Biden Calls Up Inactive Reservists for “Operation Atlantic Resolve” – i.e. Ukraine
Biden calls up Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), or reservists who have completed their active and reserve commitments but who are still on the reserve rolls.
There have been a number of alarming developments in the Ukraine war, such as the depletion of much of our and Ukraine’s ammunition, which we reported on here:
- U.S. Weapons Stockpiles “Uncomfortably Low” Due To Arms Shipments to Ukraine
- U.S. Weapons Stockpile Disaster Limiting Our Ability To Deter China In Taiwan.
But don’t take our word for it, as Joe Biden himself confirmed the drastically low ammunition stockpile levels when he decided to send cluster bombs to Ukraine, as we reported here and here.
Well, apparently, it’s not only ammunition that we are low on, but military personnel as well.
On Thursday, Joe Biden authorized the callup of 3,000 reserve troops to Europe to support “Operation Atlantic Resolve,” or U.S. support to Ukraine, and most importantly, which is largely unexplained by anyone, 450 of those 3,000 troops are involuntary callups of members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), or reservists who have completed their active and reserve commitments but who are still on the reserve rolls.
The Washington Examiner reports: Biden signs order to call up 3,000 troops for Operation Atlantic Resolve in Europe:
President Joe Biden signed an order on Thursday allowing the Pentagon to call up as many as 3,000 reserve troops to support Operation Atlantic Resolve in Europe.
Operation Atlantic Resolve began in 2014 in response to the Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and it “provides rotational deployments of combat-credible forces to Europe to show our commitment to NATO while building readiness, increasing interoperability, and enhancing the bonds between ally and partner militaries,” per U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s website.
Last year, the administration increased the troop presence in Europe by about 20,000 troops as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine, bringing the total U.S. force on the continent to approximately 100,000.
But this report does not explain that 450 of the 3,000 reservists can be members of the IRR, which Biden’s Executive Order makes clear:
In furtherance of this operation, under the stated authority, I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, under their respective jurisdictions, to order to active duty any units, and any individual members not assigned to a unit organized to serve as a unit of the Selected Reserve, or any member in the Individual Ready Reserve mobilization category and designated as essential under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, not to exceed 3,000 total members at any one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve
The Washington Examiner report also does not explain this little tidbit, from Biden’s required report to Congress about the reservist callup:
In accordance with section 12304(f) of title 10, United States Code, I am providing notice that I have authorized the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Department of the Navy, to order to active duty members and units of the Selected Reserve and appropriately designated Individual Ready Reserve members, without the consent of the member concerned, pursuant to 12304(a) of title 10, United States Code. Reserve mobilizations under this authorization are not to exceed 3,000 total members at any one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve. These Reserve Component forces are to augment the active forces for Operation Atlantic Resolve to enhance the United States’ ability to sustain its heightened level of presence and operations in support of United States European Command. (emphasis added)
And check this out from the Army website discussing IRR callups:
Soldiers in the IRR may…be involuntarily mobilized in time of national crisis, as seen in support of the Global War on Terror.
James Hasson explains a bit more on Twitter:
If you want to know how bad the manpower situation is right now, 450 of these troops are from the Individual Ready Reserves.
They’re not active reservists—they’ve completed their contracts and are living their lives but are on a muster list in case of emergencies. https://t.co/1nDUjR02RJ
— James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) July 13, 2023
Others chimed in:
Nothing to see here. Just Biden calling up the reserves in preparation for World War 3 against Russia over a tinpot puppet kleptocrat in Eastern Europe. https://t.co/8Wwx7HWuvd
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) July 13, 2023
Anyone aware of a declared war or national emergency?
This is being rolled out a a little too quietly tonight"Ordering the Selected Reserve and Certain Members of the Individual Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty" https://t.co/MpsHBNTQW5 via @whitehouse
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) July 13, 2023
Not only that, but Operation Atlantic Resolve is now a “contingency operation”…like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars:
“The designation of OAR as a contingency operation is an important demonstration of the U.S. commitment to our NATO Allies and partners,” U.S. European Command Spokesperson U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Speaks said in a statement. “It further provides US EUCOM with greater flexibility to support continued U.S. and Allied commitments to the defense of the Euro-Atlantic and allows us to provide key entitlements to the forces who support those commitments.”
