MARYSVILLE, Wash. –
U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers in Marysville, Wash., are working to build a force that can respond to global contingencies in a very short time frame. Their effort is in support of Ready Force X (RFX), and it is designed with an emphasis on short-term readiness.
“The Global threat, the threat around the world has changed, the world that we’re living in today is not the same place it was a decade ago,” said Brig. Gen. Gregory Mosser, the Commanding General of the 364th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), a U.S. Army Reserve unit headquartered at the Marysville Armed Forces Reserve Center.
“In the past we have been able to notify units of missions at least a year in advance, we were able to get them additional people, get them all their required equipment and send them to a mobilization station where they might prepare for weeks or months; however, readiness is no longer a long-term process and RFX changes that,” said Mosser.
The Army Reserve Ready Force X is a pool of units tasked with maintaining higher levels of peacetime readiness to offset risk to the nation. RFX units are missioned to respond to evolving threats from near-peer and non-state competitors in several theaters. They will prepare to mobilize and deploy on compressed timelines in order to meet requirements as part of critical “Fight Fast” formations. Some RFX units will provide critical early-entry and set-the-theater capabilities, while others will provide operational depth in support of current Defense Planning Guidance.
As we build the most capable, combat-ready, and lethal federal reserve force in the history of the Nation, Ready Force X underscores the Army Reserve's commitment to meeting emerging and enduring threats across the globe, said Mosser.
Whether in the operational force, operational depth or strategic depth forces, America’s Army Reserve must be capable of mobilizing rapidly and deploying with the mobility, survivability, connectivity and lethality needed to win on the battlefield, he added.
For the past decade, the Reserve has built readiness over time, in a progressive and rotational manner. If a unit was alerted for a possible mobilization those soldiers had several years to work their way through the training required to prepare for the mission.
The commanding general, a native of Lakeville, Minn., pointed out that “no longer do we have years to prepare for an upcoming mission, things could happen tonight, things could happen next month that would all of the sudden need large amounts of forces and probably on an incredibly short time frame.”
“Many of our Soldiers have only been in the Army during a time where readiness meant, ‘When I get notified, that’s when things start.’ Many look at receiving a mobilization order as the time when somebody will send me to the doctor, or that’s when somebody will take me to the mobilization station. The mindset we have to change to now is we have to do as much as possible before we’re notified. We have to get ourselves through our training and get ourselves ready to the point where if we are mobilized, there is only a short amount of time needed to deploy,” he added.
Moving forward, Mosser has tasked the Soldiers within his command with both achieving and maintaining a level of readiness that will enable their rapid deployment on a compressed timeframe. He added that every 364th ESC individual’s readiness indicators are expected to be green across the board, they’re expected to maintain the Army Standards, be both physically and mentally fit, and be qualified and proficient in their Military Occupational Specialties.
“I’m tasking my Soldiers with doing all of the things that they are required to do, these are the things that no one else can do for them,” said Mosser.
“RFX is the process of getting units ready now so that they can respond to threats without the need to spend weeks or months at a mobilization station. The way ahead for the 364th ESC is to continue on the path to a readiness level that will enable us to deploy on as short a notice as possible,” he added.