The September 11th attack
Reservists to help 'homeland defense'
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will call thousands of reservists to active duty for "homeland defense," including patrols of U.S. airspace, officials said yesterday.
The call-up of the National Guard and Reserve was authorized yesterday by President Bush, who said in a formal declaration of national emergency that the troops are needed in light of a "continuing and immediate threat" of further terrorist attacks.
The Pentagon could call as many as 1 million reservists to active duty. However, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he would call no more than 50,000.
The military services said they expect to need no more than 35,500 and have not yet decided which units to call. Once on active duty the citizen soldiers could be required to serve as long as two years.
Craig Duehring, a senior Pentagon personnel executive, said he was not sure when the first call-ups would be made. Victoria Clarke, spokeswoman for Rumsfeld, said they would come within days.
Duehring said that besides the "homeland defense" role, some others will provide mortuary services in New York City and others support for civilian agencies.
The last partial mobilization of the reserves was authorized in January 1991, when 265,322 were called to active duty at the outset of the Gulf War. Such a call-up is permitted by law only if the president declares a national emergency.
A key task for those called up will be continental air defense, a mission the active-duty military ceded to Air National Guard after the Cold War.
The U.S. military has 1.3 million reservists and 1.4 million active duty personnel.
