Total force policy

The total force policy was adopted in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and involves treating the three components of the US Army - the Regular Army, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve as a single force. The primary architect of the total force policy was General Creighton Abrams when he was Chief of Staff of the Army. Believing that no president should be able to take the United States (and more specifically the US Army) to war without the support of the American people, General Abrams intertwined the structure of the three components of the Army in such a way as to make extended operations impossible, without the involvement of both the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve.