109th Reserve Birthday Celebrated at Army Europe

By Spc. Kelsey LittleApril 20, 2017

109th Reserve Birthday Celebrated at Army Europe
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The U.S. Army Reserve celebrates 109 years of service to the Army at Clay Kaserne Apr. 20. Tradition calls for the senior leader, joined by the oldest and youngest Soldiers, to cut the cake together. Senior commander and event guest speaker Brig. Gen... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
109th Reserve Birthday Celebrated at Army Europe
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
109th Reserve Birthday Celebrated at Army Europe
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The U.S. Army Reserve celebrates 109 years of service to the Army at Clay Kaserne Apr. 20. Tradition calls for the senior leader, joined by the oldest and youngest Soldiers, to cut the cake together. Senior commander and event guest speaker Brig. Gen... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

WIESBADEN, Germany - Birthdays are a time to remember the past and celebrate the future, but for the Army Reserve it is also a time to honor achievement and sacrifice, as the U.S. Army Reserve celebrates 109 years of service to the Army and the Nation Apr. 23.

U.S. Army Europe's Army Reserve Engagement Cell celebrated the Army Reserve's birthday with a cake cutting ceremony at the Dining Facility on Clay Kaserne Apr. 20.

Tradition calls for the senior leader, joined by the oldest and youngest Soldiers, to cut the cake together. Senior commander and event guest speaker Brig. Gen. Phillip Jolly, USAREUR AREC director and Deputy Command General of Mobilization and Reserve Affairs, led the ceremonial festivities.

Staff Sgt. Ray Pratt, operations watch noncommissioned officer, 7th Missions Support Command, based in Kaiserslautern, Germany, age 57, represented the oldest Soldier and was joined by youngest Soldier, Capt. Monica Rincon, overseas deployment training officer for USAREUR Army Reserve Engagements Cell, age 28. Rincon's home unit is the 302nd Military Police Co., 200th Military Police command, based in Graham, Texas.

The Reserves evolved from a tiny corps of medical professionals to a globally positioned and engaged operational reserve force.

The first official mobilization of the Army Reserve was June 28, 1916. Since then, the Army Reserve has provided trained and ready Soldiers and units for World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait.

Today more than 9,000 Army Reserve Soldiers are mobilized and deployed in support of Geographic Combatant Commands, with another 11,000 scheduled for exercises and other missions during the year.

"We train side by side with our NATO allies, this is something you can be proud of," Jolly said.. "Training shoulder to shoulder is an important part of what we do. We're here to make the best of it."

Always engaged and ready to support the Active Duty forces, Jolly discussed the history of how today's Army Reserve is battled-tested and experienced, providing trained and ready forces and critical capabilities wherever needed, and anywhere around the world.

Integration of the National Guard and Army Reserve into the U.S. Army Europe team is a major component to making 30,000 Soldiers look and feel like 300,000.

Army Reserve and Guard Soldiers have played a vital role in boosting land force capability across USAREUR's footprint. Some of the places that the Reserves provide support in Europe are Kaiserslautern, Wiesbaden, Grafenwoehr and Vicenza.

"The Reserve provides critical capabilities the Army needs to initiate, sustain and prevail," Master Sgt. Delroy Williams, AREC office of deployment training NCOIC said during the event. "In two world wars, the cold War, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, the Global War on Terror, and countless crises, operations and contingency operations, the Army Reserve has never failed to answer the nation's call."

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About us: U.S. Army Europe is uniquely positioned in its 51 country area of responsibility to advance American strategic interests in Europe and Eurasia. The relationships we build during more than 1,000 theater security cooperation events in more than 40 countries each year lead directly to support for multinational contingency operations around the world, strengthen regional partnerships and enhance global security.

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