DES MOINES, Iowa – U.S. Army Reserve units have been celebrating across the world this April as the U.S. Army Reserve turned 106 years old; the 1st battalion, 383rd Training Support Battalion, 166th Aviation Brigade, First Army Division West – based at Fort Des Moines—in coordination with the City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department, decided to celebrate the Army Reserve’s birthday by giving back to the community that many of these soldiers work within and call their home on April 5.
The soldiers from the 1-383rd arrived at Greenwood Park in Des Moines in order to conduct a cleanup of the park after a particularly rough winter. The goal of the clean up was to remove brush and logs that littered the park and allow the Parks and Recreation Department to conduct a control burn. This would allow the park to return to a more natural state. During the course of the morning, soldiers worked together to move large logs with smiles on their faces.
A Parks and Recreation Department employee commented on the level of work performed by the soldiers.
“You guys have cleared more in two hours than we can in a week.”
Following the cleanup project, the soldiers returned to Fort Des Moines where they hosted their 106th birthday celebration of the Army Reserve with Mayor Pro Tem T.H. Bob Mahaffey, fourteen year Air Force Reserve veteran. During the ceremony, Mahaffey expressed the city’s appreciation of its citizen soldiers and assisted the command team in presenting Army Achievement Medals to three soldiers and promoting another.
The honor of the most senior enlisted to cut the cake was extended to Mahaffey to take part in the Army tradition of cutting the cake with the battalion’s most junior soldier, Spc. Joseph Davison.
Date Taken: | 04.17.2014 |
Date Posted: | 04.17.2014 14:23 |
Story ID: | 126466 |
Location: | DES MOINES, IOWA, US |
Web Views: | 200 |
Downloads: | 1 |
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