Watch legislation and military policy director Matthew Schwartzman and defense fellow Jake Fales discuss this Call-to-Action before they head to the Hill for a day of advocacy.
To the members of our Minute Man Movement:
This is Matthew Schwartzman, your legislation and military policy director. Thank you for taking the time to read this Up to the Minute Man Update.
I am writing to you today asking for your help in educating Congress on ROA’s policy priorities for the second session of the 118th Congress.
Today, I will be visiting the offices of every armed services committee member with our defense fellow Jake Fales to hand-deliver our second session priorities. However, we can use your help.
Located on ROA’s Legislative Readiness Center is a Call-to-Action with a pre-authored message that includes a link to the portfolio. Please take no more than five minutes to engage with this Call-to-Action and send the message to your elected officials.
With your help, we can reach all 535 congressional offices by the end of the day! You are more than welcome to customize the message if you’d like. Just remember to be polite.
For those unfamiliar, ROA unveiled its policy portfolio for the second session at the Jan. 25 ROA Academy.
The key word to remember? Transition.
ROA’s policy portfolio for the second session of the 118th Congress focuses on transitioning American military readiness and superiority into what the National Defense Strategy has called the “decisive decade” by:
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Ensuring the transition from a strategic reserve to an operational reserve is reinforced by modernized law, policy, and execution. - Ensuring seamless transitions for component interoperability.
- Ensuring seamless transitions for capability interoperability.
- Eliminating discontinuities in transitions between health care plans for Reserve and National Guard service members, their survivors, and “gray area” retirees.
- Improving transitions between military and civilian life for Reserve and National Guard service members, military families, and veterans of the reserve force.
One of the drivers of this portfolio is the intensified competition between America and China.
According to the Pentagon’s latest report on this subject, China is “the only competitor to the United States with the intent and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order.”
Malignant activities such as militarizing man-made islands in the South China Sea and constructing hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missile silos are all part of China’s efforts to “fight and win wars” against a “strong enemy.”
Constituting more than 40 percent of the total force during the most challenging recruiting environment in all-volunteer force history, Reserve and National Guard readiness is rapidly increasing in importance.
Whether it be implementing duty status reform or sustaining medical readiness, ROA’s policy portfolio has the member and mission in mind.
Thank you again for reading this Up to the Minute Man Update and for helping me educate Congress on our second session priorities. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at mschwartzman@roa.org with any questions.