Soldiers participated in the Soldier Readiness Process to ensure continual readiness for possible deployment at the Kenichi Uchida Reserve Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 20-22.
The 191st Command Support Sustainment Battalion conducted this year's SRP for the 652 Regional Support Group. Stations at the even included administrative stations, to ensure records were in order, and medical stations, including immunizations and dental exams.
Keeping Soldiers' records to-date allows them to remain deployable. Even if deployment isn't scheduled in the near future for a unit, being attached to a separate deploying unit is possible for individual reservists.
"We have a requirement to make sure our Soldiers are ready to mobilize," said Col. Tey C. Wiseman, the commander of the 652nd RSG. "Part of the Reserve's requirements are to provide Soldiers to the units who are ready to deploy and support the active forces," he said.
"We want to be able to put that Soldier on the ground, being productive," said Wiseman. "The less time we take on the front end, doing physicals, dentals, getting them prepared, the more we can actually use them as their role on the battle field," he said.
Because of the amount of Soldiers that need to complete the SRP, the process can take several hours to finish. This year, however, changes were made to make things run smoother and faster.
"It seems to be going quicker than last year. I'm looking at finishing before lunch; last year I was here until 2 or 3pm," said Staff Sgt. Michael T. Marett, a bulk petroleum supply platoon sergeant of the 786th Quarter Master Company.
One step individual Soldiers can take to quicken the process, is to finish a Physical Health Assessment online once a year. After filling out the assessment, PHA schedules an appointment with a local doctor and dentist for the Soldier to visit. There, the Soldier can take care of any needed immunizations, dental procedures, and even receive vision testing before going to SRP. This allows Soldiers to actually skip the medical and dental stations at SRP.
The online PHA will make things run quicker for individual Soldiers, but it will not take place of the SRP completely.
Aside from changes in the actual set-up of the SRP, extra precautions were taken to prevent an event such as the recent Fort Hood massacre in Texas from occurring here in Utah. Gate guards were placed at the entrance to check identification of those coming in, and also to assure those leaving completed the SRP.
"We never underestimate the initiative of a soldier," said Wiseman. "It was controlling the access in and out of there, so that [likelihood of] the event that someone would want to come in here and do something like that is reduced," he said.
Some soldiers feel the massacre didn't directly affect them here and added safety measures were not necessary.
"I think that the Fort Hood massacre is an isolated event that has to do with the mental makeup of one soldier; it doesn't really say much for the rest of the Army," said Sgt. James B. Darnell, a maintenance squad leader of the 786th QMC.
The SRP is still being evaluated by the 191 CSSB to find more ways to make the process even quicker and more efficient.
| Date Taken: | 11.21.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 11.23.2009 21:59 |
| Story ID: | 41935 |
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| Web Views: | 589 |
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