ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- First Army personnel updated local Congressional staffers on the unit's mission, challenges and successes during an annual briefing at First Army headquarters Aug. 25.
"With the declining resources of the Army, (the United States has) to commit more of our Army Reserve and Army National Guard personnel toward (overseas) missions," said Col. Shawn Klawunder, First Army's chief of staff, told the group. "First Army has a pivotal mission in preparing them before and after they mobilize to deploy."
Congressional staffers represented U.S. Senators Dick Durbin, Mark Kirk, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos.
Rob Leonard, national security advisor for Durbin, asked about challenges First Army currently faces.
"There are some Army Reserve and Army National Guard units that are manned at 100 percent, while some are manned at 60 percent, and some units have (personnel) shortfalls," Klawunder said. "As they go through mobilization training -- and it's a five-year period -- which a typical Army Reserve or Army National Guard unit goes through prior to deployment -- they have to go through certain 'gates' to be prepared. If you're at 60 percent strength and you go through a training exercise, thereafter, the 40 percent that joins your unit later has not gone through that training."
Klawunder said First Army Soldiers partner with reserve component units throughout the year, including during battle assemblies and drill periods, to share expertise and help Soldiers maintain their skills.
First Army staff members provided the group with an update on the National Commission on the Future of the Army report. First Army continues to coordinate with U.S. Army Forces Command on the various recommendations in the report, including an increased personnel fill rate for full-time Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to First Army.
Kurt Freshley, national security advisor for Ernst, asked about the physical and mental health care received by Army Reserve and Army National Guard Soldiers when they return from mobilization.
First Army's Command Surgeon Col. Vincent Barnhart said that First Army has an active role in improving medical screenings during the demobilization process.
"We think the program is much improved," he said. "(Reserve-component) Soldiers have a 14-day demobilization period where, if necessary, we can gain a more thorough assessment before they can go home. Most Soldiers go back home in five to six days, but, if necessary, we can keep them at the demobilization center for 14 days.
"The frustration is the difference between an active-duty service member and a reserve-component Soldier. We can keep that active-duty Soldier with his or her unit and monitor them, whereas if they are in the Army Reserve or Army National Guard, they go home to their home station and their unit deactivates. Continued support is a little more difficult with (reserve-component) Soldiers."
Barnhart said the Army provides assistance in obtaining continuity of care for returning reserve component Soldiers in coordination with VA medical facilities near their home stations.
The congressional staffers also visited other commands on Rock Island Arsenal, including Army Sustainment Command, Joint Munitions Command, Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- Rock Island District.
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