Part of the budget struggle is the battle over how much a Guardsman costs versus the cost of an active duty member. The Reserve Forces Policy Board published a report in February 2014 that quantified the open and hidden costs of each. The report stated that an active duty member comes with a cost of $330,344 per capita, while the cost of a reserve member is $100,379 per capita. When a reservist is ordered to active duty, the cost of a reservist is the same as an active duty member. But retaining military readiness capability in the reserves is an obvious cost savings to America’s taxpayers. The report can be downloaded from the RFPB website, rfpb.defense.gov, under the Reports tab.
COST OF A GUARDSMAN