The operation will now be designated as a “contingency operation,” Joint Staff Director for Operations Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims told reporters on Thursday. “This new designation benefits troops and families with increases in authorities, entitlements, and access to the reserve component forces and personnel based on the level of presence and operations in the US EUCOM area of operation.”
Obviously, Joe Biden made some promises at this week’s NATO summit, although it is a little strange that he would be calling up reservists since he has already announced “Mission Accomplished” in Ukraine: Biden declares in Finland that Putin has ‘already lost’ Ukraine war:
President Biden said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “already lost” his war in Ukraine and that it’s only a matter of time until he accepts it as a fact.
Biden made the bold pronouncement during a visit to Finland to celebrate the longtime neutral Russian neighbor’s admission to NATO this past April following Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.
“Putin’s already lost the war,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.
“There’s no possibility of him winning the war in Ukraine,” Biden added. “He’s already lost that war.”
This begs the question that if Putin has already lost the war, why are we sending cluster bombs to Ukraine, and why are we involuntarily calling up IRR reservists for duty in Europe supporting Ukraine.
We will keep you updated on this.
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Comments
The one time Trump needs to be wrong. No WWIII!
War is the norm, not peace. It’s a miracle we’ve had peace for so long.
War is started by maniacs and stupid, ambitious people. Right, Taco Jill?
The US sent 20,000 last year after the invasion, this move is a big nothing.
Did not say it was a big somethinf, but that WWIII seems more likely all the time.
Yes, we can send 20,000 troops to Europe, but we can’t send 20,000 troops to the southern border.
It’s a big nothing. /sarc
Kamala Harris said that everyone should buy electric vehicles because that will reduce the population. But that would be a pretty difficult thing to do while bringing millions of illegal people across the border.
When confronted with that logic, VP Harris revised her B.S. statement. She said, “Well, in that case we will send electric vehicles to Mexico which will reduce their population and then there will be fewer of them to cross the border.”
Slight correction. The members of the IRR have not all completed their military service obligations. If Joe enlists in the Army he signs an 8 year total service obligation. Lets say he opts for 6 year AD term to qualify for some sort of lucrative MOS training with a 2 year Reserve obligation on the back end. He completes AD service obligation and now must choose from three options to complete his 2 year Reserve period of the total 8 years.
1. Army Reserve Unit
2. Army Nation Guard Unit
3. Individual ready Reserve
Th IRR issue isn’t something to be too upset about. It allows volunteers from the IRR to join the mobilized Reserve and/or NG Units to plug shortfalls in manpower. Lots of folks did this over the course of the GWOT. My brother in law did it twice, first choosing to join a unit deploying unit to Iraq and then to Afghanistan from the IRR. Could some of.the 450 be involuntarily called? Sure, but given the small number I doubt they have to involuntarily call up anyone from the IRR.
The far bigger concern, IMO, is WTF is up with mobilizing the Reserve Units for this mission in the first place?
Thanks. This is the type of information that helps all of us make better informed analysis of current events.
Tucker’s debate-styled interviews earlier today revealed Republican primary candidates are unwilling to block Biden’s military proxy-war adventurism. Pence was downright hostile. The UniParty is out of control.
I have viewed the Ukraine War like the US Civil War. Russia has been like the North until Grant led, with superior manpower, superior industrial might and poor execution. Assuming Putin is capable (healthwise) of continuing on this path, I think Russia will eventually win, absent ever-increasing American commitment.
However, this is 100% Biden’s war. He even obliquely invited Russia to attack with one of his ill-advised lines before the war started. I think the American public has no stomach for ever increasing commitment, especially after Biden’s Afghanistan debacle. Therefore, without commenting on the strategic value to the USA of this war, I think it is a real political mistake for the Republicans not to “pin the tail on the donkey”.
There is no Grant or Lee in the history of Ukraine. There are only autocrats and warlords. Petliura and Makhno rate as corrupt anarchists; not John Mosby types.
