Deploying Unit Shows Differences Between Active, Reserve
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. Feb. 14, 2004 – It is different when a National Guard unit
deploys.
The "total force" includes active duty and reserve component service members.
And while the missions that like units go on are identical, there are
differences in the way active duty and reserve components deploy. These
differences were apparent at the Feb. 12 deployment ceremony for the 30th Heavy
Separate Brigade. The unit is the first National Guard combat brigade to deploy
since the end of World War II.
Families applaud their soldiers at the end of a deployment
ceremony for the 30th Enhanced Separate Brigade at the Crown Center in
Fayetteville, N.C. The brigade is going to Iraq in the coming weeks. Photo by
Jim Garamone
(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image
available. |
The brigade will deploy in the next few weeks, and includes units from New
York, Minnesota, Maryland, California, West Virginia and Illinois. The core of
the brigade is the 3,500 members of the Old Hickory brigade based in Clinton,
N.C. The unit will serve with the 1st Infantry Division, and relieve the 4th
Infantry Division in Iraq.
While the Guard and reserves have been stalwarts in the war of terror, most of
the units deployed have been in the combat service and combat service support
areas. But that doesn't mean some combat units have not deployed. The Florida
National Guard sent combat units to the Middle East last year, and the Air
National Guard and the Air Force Reserve have had squadrons providing air
support to coalition troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. More than 188,000 reserve
component service members are serving on active duty today.
The first difference between active and reserve component forces that a person
notices is in age. The 30th looks a bit older than the typical active duty
unit. The infantrymen and armor crewman average three to four years older than
their counterparts on active duty, officials said. Many served on active duty
and transferred to the Guard following that service. Some of the soldiers in
the brigade wear combat patches from the 101st Airborne Division and the 10th
Mountain Division.
The age difference is most noticeable in the noncommissioned officer grades.
Some platoon sergeants and first sergeants in the unit are approaching 50.
"Yeah, we're a little bit gray," said one first sergeant with a smile. "But you
know what they say: 'Age and treachery will overcome youth and enthusiasm every
day.'"
The first sergeant said the added experience will help in the situations the
soldiers probably will confront in Iraq. "I think we will have more patience,"
he said. "We have more experiences to draw on."
He laughed and said, "Also, most of us have teenagers at home."
But not all. Many families with small children and babies attended the
ceremony. One 5-year old boy was dressed in desert camouflage and saluted (with
his left hand) during the national anthem. Others held up signs wishing Daddy
or Mommy good luck in their mission.
How the families will cope during the yearlong deployment is a concern to the
brigade leadership, and that too, is a different from active duty.
On the active duty side, soldiers deploy from a post, and efforts to help the
families are concentrated at that base. Even the North Carolina portion of the
brigade has soldiers coming from every portion of the state. That concentrated
family support effort won't work for the Guard.
"We've come up with Family Support Teams in communities around the state," said
Chaplain (Capt.) Steven King, a Protestant chaplain with the brigade. "We're
also working with the Big Red One on family matters. The (North Carolina)
adjutant general's office is also working with state agencies to provide
support during the deployment."
While the dispersion of service members can be viewed as a problem in family
support, another aspect of Guard service helps in the situation. In many cases,
service in the National Guard is a family matter. Many of the Guardsmen are the
third generation of family members serving in the unit. They come from small
towns and cities all over the state, and they are rooted in the communities.
"My family has been in North Carolina since the 1700s," said one lieutenant.
"I'm related to half the people in town. I guarantee that if something happens
to me, there will be 200 people at my house asking what they can do to help."
A Guard official said many of the communities have adopted 30th Brigade
companies and are working together to see that families have what they need to
make it through the deployment. Civic and veterans organizations also are
working to ensure families have what they need.
"Like the Army, these communities will care for their own," he said. Officials
said the tradition is the same in other states. The New York infantry unit that
will deploy with the brigade has a similar attitude toward service, officials
said. The 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry comes from central New York state, and
the people of the region are gathering around the unit as it prepares to leave.
The counterpart to this is that communities, too, rely upon the Guardsmen.
State officials said that many communities are losing the very people who make
it work. Many police, firefighters, paramedics and government officials also
are National Guardsmen. A state official said one town's Volunteer Fire
Department was decimated by the call-up.
"Other people, who don't normally volunteer, stepped forward," he said.
A final difference between active duty and reserve component service members is
that active duty personnel do not have to worry about their jobs upon their
return. The military asks a lot of service members, but it also asks a lot of
employers of reserve component service members.
"Large corporations have the depth to absorb a year-long loss of personnel,"
said a state Guard official. "Smaller companies do not." Some companies have
continued the Guardsmen's medical coverage. Still others have made up the
difference between the Guardsmen's civilian pay and their military salaries.
Smaller businesses don't have the pockets to make these kinds of allowances,
but they are still doing what they can for the called-up Guardsmen, said
officials. There have been remarkably few problems to date, said the official.
The state is working with the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve
organization to anticipate problems.
"I expect the real problems will surface when the brigade comes home," said the
official.
With all the differences, there are similarities between the active duty and
reserve component. The professional attitude, the unit cohesion and the sense
of mission are the same.
The Guardsmen of the 30th Brigade have been through the same training and have
the same equipment as members of the active Army. Their leaders are held to the
same standards as NCOs and officers on the active side. Perhaps the most
telling aspect of their service is the sense of obligation to do their parts.
"My granddaddy went (to World War II), my daddy went (to Vietnam)," said one
sergeant. "Now I guess it's my turn."
Related Article:
Myers Wishes
Guard Brigade 'Godspeed' in Iraqi Deployment
Related Web Sites:
North Carolina National Guard
30th Heavy
Separate Brigade
National Guard Bureau
AFRTS Video Reports:
 Army Corps of Engineers activates Gulf
Region Division
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
thanks families, employers of troops serving overseas
CJCS General Richard Myers bids
farewell to NC National Guard Brigade deploying to Iraq
Nominations for SECDEF Employer Support
Freedom Award are being accepted
AFRTS Radio Reports:
 Army Corps of Engineers activates Gulf Region
Division
CJCS General Richard Myers bids farewell to
NC National Guard Brigade deploying to Iraq
 | National Guardsmen with the 30th Heavy Brigade wait for their
deployment ceremony to begin Feb. 12 at the Crown Center in Fayetteville, N.C.
The Guardsmen are deploying to Iraq in the coming weeks. Air Force Gen. Richard
B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke at the ceremony. Photo by
Jim Garamone
|  | High resolution photo.
|  | Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers and his wife, Mary Jo (right),
speak with a Guardsman and his wife following a Feb. 12 deployment ceremony at
the Crown Center in Fayetteville, N.C. Guardsmen deploying to Iraq and their
families heard the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's best wishes and
encouragement. Photo by Jim Garamone
|  | High resolution photo.
|
| 
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