Commanding General of First Army Addresses Moline Rotary Club

MOLINE, IIl. -- Moline Rotarians learned about First Army's mission and more about today's and tomorrow's Army. Lt. Gen. Michael S. Tucker served as the keynote speaker during the Moline Rotary Club weekly meeting held at the Trinity Lutheran Church on June 30.

Tucker applauded the club for its community service since its founding in 1914.

"I think it's fair to say that your great organization shares a lot of similarities with another organization…our U.S. Army," Tucker said. "Both of our organizations are committed to providing service to something greater than ourselves and is inherently, 'A force for good.' I salute you for your continued efforts."

Retired Maj. Gen. Yves Fontaine, former commanding general for Army Sustainment Command and a current Moline Rotary Club member, invited Tucker to speak to the organization. Tucker said the Army is continuing to support the Department of Defense's directives.

"Your Army remains heavily committed in operations overseas as well as at home. Currently, there are approximately 85,000 Soldiers forward stationed across the globe in nearly 150 countries. We have more than 66,000 Soldiers currently deployed in support of ongoing operations, including nearly 32,000 Soldiers supporting operations in Afghanistan.

"Every day, your Soldiers -- active duty and reserve component alike -- inspire us all through their competence, character, and commitment to serving our great nation."

Tucker took the opportunity to explain how First Army's mission will change in the coming years.

"The Army has directed First Army to shift training support focus from post-mobilization to pre-mobilization. That's a huge paradigm shift for First Army," he said. "We will undergo unprecedented changes during the next two years as we revamp our personnel, streamline the way we support National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers for deployment and shift training support focus to pre-mobilization training, while still maintaining our primary mission to provide post-mobilization training support to the reserve component."

In his closing remarks, Tucker thanked the Quad Cities and asked the audience members to remember those serving in the Armed Forces.

"I'd ask you to pause, reflect, and remember that everything our Armed Forces do for our nation," he said. "It is done by Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen support by their families and our great Department of Defense civilians and the undying commitment to our great community such as here in Moline and the greater Quad Cities area."

Nick Norman, president of the Moline Rotary Club, thanked Tucker for his visit.

"It was a great pleasure to host Lt. Gen. Tucker at Moline Rotary," he said. "His speech was informative and well received by the membership -- clearly one of the best speakers we had."

First Army mobilizes, trains, deploys and demobilizes all Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve forces throughout the continental United States, providing trained and ready forces for diverse missions worldwide. First Army is comprised of two divisions: First Army Division East, located at Fort Meade, Md., and First Army Division West, located at Fort Hood, Texas.