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Pentagon Plans to Call Reservists to Duty
The Pentagon plans to call several thousand reservists to active duty in the next few days in what defense officials said today would likely mark the start of a much larger military mobilization in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist strikes.
The initial call-up will focus on reservists with "specialized skills," according to a senior military official. He said many of the extra personnel were necessary to support combat air patrols over major metropolitan areas instituted this week. They will fill out the ranks of pilots, aviation maintenance crews and air traffic controllers. The Pentagon has the authorization to call about 40,000 reservists, the official said.
State authorities already have enlisted about 10,000 National Guard troops to assist in civilian recovery efforts in Washington and New York.
But the Pentagon move represents the first significant federal call-up. And because major U.S. military actions almost invariably require reservists to supplement regular troops, Pentagon estimates of the number of reservists likely to be summoned in the weeks ahead range in the tens of thousands.
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