Nittany, I'm not playing "gotcha!" it's just that I enjoy a good debate, especially when people obey the rules of debate. I've been trying to say that we need to make sure we're comparing apples to apples. When you say that some SELRES units aren't effective, but others are, I agree...sort of. If you're talking about operational support to the AC, I agree 100%. If you're talking about the actual reserve part, like the Navy asking a unit of like 16 guys to have two O's, two senior Es, and 2 junior Es as facilitators for Full Spead Ahead (with only one senior E, in my case), then I will go ahead and say that despite the great AC stuff my unit supports, the reserves suck us down. Plus, I hate to admit it, but I think since 2001 the purpose of SELRES hasn't been operational support to AC, but "gap filler." I spent 30 seconds looking for VADM Braun's statement and couldn't find it, but I'm fairly confident she actually said the job of a reservist is to be MOB ready, and that she could train a MOB ready reservist to do any job. If she didn't say something like that, I'll eat my words, but I think that the past 16 years have shown that sentiment to be true.
I understand that when I say "the IRR has value," SELRES folks might feel threatened. Of the 48k IRR dudes, I'll concede that probably 47k are worthless, don't care, don't participate, and can't MOB. OK, those guys cost ZERO. Of the remaining 1,000 doing courses or otherwise earning points, I think 90% could be MOB'd (can pass a PRT, MED/Dental), but I'll say it's just 50%. Even then, those IRR dudes aren't earning money for their retirement points, they're not on Tricare Reserve Select, they're not earning time to transfer their GI Bill...they're less compensated than their SELRES counterparts. I understand that when people think about IRR guys earning a retirement for doing correspondence courses it ruffles feathers, but I think when you drill down on it, it doesn't cost much at all. $0.50/pt once the guy hits 60 doesn't seem bad. I think in the US the average male life expectancy is 78, so I'll give you 80. 20 years, of $25/month(50pts/yr in the IRR), for an O-4/5 who will step up (or be forced to step up) in case of war with China, Russia, Korea, or whoever else Congress deems worthy doesn't seem like a bad investment to me. Feel free to convince me otherwise though.
After you've argued that the IRR-ASP isn't fiscally responsible, without ever offering how much you think the IRR might cost (balls in your court with cost--I understand there are variables, but let's just pick something so we can have an intelligent discussion), I submit that to me it's more fiscally irresponsible to pay a guy $1,000 every month to wait in line. Oh, and on his off hours he's probably harassing his junior E's to complete BRS training (which is valuable, but when they're harassed they'll just pencil whip), trying to decipher a NOSC hit-list which is 50% accurate (aka, worst than useless...), resubmitting forms that you've already submitted, trying to get a guy paid who's done multiple sets of orders and realizing that that BLOWS THE NOSCs MIND (!) and have them tell you that that multiple vouchers at once *really* slows down the process. I honestly don't understand who benefits, when the NOSC training officer calls me (her time and my time) to explain that my unit as 90% on BRS training and FSA training. The Sailors who haven't completed training have either literally just landed in the unit, or were placed there IAP (after we conducted the training!) and are now gone. So I can waste my time tracking them down on my drill weekend, or maybe even put in for RMPs to do it. Their new units are probably facing the same problem and doing the same thing, and each NOSC Training O is getting sweated by the XO, who is being sweated by the NOSC CO, all at what I think is a very fair hourly wage. Why? And then, there's the IRR guy. He gets his points at zero cost to the Navy, has lower blood-pressure, more time with his family, and isn't sneaking away during the workday to call the NOSC, his Sailors, or his OSO, and if he's getting points, is at least somewhat viable for serving more actively in the future; you have to at least concede that he won't "years-commissioned-service" out. Which do you think is more efficient? Operational support to the AC is great, but it doesn't seem like we're mobilizing EPU guys to their AC counterparts; it seems like we're MOB-ing guys, sending them to Ft Jackson to learn how to shoot a rifle, and then sending them where the gaps are.
"Nittany, I feel like you're saying the IRR is worthless, but SELRES units are totally worth it"(in the AA voice)...unless they're not. If an IRR guy is MOB ready and supporting through JPME, BGO, funerals/whatever, it's a one-of situation; If SELRES units are not up to snuff, it's a failure of leadership, or we should think about changing things to the way they were, but there's nothing wrong with paying a giant NYC OSU unit to do nothing. I agree that it's rewarding to train for a good mission, support the active side, and MOB with that mission, but I don't think that's the way we're using the majority of SELRES.