Satisfied that it's increased its ranks by about 20,000 soldiers and continues to meet its recruiting goals, the Army Reserve now is focused on recruiting more troops as they leave active duty to fill gaps at the mid-level ranks and in specific specialties.

Army Brig. Gen. Leslie A. Purser, the Army Reserve's deputy chief, praises recruiters and Army Reserve soldiers whose efforts enabled the Army Reserve to boost its numbers from about 185,00 to the current 206,000 in recent years.

The problem, she said, is that the force is bottom-heavy, particularly at the E-1 to E-4 ranks, but has shortages among mid-level commissioned and noncommissioned officers. The Army Reserve is short about 10,000 captains and majors, but has too many lieutenant colonels and colonels. Meanwhile, it's been able to fill only 54 percent of its sergeant first class billets.

Equally troubling, the Army Reserve has too many soldiers in some specialties and too few in others. It's currently at 170 percent strength for chaplain assistants, but has big gaps among wheeled-vehicle mechanics and, ironically, retention NCOs.

Army Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, the Army Reserve chief, summed up the problem during the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting in October.

"We have 208,000 [soldiers], but it's not the right 208,000," he said. "It's not in the right rank, in the right [specialties], in the right location."

Stultz has charged Purser to come up with a campaign plan to balance and man the force.

Purser said she's working closely with the Army's accessions and recruiting commands to ensure recruiters know what the Army Reserve is looking for - and what it's not.

"She must get very precise and tell them what the Army Reserve needs," Stultz explained.