The Army Reserve must find the right balance between building capable, combat-ready forces and ensuring its citizen-soldiers are able to maintain civilian careers and healthy families, the component’s top general told Army Times.
“We want them to be extraordinarily capable and ready, but by the same token we also want to make sure that they are not being pressed to be at such a high level of readiness that they’re no longer able to keep a civilian job,” said Lt. Gen. Charles Luckey, who became the Army Reserve chief and commanding general of Army Reserve Command on June 30. “Part of the great value that the Army Reserve brings to America’s Army is our ability to leverage capabilities from our citizen soldiers out there across America.”
Luckey, who succeeded now-retired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Talley as the top Army Reserve officer, said finding this balance is critical as the Army and nation face a “threat dynamic that we probably haven’t seen in the last 20 or 25 years.”
“The domains that we, the United States military, in my view, had significant advantages in over the last 20 years, whether it’s the aerospace domain, precision global strike capabilities, certain types of weapon systems, capabilities under the seas, capabilities in space, capabilities in cyberspace, I would submit that all those domains are potentially contested,” Luckey said.
Luckey cited as an example Russian activity over the last 24 months.
“I would just say that there are capabilities that we have probably, for all the right reasons, taken for granted for some period of time that we’ll probably be subject to being contested if we were to get into some sort of contest, if you will, with the Russians or some other regional peer competitor,” he said.
As the new Army Reserve chief and commanding general of Army Reserve Command, Luckey leads a force of almost 200,000 soldiers who play critical roles in the Army’s missions at home and around the world. He also took the helm at a time when the Reserve works to remain an operational reserve force.
Luckey, who was commissioned in 1977 after graduating from the University of Virginia, began his career as an infantry officer, leading soldiers in both mechanized and Special Forces units.
He left active duty in 1982 to attend law school, returning in 1985 to active duty and serving in the 82nd Airborne Division.
Luckey has commanded at the battalion, brigade and group levels, including as the commander of the 78th Division, and served three combat tours.
Before taking command of the Reserve, Luckey was the chief of staff for North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
Since becoming the Reserve chief, Luckey has traveled to several Army Reserve installations to meet with his soldiers, focused on “making sure I understand both the challenges and opportunities for the Army Reserve.”
“It’s taken me no time at all to basically reassure myself that we have fantastic, motivated, professional soldiers that are out there working every day to build the strongest Army Reserve team possible for America’s Army,” Luckey said. “I think one of the challenges and one of the opportunities for the Army Reserve is going to be our ability to remain relevant in the threat environment in which we find ourselves today."
