TOPEKA — Federal legislation cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas would reduce duty-status classifications of National Guard and Reserve troops from about 30 to four categories while standardizing compensation, clarifying mission eligibility requirements and bringing consistency to veterans’ benefits.
Moran, a Republican, was among a bipartisan coalition of five Republicans and five Democrats in Congress who put their shoulder behind a measure streamlining the complex framework for determining duty status. Complementary legislation was introduced in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
“The men and women of the National Guard in Kansas and across the country play a critical role in serving our communities and defending our nation,” Moran said. “As the Guard’s mission has evolved, the duty status system has become increasingly complex. This legislation will simplify the structure and strengthen the Guard’s ability to carry out its missions.”
There are 430,000 Army and Air National Guard forces in the United States, with approximately 6,500 in Kansas. There are 250,000 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard reserve members, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Francis McGinn, president of the National Guard Association of the United States and a retired two-star general in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, said the duty-status system hadn’t kept pace with the way personnel were serving in the military.
“Duty-status reform will reduce administrative burdens, simplify a system that has become too complex and make the Guard easier to access and employ when the nation needs us most,” he said.
Rather than manage forces through approximately 30 duty categories, the legislation would create four broad divisions of service reflective of the type of service performed by National Guard personnel.
• Category 1 would cover active duty service members with a role in war, national emergency, disaster response, cyber events, presidential call-ups and pre-planned missions.
• Category 2 would cover active duty troops, but focus on tasks of disciplinary jurisdiction, required active-duty training and active Guard and Reserve functions.
- Category 3 would address Reservists engaged in required annual training, musters and duties along with additional training with consent.
- Category 4 would include personnel on remote assignments tied to nonsupervised duties and online learning.
The legislation would address pay and benefits, deployment readiness, duty expectations, transition of personnel to a new status and eligibility for veterans’ benefits by reducing disparities tied to duty status.
Chief Master Sgt. Josh Baker, president of the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, said the goal was to reform the patchwork of benefits, entitlements and protections tied to the type of orders a servicemember received whether responding to wildfires, hurricanes, civil emergencies, overseas deployments or national security events.
“They should not have to stop and wonder whether the orders they were placed on will impact their healthcare coverage, pay protections, retirement credit or family support programs,” Baker said.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, said the existing antiquated administrative system had a negative impact on servicemembers’ quality of life.
“I’m proud to help introduce this bipartisan bill to cut through the red tape by simplifying the duty status structure from nearly 30 statuses down to four so the reserve component will receive timely and equitable pay and benefits without preventable delays or disruption,” Rosen said.
Other sponsors were Republican Sens. Tim Sheehy of Montana, Mike Crapo and Jim Risch of Idaho and Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey. Reps. Gil Cisneros, California Democrat, and Jack Bergman, a Michigan Republican, sponsored the parallel legislation in the House.