Russia wants its empire back. All of it. Doesn’t matter who the figurehead is, Catherine II would do the same as Putin as would Nicholas II. The problem is ordinary Ukrainians don’t want to fall back into the abyss. Who can blame them?
And talk of the hapless expatriate pensioners living in Crimea and Donbas river basin set upon by hordes of Ukrainian Nazis? That set-piece of propaganda? How Catherine, through Stalin and Putin have mouthed the same tired nonsense. How they shall rescue the villagers! Potemkin was literally there.
At the behest of Empress Catherine, Şahin allowed Russians to settle in the peninsula, further infuriating Crimeans. A group of these settlers had been sent to Yeni-Kale, which remained under Russian control following the installation of Şahin as Khan. Local residents banded together to prevent the Russian settlement[…]
Of course saving the settlers figures in the heroic narrative of Russian mythology. So it is today.
I agree on Pence, his performance was painfully bad as was that of Asa Hutchinson. They are totally out of touch with the current mood of the electorate. Not surprising as they along with Haley, Christi are offer up late ’90s era stances on cultural issues and rehashing mid 2000s Foreign policy ideas. Totally unacceptable.
IMO, DeSantis did well. His answer on Ukraine seemed very coherent. No US Troops, no blank check, no open ended commitment, no quagmire.
When pressed on what he would do if elected his answer was good; work to achieve a diplomatic solution for lasting peace, use energy exploration domestically to offer Europe an alternative to Russian Energy, get in NATO members face to force them to increase defense spending and posture, stop sending US ammo and equipment b/c we need it in the Pacific to deter China aggression. He polished it off with placing US/Mexico border security as far higher priority than Ukraine.
Others may disagree with that assessment but in comparison to the answers of those candidates who showed up and the absence of the leading candidate who perhaps didn’t want (as front runner) to be subjected detailed scrutiny and then potentially unfavorable compassion I though DeSantis was the clear winner for today. (Note that isn’t a shot at Trump, as the front runner he should avoid this sort of thing as long as possible, why take a risk of stumbling on a question which may boost another candidate?)
I haven’t seen the debate but there are some simple observations.
2. TheRe arE only two ends to a war, a diplomatic solution, or total annihilation of one .side. Given that Merkle and an exPresident of France have admitted that the Minsk accords were a pretense to buy time to arm Ukraine, given that Ukr walked away from a treaty last March, given that Russsia is walking away from the grain deal because Ukraine is not holding up it’s end, any diplomatic solution will be on Russia’s terms and they will not agree to anything that results in another war in ten years. So don’t expect anything like Korea,
2. We should be doing more energy exploration not so support Europe but for our general welfare. It takes years to ramp up production.
3. We should not be sending weapons to Ukr because they cost money we don’t have and that we do not have the ability to produce anywhere near enough.
So really he said nothing.
It wasn’t a debate but responses to direct question and follow up questions by TC who is, IMO, one of a very few journalists worthy of the name. TC kept at it, dragging the candidates back to the question when they attempted to veer off or use sound bites.
In point of fact the only candidate said nothing today at this event was the candidate who failed to participate. I do agree with your points 1,2 and 3.
Of what I’ve seen it did not look like a debate, but they advertised it as a “debate” so … .
I’ve not seen the entire show and missed DeSantis. I’ll catch up tomorrow. I do hope to see more of this new challenge-interview style format headed by Tucker.
It is a double down statement on a proxy war we are loosing. Hundreds of thousands refugees, hundreds of thousands lives lost. Ukraine is slowly going through a meat grinder. Identify a scenario where we win this war.
Only fools and propagandists say Ukraine can win the war. The idea of Ukraine not losing the war via diplomacy now lie in ruin. Thanks to Biden and the EU.
It’s true Obama and Merkel set the stage for the currently unfolding tragedy. It’s also true that Russia wants its empire back. All of it. Doesn’t matter who the figurehead happens to be.
‘We’, meaning the USA nor for that matter NATO, are at war with Russia. Though many neocons, globalist true believers, their fellow travelers and the ever present useful idiots would like to behave as if ‘we’ were. When no is looking they seem to encourage it and lust for it.
“Pence was downright hostile.”
Pence is definitely working for the other side.
