007: George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ... March 2007 is the third month of the year. ...

• Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates approved the recall of 1800 Marines not in their first or last year of their IRR contract, 1200 of which will be Sergeants and Captains joining the I MEF in Iraq. Here broken down by MOS:
  • Aviation maintenance, 361
  • Logistics support, 225
  • Infantry, tanks and artillery, 223
  • Motor transport, 178
  • Communications, 97
  • Intelligence, 95
  • Military police, 21

They will be used for early rotation into a 2008 deployment. If more troops are needed, another recall could happen in July.^[5] Dr. Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) served as Director of Central Intelligence from November 6, 1991 until January 20, 1993 and was Deputy National Security Adviser under Brent Scowcroft during the first Gulf War. ... This article is about the rank of sergeant. ... Please see Captain (military) for other versions of this rank Captain is a rank in the United States armed forces that ranks between a First Lieutenant and Major (O-3 in the United States Army, U.S. Air Force, and United States Marines), or a rank between a Commander and... I MEF Logo The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is a MAGTF of the United States Marine Corps primarily composed of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 1st Marine Logistics Group. ...

August 2007: August 2007 is the eighth month of that year. ...

• The Marines sent out another recall for a September 2007^[6] muster and screening for possible involuntary activation in early 2008.
  • Activation letter:

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 468 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (957 × 1226 pixel, file size: 105 KB, MIME type: image/gif) Orders for involuntary activation for 2007 for a US Marine, page 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 456 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (945 × 1241 pixel, file size: 137 KB, MIME type: image/gif) Please see the file description page for further information. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 324 pixelsFull resolution (957 × 387 pixel, file size: 25 KB, MIME type: image/gif) Orders for involuntary activation for 2007 for a US Marine, page 3. ...

• • Muster timeline:

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 318 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (637 × 1200 pixel, file size: 85 KB, MIME type: image/gif) Timeline for 2007 muster at MOBCOM KC. 3 days. ...

Delay, Deferment, & Exemption (DD&E)

DD&E is the disqualifying factors which may exclude a service member from immediate activation.

• Delay - When a service member cannot be activated immediately (for example, they are getting married soon), but they are for all other reasons qualified, and can be called up later for activation. Usually the delay will last up to 4-6 months depending on the needs of the activation.
• Deferment - The marine cannot serve right now for an indeterminate amount of time (for example, the service member is in school and will graduate within a year), but can be called up later when the situation changes.
• Exemption - The service member has an immutable characteristic which will never qualify them for activation (for example, the service member is an ordained religious member).

DD&E form:

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 214 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (500 × 1400 pixel, file size: 32 KB, MIME type: image/gif) Request form for request for delay, deferment, or exemption from IRR involuntary activation from MOBCOM. File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as...

See also

• United States Army Reserve
• Battle Assembly
• Delay, Deferment, & Exemption - possible exceptions to involuntary activation.

The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. ... Soldiers get ready to go to the Weapons Qualification Range at Fort Dix, New Jersey Battle Assembly is the term used by the United States Army Reserve to describe monthly drills, where soldiers practice their warrior skills one weekend per month as members of the Army Reserve. ...

References

1. ^ GlobalSecurity.org U.S. Army Individual Ready Reserve (IRR)
2. ^ The Mobilization of Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) Infantrymen During Operation DESERT STORM
3. ^ Most Individual Ready Reservists Reporting as Ordered
4. ^ Bush OKs involuntary Marine recall
5. ^ "1,800 Individual Ready Reserve Marines may get yearlong deployment." Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Tuesday, March 27, 2007
6. ^ USMC MARADMIN 397/06: "POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR THE INVOLUNTARY (INVOL) ACTIVATION OF UP TO 2,500 MARINE INDIVIDUAL READY RESERVISTS (IRR) ISO GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM (GWOT)."