The Army Reserve has canceled an upcoming board to screen Active Guard and Reserve officers for possible release from active duty, officials announced Tuesday.
Army Reserve leaders determined there will not be an AGR Release from Active Duty board in fiscal year 2015. The decision was made based on an analysis of AGR officer strength, officials said.
The REFRAD board, which was supposed to have taken place in mid-July, would have considered lieutenant colonels and colonels in the Army Reserve's AGR program.
"Each year, we conduct a strength analysis of the AGR population based on known departures such as [mandatory retirement dates], voluntary retirements, other actions, and the size of the primary zone population that will be considered for promotion to lieutenant colonel and colonel on upcoming boards," Reserve personnel officials said in a statement. "The REFRAD board is a necessary tool to appropriately shape the officer force, and this year, analysis of the AGR officer strength doesn't support conducting a REFRAD board."
The Army Reserve has more than 15,900 AGR soldiers. Of those, 1,112 are lieutenant colonels and 330 are colonels, officials said.
AGR soldiers serve full time and receive the same benefits as active-duty troops.
Reserve officials have not determined if the component will need a REFRAD board in fiscal 2016. That decision will be made at a later date based on a review of officer strength that year.
"We evaluate the need for this board on an annual basis," the Reserve statement reads.
The Reserve screens post-promotion records and command boards, so officers with derogatory information in their files generally have already been identified for show-cause boards that may or may not retain the officer, officials said.
That means that the officers who go before REFRAD boards are "overwhelmingly good officers" without derogatory information in their files, officials said.
The Reserve conducted a REFRAD board in fiscal 2014. As a result of that board, 25 colonels and 10 lieutenant colonels were released from active duty, officials said.
Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.