IMO, it just seems that way b/c Pence is staying true to who he is; a moderate who values building consensus around the (outdated and ineffective) ideas/policies he feels comfortable with v a bold and aggressive series of stances to meaningfully pushback against the Cray Cray of the d/progs and focus on the result (victory) v the attempt.
If this was ’96 or ’00 and we didn’t have the creeping insanity of the past 25-30 years then his ideas might be acceptable. It isn’t and they aren’t. Pence, Hutchison, Haley, Christi even Scott are all pushing the same old rehash of failed policies the same lack of urgency and demonstrate a lack of willingness to be aggressive.
“The far bigger concern, IMO, is WTF is up with mobilizing the Reserve Units for this mission in the first place?”
To get us into another “police action”, and the campaign for president will go something like “this is no time to change the leadership in Washington blah blah”.
What leadership?
No doubt there are plenty of folks in DC who desire just such an outcome. Then there’s a new ’emergency’ or ‘crisis’ to be exploited as the basis for more totalitarian shenanigans just as with Covid.
“Fake” ad, from movie Wag the Dog. “Don’t change horses in mid stream.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qABA0X6IzxU
a more slight correction, you as a male are born with a 8 year military service obligation(see the draft), enlisting you volunteer for do 8 years , female get the 8 year military service obligation by enlisting, used to be 6 until the mid 1990’s
Fair enough, though there hasn’t been a military draft in fifty years and I doubt we return to it anytime soon; the political will doesn’t seem to exist. Until women are required to register with Selective Service and/or the severe sanctions currently in existence for males who fail to register are lifted and true equality is realized I doubt the public would tolerate reinstating the draft. There are plenty of support roles women could perform during a period requiring the draft so arguments about front line combat are a bit misleading, though support units can be targeted.
I will raise you another small correction, the draft wasn’t universally applicable to every male in a strait forward manner based upon the local draft board sending a letter as you seem to imply. Many military age males fully eligible for the draft applied for and received a deferment. This was especially frequent during the Vietnam era, the inequity of which prompted the creation of the all volunteer force in ’73.
Some very prominent current political figures, among many others, received multiple deferments during the Vietnam era and so effectively forced the conscription of another man to fight and potentially die in their place. How they live with themselves is a mystery to me.
Speaking of idiots letting things slip —
The Cat Is Out of the Bag: Kamala Harris Admits Climate Scam’s Goal Is DEPOPULATION:
https://rumble.com/v302h64-the-cat-is-out-of-the-bag-kamala-harris-admits-climate-scams-goal-is-depopu.html
Unbelievable
This is a big nothing. The US moves a few thousand back and forth all the time.
“We’re coming, but we’re all pansies with pronouns now.
Are you prepared to accommodate us as we demand to be accommodated?”
In actual practice the NG and Reserve are likely to be far less woke than the current AD formations, IMO.
The Korean War taught us that reservists should stay home. The American public was very upset when reservists, sent to Korea, did very poorly. Unfortunately, history to the people in today’s White House is remembering what was breakfast.
Truman called up officers from the IRR who had been basically convinced that if they kept their Commissions from WWII instead of resigning them by agreeing to enroll in the IRR they would only be called up after the NG and Reserve drilling units were mobilized.
These poor SOB got called up anyway as individual replacement officers jammed into AD units in contact or just pulled off the line after massive losses. For the !let part they did well but overcoming the impact of shit equipment and lack of training for troops post WWII was a tough deal.
Truman’s Sec Def, Louis Johnson who replaced Forestall, was a flipping idiot. He sold off or scrapped much of the WWII surplus equipment, including tanks and artillery which would have been handy early in helping stop N Korean advances. He managed to get the DoD budget limited to the actual amount of the 1947 budget and keep it there until ’50 when he got reduced by nearly a $1 Billion from $14.4 Billion in ’47 to $13.5 Billion. Real cuts not cuts in growth. Dude wanted to eliminate the entire USMC for goodness sake.
This led to practically zero operational training budget. Soldiers were literally playing unit baseball games and painting rocks b/c there wasn’t any money to conduct training, even basics like weapons qualification. We had Soldiers shipped to Korea from the occupation force in Japan without having ever fired their weapon. That crap was what caused the fiasco in the early months of the Korean War. ‘Cutting to the bone, even into the bone’ was the order of the day and Soldiers and Marines paid for it with their lives.
