This article by Paul Szoldra originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues.
President Donald Trump signed an order Friday allowing the U.S. military to bring members of the selected reserve and some former service members on active duty to support the government's response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard can now order units and individual members of the Ready Reserve back on active duty for up to two years, according to the executive order. The order said a recall, if issued, could not result in having more than 1,000,000 members on active duty at any one time.
The order seems to apply mainly to members of the selected reserve, primarily comprised of service members who serve in a part-time capacity one weekend per month and two weeks per year.
Still, it also applies to those in the individual ready reserve, made up mainly of service members who served on active-duty and were discharged but still have a contractual obligation that subjects them to involuntary recall during a national emergency.
"I am authorizing the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, with respect to the Coast Guard, to order units and individual members of the Selected Reserve, and certain Individual Ready Reserve members, to active duty to augment the active forces for the effective conduct of coronavirus disease response," Trump wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) notifying her of the order.
"This authority is necessary to ensure the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security can properly conduct operations required to meet our evolving security challenges and to support the United States Government response to COVID-19."
When asked whether the Pentagon was considering recalling members of the IRR to active duty, a spokesperson said the executive order authorized the action, but "it is not an order to do so."
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