Photo By Gregg Moore | Army Reserve firefighters spray a cooling mist from their M1142 Tactical Fire Truck on...... read more read more
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TORRANCE, Calif. - Army Reserve Soldiers from the 311th Expeditionary Support Command took part in the 56th Annual Torrance Armed Forces Day Celebration in Torrance, California, May 18.
Col. Andrew Wichers, 311th ESC Deputy Commanding Officer, represented the U.S. Army Reserve at this year’s celebration.
“It is very important for us to get out into the community and show them our appreciation for their support,” said Wichers. “This is also a chance for our soldiers to meet local citizens and educate them on what we do as an organization.”
The opening ceremony included remarks by the event Grand Marshall, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Joseph Servidio, Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District. Following the ceremony, static displays and information booths from all of the Uniformed Service where open to the public.
Soldiers from the 311th ESC brought an M1142 Tactical Fire Truck and an M1075 Palletized Load System truck for public display. This served as an opportunity to highlight the Army Firefighter military occupational specialty and their important mission.
For 1st Lt. Brittany Christian, a maintainace officer with the 311th ESC, this was the first time she had participated in an event like this and saw how it benefits recruiting.
“Everybody enjoys seeing the fire truck. Not a lot of people know that the Army Reserve has firefighters,” said Christian. “People get to see the vehicles and talk to Soldiers about the training they receive in the Army Reserve.”
Not only did people get to have a hands on experience with the vehicles they had the opportunity to see them in action during the 56th Torrance Armed Forces Celebration Day parade.
The city of Torrance is one of the few cities in the nation sanctioned by the Department of Defense to honor our Armed Forces through and annual parade and celebrations.
Lieutenant Mark Underwood, Torrance Police Department, was the event director and spoke about how the parade has been a constant tradition and salute to the military no matter what is going on in the world.
“For 56 consecutive years, rain or shine, sequestration or wartimes, it did not matter. They kept the parade going. At one point we had Omar Bradley as a Grand Marshall,” said Underwood. “We will keep it going forever.”
The U.S. Coast Guard was the honored service this year. The U.S. Army will be the 2016 honored service at this one-of-a-kind celebration.
| Date Taken: | 05.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2015 15:39 |
| Story ID: | 163700 |
| Location: | TORRANCE, CA, US |
| Hometown: | LOS ALAMITOS RESERVE CENTER AND AIR STATION, CA, US |
| Hometown: | LOS ANGELES, CA, US |
| Hometown: | LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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