Facing virtually unprecedented threats abroad, with an all-volunteer military unable to meet recruiting goals, America’s security is imperiled. Given mixed messages from the Pentagon in the face of persistent recruiting shortages, some may not realize the severity of the problem.

The Air Force just announced that it will fail to make its goal for the first time since 1999. We have been told that readiness will not be affected — what, then, is the significance of the targets, one might ask? Some may assume the Department of Defense (DOD) will work its way through this crisis, or that in time the crisis will subside. Yet, the Pentagon has not solved — and evidently cannot solve — this growing crisis on its own. Unaddressed, the problem will worsen.

These shortages and challenges to readiness extend into the Reserve and National Guard. A generation ago, that would be of less concern, but since Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, with no let-up since, these “reserve components” have been used at a rate unprecedented since World War II. Today, the reserve components constitute about 40% of the total military and more than half of the Army’s total strength. Truly, our military cannot operate without the Reserve.

Augmenting an undersized and overcommitted active force, the reserve components contend with increasing “operations tempo.” The men and women who step forward to serve as “twice the citizen,” as Winston Churchill called the Reserves, are finding it increasingly difficult to balance their civilian careers, family responsibilities and military duty.

Employers, who have shown tremendous patriotic support for their employees in uniform, are telling the Reserve Organization of America (ROA) that, although they value military experience and the excellent character found in those hired who have military backgrounds, repeated and often lengthy absences can cause problems.

The difficulties the military faces by missing recruiting goals are not of its making; the reasons by now are fairly well known. ROA does not see these pressures abating anytime soon, so the time for bemoaning is over; it’s time for solutions.