HOUSTON –
U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers weathered heavy rains and waded through the flooded streets of Houston to transport relief personnel and critical supplies to a Houston federal detention center in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Aug. 28, 2017.
The U.S. Army Reserve’s 300th Sustainment Brigade, 957th Quartermaster Company, and the 223rd Support Maintenance Company were on the road within an hour of receiving their mission.
“They really helped us out a lot,” said Michael Greene, an associate warden at the Federal Detention Center in Houston, Texas. “Very early in the morning, the unit was able to bring supplies and [more than 20] personnel to relieve the others.”
Some of the staff on-duty had been at the detention center for over 24 hours without resupply due to the hurricane and flooded streets. Greene was one of the last of the transported personnel before the team split off to support another reserve unit.
“The support was outstanding,” Green said. “We would not have been able to get here without the Army (Reserve’s) support.”
More than a dozen Army Reserve Soldiers utilized several light medium tactical vehicles (LMTV) and a logistics vehicle system replacement (wrecker) to transport the detention center staff and supplies through the submerged streets of Houston, according to 1st Lt. Jasmine Bennett, a platoon leader with the 223rd Support Maintenance Company and mission officer-in-charge. LMTVs and wreckers are designed to perform on various types of terrain under hazardous conditions.
“I just want to help and do anything I can for the families,” said Spc. Fabian Streit, a Army Reserve Soldier from Dallas who serves as a motor transport operator in the 300th. “I would volunteer again, if I could.”
“This shows the younger Soldiers why we do all our training,” said Sgt. Joshua Cason, a driver with the 957th Quartermaster Company and native of Los Angeles. “This shows why we have to be ready.”