PUERTO NUEVO, Puerto Rico –
Soldiers from the U.S. Army Reserve-Puerto Rico, 393rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB), and subordinate units conducted their annual personnel and medical readiness update at the Puerto Nuevo installation Dec. 4-5 in preparation for future mobilizations while observing strict preventive measures to avoid spreading the COVID-19 infection.
“All units need to maintain the highest possible readiness indicators to deploy successfully, upon notification, anywhere around the globe,” said Lt. Col. Jose R. Ruiz, 393rd CSSB battalion commander.
It is important to note that several Army Reserve-Puerto Rico units were mobilized as part of a Defense Support to Civil Authorities mission in response to the earthquakes that affected Puerto Rico at the beginning of the year 2020.
“Companies under the 393rd CSSB were the ones called in support of the earthquake relief efforts back in January 2020, which were organized and deployed in less than 72 hours. In addition, formations assigned to this headquarters are still providing Military Police support to the Fort Buchanan Installation, augmenting the base security efforts while supporting the operations to mitigate COVID-19,” said Ruiz.
As the largest federal U.S. Army command in the Caribbean, units such as the 393rd CSSB play a critical role in serving the needs of the nation across the globe, while the country has come to rely more and more on the Army Reserve.
“We need to continually look for creative ways to generate readiness to fulfill the critical demands of tomorrow's challenges. And for that, we, as leaders, need to create a sense of urgency among the force so that we can get out of our comfort zone and be able to operate in the most challenging conditions,” added Ruiz.
Since 9/11, 100 percent of the Army Reserve-Puerto Rico units have mobilized and deployed in support of the current overseas operations.
The U.S. Army Reserve-Puerto Rico of 2020 has thousands of Citizen Soldiers with highly technical, specialized and professional skills in logistics, transportation, training, engineering, information technology, communication networking and law enforcement, among others.
“This is not just about Soldiers, it is all about Soldiers,” stated Ruiz.