[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E593]]



                     ARMY RESERVE BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM GIBBONS

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 1998

  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I would ask my colleagues in the House of 
Representatives to join me in recognizing the birthday of the United 
States Army Reserve. April 23rd marks 90 years of service by the Army 
Reserve to the United States of America.
  Throughout our history, the purpose of the United States Army has 
been to fight and win the nation's wars. To be sure, America's Army 
Reserve has existed side-by-side with the Army to accomplish that 
mission, but the scope and method of that support has changed 
commensurate with the nation's needs. Simply stated, the United States 
Army Reserve has been and will always be a model of flexibility that is 
a crucial national treasure and the envy of the world.
  In its early days, America's Army Reserve existed to ensure that the 
sons and daughters of America, who were put in harm's way in the name 
of defending freedom, received the finest medical care as far forward 
as possible. It was an extraordinary success. During World War One, 
almost 45,000 officer and enlisted Army Reservists served in medical 
units throughout the European theater.
  What was an experiment in the medical arena alone soon had 
application in combat and other combat support specialities as well. 
America's Army Reserve was crucial in the years between the world wars. 
Its officers ran hundreds of Civilian Conservation Corps camps here at 
home during the Depression. Not only did they keep their own leadership 
skills sharp, they also helped others to become productive citizens at 
a time when the nation was in dire economic straits.
  During World War Two, the hundreds of thousands of Army Reservists 
who served spelled the difference as America thwarted the forces of 
darkness, deceit and dictatorship around the world. They responded 
again when freedom called on the Korean peninsula. Almost a quarter of 
a million citizen-soldiers were called to active duty during that 
conflict, and their valor, fidelity and bravery were above reproach. 
Seven Army Reservists earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for their 
service in Korea.
  America's Army Reserve was needed, and was there, in Vietnam, again 
providing the vital combat support that makes the combat soldier's life 
a little more bearable.
  No amount of superlatives can begin to describe the contributions of 
the United States Army Reserve during Operations Desert Shield and 
Desert Storm. Of all reserve component forces mobilized by the 
Department of Defense, clearly a third of them proudly wore the uniform 
of America's Army Reserve. Almost 85,000 Army Reserve citizen-soldiers 
answered freedom's call, again, 20,000 of them being members of the 
Individual Ready Reserve.
  In the post-Cold War era, it is not just a slogan, but a clearly 
established fact, that America's Army cannot accomplish its mission and 
cannot go to war without America's Army Reserve. The Army Reserve 
provided 70 percent of the Army's reserve component support during 
Operation Restore Democracy in Haiti. In Bosnia, the Army Reserve is 
also providing over 70 percent of the Army's reserve component support. 
Not leaving anything to chance, the Army Reserve in fact has 
established a chain of support that begins here in the United States 
and culminates in Bosnia itself. While America's Army Reserve helped 
restore democracy in Haiti, its citizen-soldiers have literally 
restored hope and faith in the future for the civil war-weary people of 
Bosnia-Herzegovina.

  Mr. Speaker, I believe that many of my colleagues here have also 
experienced the competence and magnificence of the United States Army 
Reserve right here at home. It was the Army Reserve that guided people 
to safety following the onslaught of Hurricane Andrew. It was the Army 
Reserve that provided clean, potable water to the people of North 
Dakota following the ravages of last spring's flooding. And it was the 
Army Reserve that quickly and efficiently established recovery 
operations in the devastating aftermath of Typhoon Paka in Guam.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my sincere conviction that there is no better 
defense bargain today than America's Army Reserve. As the geostrategic 
environment has changed, so has the Army Reserve. This proactive, 
visionary understanding of the nation's needs has led to an Army 
Reserve that is more trained, more ready and more relevant than any 
other comparable force on this earth. As we speak, there is a miracle 
taking place whose impact may be felt half a world away. The 310th 
Chemical Company, headquartered at Fort McClellan, Alabama, epitomizes 
the seamless integration between the Active Army and the Army Reserve. 
This unit is, in fact, a combined active-reserve outfit, with four of 
its platoons belonging to the Army Reserve and one belonging to the 
Active Army. The 310th was identified to receive new biological weapons 
detection equipment, which is of utmost importance to the Army's 
defense, but also to the defense of the United States should we, as a 
nation, ever face the consequences of these terrible weapons. On just 
four days advance notice, the 310th was rescheduled for its annual 
training from this coming summer to this past February. The unit's 
soldiers, and the civilian employers who support them, responded 
magnificently, with virtually no problems encountered during this 
training change. What makes the 310th all the more extraordinary is 
that, while its soldiers were undergoing that training, they were also 
notified that they were being mobilized as part of the U.S. response to 
the transgressions of Saddam Hussein against the United Nations. They 
progressed through their training and mobilized in anticipated 
deployment to the Persian Gulf region. It was the ability of this unit 
to train and mobilize on such a short notice that, I feel, contributed 
to Iraq's decision to accommodate U.N. inspectors searching for the 
very weapons that the 310th is designed and equipped to detect.
  In closing, I ask that we pause and reflect on what our nation's 
defenses would be without America's Army Reserve. I shudder to think of 
that possibility. We cannot and must never take for granted what these 
citizen-soldiers, and just as importantly, their families and civilian 
employers, sacrifice for the benefit for every citizen of this nation. 
We have been blessed with freedoms that are the dream and envy of 
peoples in far-flung corners of the globe. This April 23rd, think about 
your freedom of speech, your freedom of assembly and your freedom of 
religion. Consider your right to vote and our freedom of the press. And 
as you reflect on these basic freedoms, think about the people who make 
that all possible. When you do, I hope you will join me in taking a 
minute out of our busy schedules to personally thank and salute the men 
and women of America's Army Reserve.

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