ARMY RESERVE COMPETITIVE PROGRAMS

Command Sgt. Maj. Andrew Lombardo, who serves as the command sergeant major of the Army Reserve, talks with Soldiers on Aug. 28, 2020, in building 905 at Fort McCoy, Wis. The enlisted call was a specially coordinated event with social distancing and other safety measures in place. The event provided a chance for Soldiers to hear the latest updates from the leadership level of the Army Reserve and a chance for those same Soldiers to ask the enlisted leader any questions they may have. The call was part of a five-day visit by Lombardo where he visited with Reserve Soldiers training in the 78th Training Division Operation Ready Warrior as well as with Reserve Soldiers attending institutional training at Fort McCoy. Lombardo visited Fort McCoy’s Regional Training Site-Maintenance as well as the Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy. The senior enlisted leader also visited with members of senior leadership throughout Fort McCoy. The Army Reserve of today can trace its roots as a "national" or federal Citizen-Soldier force that goes back more than a century. Over the years, with the crisis of a major war, the federal government mobilized large Citizen-Soldier forces and trained them for combat operations. Today, the Army Reserve has more than 200,000 Soldiers and Civilian employees and 2,000 units spread across 20 time zones. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)