Sustaining the Army Reserve: water, fuel, psychology

Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Crawford | Spc. Renato Reyes, a petroleum fuel specialist with the 957th Quartermaster Company based in Denton, Texas, and Spc. Dillan Mitten, a native of Farmville, Texas, stands guard outside a refueling point during Combat Support Training Exercise 2016 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. March 8, 2016. CSTX is a U.S. Army Reserve exercise conducted at multiple locations across the country designed to challenge combat support units and Soldiers to improve and sustain skills necessary during a deployment. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael T. Crawford/RELEASED)  

FORT DIX, NJ, UNITED STATES

03.11.2016

Story by Sgt. Michael Crawford 

354th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT DIX, N.J. – Whether it’s water or fuel, running on an empty tank can spell disaster for a mission. But even fueled up and hydrated, stress can take down the strongest Soldier from within.

Fortunately for U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers with the 957th Quartermaster Company in Denton, Texas, Spc. Renato Reyes can address all three needs.

Reyes, a petroleum fuel specialist with the 957th, served for three years in the active Army as a water purification specialist. Within months of arriving in his duty station in Germany, he deployed to Iraq in 2008 to supply drinking water and showers for up to 700 Soldiers.

“A lot of time people think, because you’re in the support element, that perhaps you’re not as essential as other people such as infantry or other combat roles,” Reyes said. “I was watching a documentary about Patton and … he said ‘My Soldiers can eat their belts if they have to, but my tanks need fuel to run.’ What we do matters a lot more than people care to think about.”

But perhaps his most unique asset in the field during the Combat Support Training Exercise 2016 is his academic studies, specifically as an undergraduate of psychology.

“Out here, a lot of the guys get stressed about different things,” Reyes said. “I can talk to them about my experiences – from being active duty and my background in psychology – and I can try to help them relieve some of that stress.”

Reyes, a native of Longview, Texas, came to the U.S. from Zacatecas, Mexico in 1999. After leaving active duty, Reyes became a petroleum fuel specialist to join the 957th, a unit close to where he wanted to go to school.

“My plan when I initially joined the military was to get some help with school,” Reyes said. “I didn’t want to let go completely, so I joined the Reserve.”

School has always been part of Reyes’ plan, and the Army Reserve has played a big role in making it a possibility.

“The Army Reserve has been a lot of help,” Reyes said. “Nobody in my family has a lot of college, so I need to figure everything out on my own. Having that help from the military is a lot less stress through the process.”

Reyes hopes to earn his masters degree in the near future so he can keep working to help Soldiers.

“In the military, you get to see all kinds of different people from all walks of life, and that has helped me a lot to learn about different mentalities and what makes people the way they are,” Reyes said. “If I can just help them out a little bit, if I can make their day just a little better, that’s what counts.”

• Date Taken: 03.11.2016
• Date Posted: 03.12.2016 10:38
• Story ID: 192168
• Location: FORT DIX, NJ, US
• Hometown: ZACATECAS, ZAC, MX
• Hometown: DENTON, TX, US
• Hometown: LONGVIEW, TX, US