Individual Mobilization Augmentation: recipe for an effective total force partnership

The ability to carry out rapid mobilization and full integration of well-trained reserve/guard personnel with active component personnel proved to be a decisive factor during the Gulf War. Such an approach can also be effective in fulfilling peacetime military missions, especially in an environment of increasing requirements, nontraditional missions, and pervasive force reductions. This paper describes the role played by Army Reserve Individual Mobilization Augmentation (IMA) assets in support of two important Army Medical Department missions involving new initiatives in scientific peer review and extramural grant administration: military nursing research and breast cancer. Successful planning, development, and implementation of these programs is attributed in part to the fostering of an effective partnership between reserve and active components on both individual and organizational levels. Critical factors influencing this partnership are analyzed and the relevance of such peacetime IMA taskings to wartime missions is discussed.