Keeping it clean, Grissom Soldiers ready for war Published April 15, 2013 By Staff Sgt. Ben Mota 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Keeping dirty laundry clean is a chore most people are familiar with, but doing it for thousands of Soldiers in a war environment takes a team of true professionals. Forty-four Soldiers from the Army Reserve's 1st Detachment, 855th Quartermaster Company here at Grissom provided laundry and shower services to approximately 4,000 Soldiers from units around the country during the March 2013 Warrior Exercise, sponsored by the Army's 91st Training Division, at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. The exercise gave participating units an opportunity to rehearse military maneuvers and tactics, said 1st Sgt. Jay Ross, the company's first sergeant. In addition, he said it provided practical training for support units by providing them the opportunity to meet the challenges of an extended and integrated battlefield. "During the training, our primary mission was direct support," Ross added. "The training simulated a long-term battlefield scenario that provided multiple training elements in addition to our typical military occupational specialty job responsibilities." The exercise, which simulated nation-building necessities that can follow large-scale combat operations, ran 24 hours-a-day in the camps where the Soldiers lived and conducted missions. "While we were there we worked around-the-clock," said Staff Sgt. Stephen Barclay, company platoon sergeant. "We had three separate platoons in three different locations, all conducting their own missions." According to Barclay, the company processed 5,000 bundles of laundry with a 72-hour turn-around and provided over 14,000 showers to military members participating in the exercise. Fort Hunter Liggett is the largest installation in the Army Reserve, with more than 160,000 acres of mountains, valleys, rivers, plains and forests. It provides areas ideal for maneuvers as well as state-of-the-art training facilities. "The terrain contained all of the different land features that could be identified on a topographic map," said Barclay. "This provided us a more realistic war environment without space limitations." Participating Soldiers handled base defense operations throughout the exercise, running convoys across the post and reacting to emergency situations or enemy assaults when they occurred. "The event allowed soldiers to live in a deployment environment and conduct full-scale training missions with real-world challenges included," added Ross. "Those challenges would have been impossible for us to duplicate here at Grissom." The unit was assessed on five separate collective tasks throughout their training. Out of those tasks, the company was rated fully mission capable on two of the five tasks and was rated mission capable and proficient on the other three, said Barclay. The 1st Detachment, 855th Quartermaster Company is a tenant unit located at Grissom. Grissom is also home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as two other Army Reserve units and a Marine Corps Reserve communications detachment. Grissom Airmen, Soldiers and Marines routinely deploy around the world in support of the Department of Defense mission and U.S. strategic objectives. Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
