HONOLULU, Hawaii -- As the U.S. Army prepares to celebrate its reserve component'ss 108th birthday on April 23, 2016, 18th Medical Command (Deployment Support) commemorated this year's anniversary with an Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise (EDRE) during its battle assembly weekend, April 16-17, 2016.
This EDRE was designed to test the unit's rapid expeditionary deployment capability and ensure personnel were responsive and trained to meet their limited notice deployment responsibilities.
All Soldiers were notified in advance of a potential recall and early Saturday morning each Soldier was contacted and directed to be present at the unit with all required items from a pre-determined packing list.
After a briefing from the company commander, Soldiers laid out their equipment for an inspection to determine any shortfalls.
For reserve Soldiers, maintaining readiness with their equipment is a continuous engagement requiring constant communication and notification of what Soldiers possess or need.
"For me, because of gear issues, the layout brought attention to what we were missing and actually had doubles of. It will help me to prepare for the next exercise," said Sgt. Marie Tyler, a reserve Soldier and culinary specialist with 18th MEDCOM (DS).
Following the layout, all Soldiers took part in Soldier readiness processing (SRP). The SRP consists of various administrative stations, service members met with legal representatives and the chaplain as well as updated any personal information, life insurance policies and a review of the individual's security clearances.
A consensus among many senior personnel with multiple deployments was that the process was streamlined and functioned smoother than the often strenuous process.
Reserve Soldiers from across the state reported for duty and seamlessly integrated with their active duty counterparts.
Throughout the weekend exercises, Soldiers not only prepared their gear and updated administrative paper work but simultaneously continued to complete training.
Vehicle maintenance, installing communications systems in vehicles and conducting convoy operations proved to be invaluable moments of training. For some reserve Soldiers it was their first opportunity to tackle these tasks or drive a military vehicle.
Asked how he felt the training benefited the newest reserve Soldiers, Staff Sgt. Mark Pint, an information technology specialist with 18th MEDCOM said, "I think it gave them a chance to experience something a lot of them have never been through. It is not every drill that they get to go through this type of training. It really opened up their eyes to see what it takes to be ready to deploy."
Following a review of the weekend exercises the entire unit joined in commemorating the U.S. Army Reserve's 108th birthday with cake. The unit's most senior and junior reserve Soldiers joined in to help cut the cake.
Pfc. Chloe Gouveia, a human resource specialist with 18th MEDCOM, and its most junior reserve Soldier, was asked her thoughts on the biggest takeaways from the weekend's training. She said that interacting with her active duty counterparts and learning to conduct preventative maintenance checks and services on vehicles was the highlight of the weekend.
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