Recognizing 376 years of service of the National Guard and affirming congressional support for a permanent Operational Reserve as a component of the Armed Forces.

recognizes the critical importance of the Operational Reserve as a component of the Armed Forces, particularly as a means of preserving combat power during a time of budget austerity;

supports making permanent the Operational Reserve as the cornerstone of military manpower in the decades to come;

repudiates proposals to return the Reserve Components to a diminished or purely strategic role in United States national security;

affirms the growth of the Operational Reserve as circumstances warrant; and

recognizes the dual-status, State-Federal National Guard as the foundation of the Operational Reserve and of military manpower now and in the future.