GoArmy.com > Army Reserve > Deployment: One Unit's Story

Why do the Army Reserve Soldiers of the 143rd work so hard to keep their skills sharp? Because the Army may one day depend on them to perform their jobs during an actual mission.

Soldiers in the Army Reserve receive ongoing training not only for their specific job duties but for all Soldiering skills, including marksmanship, communication and safety. This means that, whether deployed in the United States or overseas, Army Reserve Soldiers are trained and ready to serve.

The 143rd Transportation Command is made up of around 870 Soldiers from four states (FL, GA, AL and NC). Many of these Soldiers have prior military experience and were involved in the first Gulf War. Soldiers' jobs range from truck drivers and lawyers to cooks and clerks.

Some Soldiers, including MSG Timothy Osborn, served in the Active Duty Army for many years. Soldiers like this are invaluable in the Army Reserve because they can pass on much of their Army knowledge to their fellow Army Reserve Soldiers.

Many Soldiers in the 143rd attended Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at the Transportation School in Fort Eustis, VA. Jobs trained at the Transportation School include:

	I'm Master Sergeant Osborn, member of the 143rd Transportation Command, United States Army Reserves. If it has to do with transportation, the 143rd is the command authority for that.
	My MOS, I am an 88 Zulu which is the senior transportation specialist. My experience—I was very blessed and grateful to have been Active Duty.
	I went into the Army Reserve because I can still participate but I'm not away from home as much. I can still have a civilian family life.
	There's a new perspective on the urgency of doing the training. The guys really understand why we do a lot of the small details to the detail that we do.
	The Army Reserve has a good program—especially in the 143rd to where we actually go to the theater where we're going to mobilize.
	We gear up knowing more about the information that's going to be needed and going to planning conferences at the location. Then when the exercise comes closer we move our team in and we set up and actually do business.
	It's a wonderful way to train. I think it's what this unit has been really blessed with because we do actually get to go and see where we're going and interact with the people, not only on the military side, but also in the host nation. We make sure that we make those contacts and learn the little inferences and nuances, a little bit of language that makes a little bit smoother transition.
	Somebody's going to have to take my place one day and the Army Reserve is training people now so I can move my junior Soldiers up to where when it's my turn to move on, they'll be able to maintain the same type of experience that I've had and keep the Army Reserve at a high level of function.