9-11 Plus Three Years

LTG James R. Helmly
Commander, US Army Reserve Command
Chief, Army Reserve

Three years ago on a bright, clear morning, our innocence was shattered and we discovered the nation was at war. Most of us remember where we were when we first heard the news – the feeling in our guts when we saw those planes hitting the towers. We recall our horror at seeing the plume of smoke rising from the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. It was a terrible day, forever frozen in our memories.

For the Army Reserve, it has been a challenging three years. We lost nine members of our Army Reserve family on September 11, 2001. Since then, we have lost 54 of our fellow Soldiers and more than 300 have sustained injuries while deployed to the Central Command theater. One of our own, 20-year old Specialist Keith “Matt” Maupin of the 724th Transportation Company from Bartonville, Illinois, has been held as a prisoner since April.

More than 103,000 Army Reserve Soldiers have answered the call to active duty since 9-11. As we enter the fourth year of the Global War on Terror, more than 36,000 Army Reserve Soldiers are on active duty, serving our nation in lonely and dangerous places around the globe.

The Army Reserve faces challenges unlike any in our 96-year history. While stressful, the Soldiers and civilians of the Army Reserve have performed skillfully and proudly, supported by their families and employers. Their courage and dedication in the face of extended deployments inspires us daily.

Yet in the midst of this war of indeterminate length, we in the Army Reserve are changing how we do business while we continue to provide trained and ready Soldiers and units to America’s Army.

We are building an Army Reserve that is more capable, flexible and agile, yet expects more of its Soldiers. Army Reserve Soldiers know if they have not yet deployed, they can expect to do so. We have developed a warrior attitude: one where mobilization and deployment on a mission is the expectation, not the exception.

We have focused all of our efforts on the readiness of our units and our Soldiers. We must be ready to go to war today, because we are indeed a nation at war.

The stakes could not be higher. We are fighting not only for our own future, but also for the future of our children and grandchildren. Our success today will determine the kind of world they live in. We fight for a world in which our children will look to the skies with wonder, not fear.

On a monument to British soldiers who died in the Battle of Kohima in World War II, there is an inscription that I find fitting for our Soldiers who have suffered and died since September 11, 2001. “When you go home,” it reads, “tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today.”

Let us always remember that the sacrifices of our Soldiers, their families, and employers today will lead to a brighter tomorrow for America. Thank you for your service to our nation. May God bless you, your families and your employers as we continue the struggle for peace and freedom.

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