‘Army strong’ needs more muscle

With Maj. Keith Archibald now on duty, the new Las Vegas-based 650th Regional Support Group is living up to the old but much-publicized motto: "An Army of one."

Well, let's call it seven, and growing "Army strong," as the new slogan goes.

Archibald arrived at Taylor Hall on East Sahara Avenue at the end of August to become the first full-time, active duty Army Reserve soldier in the 650th.

The 650th is a multi- functional headquarters unit that Southwest area commanders said in March would be relocated here from Salt Lake City as part of a nationwide transformation.

The transformation consolidates 10 regional readiness commands into four regional readiness support commands with facilities in Nevada falling under the 63rd Regional Readiness Support Command out of Moffett Field, Calif. Besides Army Reserve facilities in Nevada, the command oversees those in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

At Fort Douglas in Utah, the 650th had met its quota of 57 soldiers. Currently, the regional support group has only seven soldiers because the rest opted for transfers to stay closer to where they live around Salt Lake City.

When the slots are filled for the 650th in Las Vegas there will be roughly 735 Army Reserve soldiers serving in Nevada-based units.

Lt. Col. Ben Bishop, a weekend warrior who serves as executive officer, chief of staff and deputy to the 650th's commander, Lt. Col. Garrett Yee, traveled to Las Vegas last week to discuss his missions and recruiting objectives.

"I've got no lieutenants but I need four captains, eight majors, and two lieutenant colonels including a JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer and a chaplain," he said.

In addition, Bishop said he needs to fill several ranks of sergeants and a couple of warrant officer spots.

Then, if successful, he'll be able to fill some of the empty seats of the six Humvees and a troop transport truck that were hauled recently from Utah to the motor pool at Taylor Hall Army Reserve Center.

"We could use some furniture, too," he said. "But my biggest concern is people.

"We're in a combat service support role. It's not as sexy as rangers or aviation, but it's a very important job," Bishop said. "If you're looking for high-speed Rambo stuff, we're not it."

Bishop noted that it's really the U.S. military, which is relatively a small percentage of the nation's population, that's fighting the war against terrorists primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army Reserve plays a key role in the fight by providing the regular troops with the food, water, ammunition, transportation and supplies they need to get the job done.

He said to carry out the mission more effectively, the over-tasked armed forces need the backing of its citizen-soldiers and the country as a whole.

"I want folks to step back from their little world and see the bigger picture of what's going on. The country is at war. The country doesn't feel at war but the country is at war," he said.

Archibald, who serves as the 650th's operations officer and quartermaster, transferred to Las Vegas from Sioux City, Iowa. Since arriving on Aug. 27, six other Army Reserve soldiers have been assigned to the 650th, including another officer who lives in Las Vegas.

Like the transformation that's under way across the Army Reserve, the 650th is a modular unit that could be deployed to a region such as southern Iraq to be in command of operations to provide supplies and services, such as food, ammunition and logistical support.

"If it can be put in a box and be delivered, we would make sure that it gets there and command the units that get it there," the 39-year-old Archibald said.

He said the status of Army Reserve soldiers is changing from "weekend warriors" to "warrior citizens."

"We don't have drills any more. We have battle assemblies," Archibald said.

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