“… did very poorly.” 🙄
What a ridiculously stupid comment made worse by you thinking you’re some kind of student of history. Reservists fought gallantly in every branch during the Korean War and received numerous commendations. When reserve units are activated they go through multiple weeks-long pre-mob trainings and qualifications before going in country and are just as prepared to assume the duties required of them as if they were a full time active unit.
The Pentagon Purges of all not woke. 40% of subs off line. Calling up the spare of the spare reservists. Low on ammo. Pushing and pushing the Russians in a game of chicken that is ratcheting.up. Promising to defeat the Russians. Biden thinks he is the supreme leader, but just an expendable pawn for the WEF/NWO types with their cushy bunkers. Only two Russians in separate instances stopped WWIII because they determined that the West was not attacking…. well…. this is totally different and they know it.
If Putin would only move his forces back to the 1991 international border the war would be over. But it won’t happen because he’d lose face. And we all know that losing face is a death sentence for dictator-tyrants.
Perhaps he would if NATO was willing to pull back to their 1991 footprint as well?
You mean to say that if NATO had occupied Crimea and the Don river basin things would be different.
Not at all. I am simply pointing out the apparent lack of willingness of many to offer any sort of good faith reciprocity. If going back to the ’91 status quo footprint is good for Russia why wouldn’t it be equally good for NATO?
When we act with badly concealed arrogance and treat other Nations concerns with disdain they tend to react poorly. Russia isn’t a tin pot middle east or 3rd world African Nation. It’s one thing to run a bluff or bully those sorts of Nations but when a Nation such as Russia tells the neocons to pound sand they get all pissy and butthurt about it.
IMO we should act with as much good faith and humility in our diplomacy as possible to avoid unintentionally PO other Nations or worse arrogantly dismiss their concerns as unimportant which those Nations may justifiably interpret as a deliberate provocation.
Arguing that nato reset its footprint to 1991 is specious.
It directly states that all former borderland countries be denied free agency. Once a vassal, always a vassal. Lithuania and Estonia and Latvia must always hew towards Russia’s autocracy.
Every single former borderland slave state remains shackled to a shadow empire. Russians enslaved Kazakhs; under the “no free agency
“ doctrine remain so forever.
former [USSR] borderland …
Have to protect our politician’s money laundering at all cost!
They are way behind on recruiting. Much like the police departments, why would anyone want to be in the military at this time. The crazy policies they are implementing in the forces and the foreign policy of Joe and Democrat morons.
Yeah well our military is going to be 100% carbon neutral by 2030! Take THAT, Pootie-poot!
Vietnam 2.0 . Remember our involvment starrted with military advisors then escalated. I can imagine the draft being reinstalled. Get ready for the protests.
And, those protests will be justified.
Well they can try to reinstate the draft, but getting people to comply with it will be a different question. This illegitimate government ain’t worth dying for
No, it isn’t worth dying for at this point. But that won’t stop the Biden regime from sending out its press gangs to collect all those that fail to report under Selective Service law and stick them in penal battalions and ship them to Ukraine as cannon fodder in the war against Russia.
We have 15 million illegals in this country who do not have to worry about the draft.
Or paying income tax
Or getting health insurance
Or even learning how to speak English (press 1 for Spanish)
Send Admiral levine. If he doesn’t frighten the enemy I’m afraid surrender is the only option.
Going nuclear should be our last resort.
I’m wondering if very specific MOS’s are needed and that’s why they need to dip into the IRR — Civil Affairs, Psyops, or something like that. Otherwise, this may be a consequence of the enlistment drop.
The winner here is China as both Russia and the US exhaust their military supplies. Mark my words.
What’s the legal angles on this?
Like once he became prezzy, The Wan decided that Shrub’s AUMF had become a good thing. Then there was a series of “Oh, it authorizes this, too.”
It’s probably a forlorn hope that we’d *declare war*, like in Congress, to get into a war. BUT, authorizations, funding, security findings — what other levers are there, not least to get a “What’s our theory of doing this, anyway?”