How Reservists Can Jumpstart Military Software Development

The U.S. military's software development capabilities are lagging significantly behind the private sector, creating a critical vulnerability for modern warfare. A proposed solution is to utilize the reserve components to inject high-tech civilian expertise into the active force while it builds its own organic capacity. A case study of a casualty evacuation app shows how reservists with skills in mathematics and user interface design dramatically improved a battlefield tool. To make this effective, the services must reform the reserve employment model to better identify and deploy personnel based on their civilian expertise, not just their military specialty.