CURRENT STATUS
STATEMENT BY
LIEUTENANT GENERAL DENNIS M. MCCARTHY
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE
COMMANDER, MARINE FORCES RESERVE
The Marine Corps Reserve continues to make an
extraordinary contribution at home and abroad, most evident now
during this time of crisis. At the end of February, nearly 4,500
Marine Reserve personnel were activated in support of the Global
War on Terrorism. From provisional security platoons manning the
fence line at the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, to a reaction
force ready to respond to terrorist attacks on American soil, the
men and women of your Marine Corps Reserve are ready, willing and
able to answer the call to duty.
The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center had a direct and personal impact
on the Marine Corps Reserve. Two heroic Marines, Gunnery Sergeant
Matthew Garvey and Corporal Sean Tallon, both members of FDNY,
made the ultimate sacrifice when the buildings collapsed during
their desperate efforts to save others. The Secretary of the Navy
awarded both Marines the Navy and Marine Corp Medal, posthumously,
for their extraordinary heroism.
Today we have 172,600 Marines in the Active Component and another 39,558 in the
Selected Marine Corps Reserve (SMCR). This force can be expanded
by drawing from the 60,000 Marines who serve in the Individual
Ready Reserve (IRR). As an integral part of our Total Force, Reserve
Marines augment and reinforce the Active Component by performing
a variety of missions in wartime and in peacetime. The missions
assigned to our Reserves in the Global War on Terrorism are a clear
reflection that Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES) possesses capabilities
across the full spectrum of military operations.
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