Photo By Jon Connor | Maj. Kyle Krebs works at the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island Arsenal,...... read more read more
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ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. –The U.S. Army Sustainment Command has a diverse workforce with talent coming from Soldiers, Army Civilians and contractors bringing in a wealth of knowledge and experience. Some of those people also bring with them the experience as members of the Army Reserve, which celebrates its 116th birthday April 23.
This year’s theme is “Today's Army Reserve: Building critical skills for the Nation.”
The Army Reserve is made up of 200,000 Soldiers and Civilians, offering 120 different career fields, and serving in all 50 states, five territories, and 23 countries. More information on its birthday can be found at https://www.usar.army.mil/ArmyReserveBirthday/
The Army Reserve started from a small corps of medical professionals in 1908 to what it is today – “the best trained, best equipped and most ready Army Reserve in our nation’s history,” the website states.
Reserve Soldiers are required to spend one weekend a month on duty and two weeks a year in training. Duty involves training and rehearsing combat skills, work in their military occupational specialty, and performing physical fitness activities. Each Reserve Soldier’s length of service depends on their individual contract, usually three to six years.
Here are a few ASC Civilians who are in the Army Reserve:
Kevin Braafladt, ASC Historian
“My experience as an Army Reserve Soldier has been some of the most rewarding parts of my career and has dramatically shaped my life for the better,” said Braafladt, who started working as a historian at ASC in 2018.
“It has provided my family and myself opportunities to explore and follow my life passion while fulfilling my sense of duty to serve my country.”
Braafladt is responsible for collecting and preserving ASC’s history.
“We provide education to the command through professional development as well as staff rides or educational presentations about a battle or action that provides lessons learned from the past. We also provide services to the public regarding the history of the command as well as Rock Island Arsenal.”
With his Reserve unit, First U.S. Army Reserve Support Command, headquartered at RIA, Braafladt, a captain, is the command historian as well.
When he first came in the Army Reserve as an enlisted Soldier, he joined the same unit as his great-grandfather who served during World War I – the 91st Training Division (Operations), formerly the 91st Infantry Division.
He said his duties and responsibilities are almost the same as at ASC except in a Reserve role.
“The advantages of being both a DA (Department of the Army) Civilian and Army Reserve Soldier is that the experience I have gained from both roles are beneficial to my myself and the Army as a whole,” he explained.
“Additionally, contacts that are made in one or the other roles assist the other duties in my case. As a DA civilian, you are given military leave time throughout the year, which helps to offset the military duty.”
Braafladt said the most challenging thing that people do not understand, especially when in leadership roles, is that the Reserve duty extends beyond the time wearing a uniform.
“In some cases, it is like having a regular full-time and a part-time job. It’s not a negative thing you just have to try and balance life a bit better,” he said.
Kyle Krebs, ASC Operations Research Systems Analyst
“I left active duty in 2018 because of what I knew my future would hold – moving across the country every one to three years, and I didn’t want that to be my family’s story,” Krebs said. “Joining the Army Reserve allowed me to stay connected with the institution I’d come to love, while allowing me the ability to keep my family stable in a great community.”
Krebs served on active duty from 2007 to 2018. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Carson, Colorado; and then RIA with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He joined the Reserve in October 2018.
A month earlier, he became an Army Civilian with the Joint Munitions Command as a logistics management specialist and began working at ASC in August 2021. At ASC he is an ORSA -- operations research systems analyst.
Here he performs data analysis and integration for ASC’s internal customers. “I create business intelligence reports, build and monitor data pipelines, and perform analysis against large datasets to find and recommend opportunities for ASC to improve operations,” he explained.
Despite his branch being military intelligence, Krebs, a major, is currently serving as an ORSA at First Army and has been on active-duty orders since October 2021.
For most reservists, managing time between uniformed duty with Civilian duties and family life is challenging, Krebs explained.
“Being an Army Reservist is hard. One weekend a month and two weeks a year comes around fast. And if you want to do your job well, you’re also spending weeknights coordinating with your Army Reserve colleagues. Balancing that work against a civilian career and a family is very challenging. But, the Army Civilian Corps understands those conflicts and empowers Reservists to “Be All You Can Be,” both as Civilians and as Reservists.”
Krebs said one of his goals is to get promoted to lieutenant colonel.
“That’s always been my goal for a career in the Army. As a Civilian, I’d like to continue work in my ORSA capacity and eventually reach a chief data officer position. That’s where I’ll provide the most value and have the biggest impact.”
Alexander Moritz, ASC Emergency Manager
The main advantages of being a DA employee and Army Reservist are gaining training and experience from multiple sources, said Moritz, a captain, and who is a Civilian emergency manager in the G-3 (Operations) Provost Marshal Office.
He cited networking with other Reservists that may also be DA Civilians or from other federal agencies as a plus of being dual-hatted.
“Being a DA Civilian has flexible hours that allow you to do your service without any issues as well as laws that protect your employment,” Moritz said as other advantages, along with additional income from reserve service.
Moritz came on board as a Civilian in December and had previously served in uniform as the Provost Marshal’s Operations officer since April 2021. He came off active-duty service in November and transitioned into the Reserve.
He served seven years active duty as a military police officer at two other installations before his last assignment at RIA.
As a Civilian, he manages ASC’s emergency management, continuity of operations programs, and conducts operational security reviews.
“Most of my duties center around implementing these protection programs within the headquarters, inspect and improve the programs at the Army Field Support Brigade level, and liaison with the Garrison for emergencies and working groups related to emergency management,” Moritz explained.
Moritz serves as an information systems officer/data systems engineer, in the First Army Reserve Support Command, where he does data analysis and supports ongoing operations in First Army’s G6 (Information Management) as needed, he said.
Moritz said he opted to continue to serve in the Reserve because of additional training opportunities, a new job specialty, future deployment opportunities, being able to continuously serve, and earning both an Army and Civilian federal employee retirement.
“Coming from the active-duty side I think many don’t understand that they can keep a lot of the benefits and exciting elements of military service by serving in the Reserve,” Moritz said. “You retain commissary/Post Exchange, other base benefits, have access to a way more affordable healthcare -- unless you are a federal employee as well -- your Thrift Savings Plan, tuition/credentialling assistance, and many others.”
And, Moritz said it is easier to switch to a different military occupational specialty/officer branch in the Reserve versus active duty, which can be a lengthier and more daunting process.
ASC proudly supports all its Reserve Soldier employees and wishes the Army Reserve a happy birthday!
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2024 10:23 |
| Story ID: | 469231 |
| Location: | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, IL, US |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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