An analysis of the United States Naval Reserve budget growth.

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the Naval Reserve budget during the period FYs 1970-1987 and compares the Naval Reserve budget growth to the active Navy budget growth during the same period. By performing descriptive data analysis on the total budget authority of both the active and reserve Navy during the period under study, the data indicates that the Naval Reserve has received its fair share of the active Navy budget during the majority of the years of the study. The Naval Reserve's share of the active Navy budget is justified due to the tremendous growth of personnel and missions in the Naval Reserve during the period. The growth of the Naval Reserve budget appears to have been effected more by the defense buildup of the Reagan administration than by the formulation of the Total Force concept in 1970 for the Guard and Reserves. The yearly changes of the Naval Reserve budget are primarily incremental, which indicates the Naval Reserve is an agency with an established budgetary base.