Army Reservists provide field hygiene services

Photo By Staff Sgt. Tim Morgan | The 254th Quartermaster Company, U.S. Army Reserve, provides a shower system for Soldiers training in the field at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Miss., on July 31, 2015. Approximately 4,600 soldiers from the Active, National Guard, and Reserve components are partnering in Mississippi for the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team’s Exportable Combat Training Capability exercise. (Mississippi National Guard photo by Sgt. Tim Morgan, 102nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment/Released)  

CAMP SHELBY, MS, UNITED STATES

07.31.2015

Story by Sgt. Tim Morgan 

102d Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. – Sometimes it is the small things in life that give Soldiers in the field the comforts of a smile and lifted spirits during continuous days of vigorous training.

Soldiers of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 254th Quartermaster Company are able to provide those comforts as laundry and shower specialists.

The welcoming warm showers available to Soldiers of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, Mississippi Army National Guard, ease the physical demands of high-tempo training. The unit is participating in the Exportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC) exercise at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center during one of Mississippi’s hottest months – July.

“They are very happy that we are out here,” said Spc. Shanee Robinson of Newark, Delaware, 254th Quartermaster Company. “We take care of them and in return they take care of us.”

The 254th Quartermaster Company, of York, Pennsylvania, is composed of a small team of 25 Soldiers, said Staff Sgt. Juan Torressalinas, noncommissioned officer in charge.

Armed with tents, water pumps, generators, and a water tank on wheels, the team essentially becomes a field provider capable of sustaining shower systems for those far away from Camp Shelby’s barracks.

However, showers provide far more than a boost in morale. The occasional shower during training reduces the risk of catching various infections and illnesses caused by poor hygiene and general uncleanliness in the field.

The 254th has two shower stations set up for the XCTC that serve approximately 150 Soldiers per day. Each station has two tents, one for males and one for females, and can shower up to 12 soldiers at once.

The 254th can set up their station within one to two days, said Torressalinas, but the hardest part for his team was working the first four days of the exercise before acclimating to Mississippi’s summer heat, which can climb to 110 degrees heat index with more than 50 percent humidity.

“It was tough because we are coming from Pennsylvania where it is not humid,” said Torressalinas, “but we are Soldiers, so we do what we have to do.”

The XCTC is a brigade field-training exercise comprised of approximately 4,600 soldiers from the active, National Guard, and Reserve components. The event tests the 155th ABCT’s ability to perform platoon movements, company attacks, response to ambushes, and more.

• Date Taken: 07.31.2015
• Date Posted: 08.01.2015 17:51
• Story ID: 171834
• Location: CAMP SHELBY, MS, US