National Guard and Reserve members played a major role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they experienced challenges during this effort, including disruptions in pay and benefits as they shifted on and off different types of duty and funding sources, and some of these challenges were exacerbated by the current duty status system. This reports describe these challenges and how they could be mitigated by a revised duty construct.

A Case Study on the Potential Benefits of Reserve Component Duty Status Reform

The U.S. Department of Defense’s COVID-19 Response

Lisa M. Harrington, Thomas Bush, Kelly Atkinson, Nathan Chandler, Gregory A. Schumacher

ResearchPublished Aug 12, 2025

National Guard and Reserve members played an important role in responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States. They carried out a wide range of activities, including providing medical care, logistics and administration of care facilities, testing, vaccine administration, and mortuary affairs. The mobilization of these typically part-time National Guard and Reserve members was not without its challenges, including disruptions in pay and benefits as members shifted on and off different types of duty and funding sources. 

Some of these challenges were exacerbated by the current reserve component duty status system, in which statutory duty statuses are used to order a National Guard or Reserve member to duty. Over time, the duty status system has become increasingly complex, and many efforts have been undertaken to reform the system, including an ongoing effort by the U.S. Department of Defense to streamline and simplify the duty status construct. 

The authors of this report highlight challenges experienced by National Guard and Reserve members who participated in the COVID-19 response mission under the current duty status system and describe how those challenges would be mitigated by a revised duty construct.

Key Findings

  • National Guard and Reserve personnel mobilized and utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic made key contributions to provision of medical care, logistics and administration of care facilities, testing, vaccine administration, and mortuary affairs. The National Guard mobilized a much larger share of personnel to the pandemic response than did the service reserves.
  • Under the current duty status construct, reserve component personnel mobilized in response to COVID-19 experienced hardships in their experiences activating, accessing benefits, and demobilizing.
  • The U.S. Department of Defense’s proposed reformed duty construct consolidates the overly complex and problematic current system of duty statuses into four broad duty categories. This construct would alleviate many of the inequities and hardships that reserve component personnel experienced during the COVID-19 response and streamline and clarify pathways for mobilizing reserve component members in emergency scenarios.

Recommendation

  • This case study shows that the current duty status system is flawed. The United States should adopt duty status reform legislation to equalize benefits and reduce hardships for members of the National Guard and Reserves when called to serve.

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Harrington, Lisa M., Thomas Bush, Kelly Atkinson, Nathan Chandler, and Gregory A. Schumacher, A Case Study on the Potential Benefits of Reserve Component Duty Status Reform: The U.S. Department of Defense’s COVID-19 Response. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA959-2.html.
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This research was sponsored by the Military Compensation Policy directorate in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and conducted within the Personnel, Readiness, and Health Program of the RAND National Security Research Division.

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