7th U.S. Army Reserve Command
The European-based 7th U.S. Army Reserve Command provides U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) with trained and ready units - "All Ready, Already Here," to support USAREUR's operations, deployments, and major training events.
The 7th ARCOM is the only forward-stationed Reserve command in the U.S. Army. Headquartered at Tompkins Barracks, Schwetzingen, Germany, the command consists of 22 units and almost 900 citizen-soldiers in Germany and Vicenza, Italy. Supporting these drilling reservists and units is a cadre of active-guard reserve soldiers (AGR), active duty soldiers, military technicians, and civilians who provide the full-time support needed for unit and individual training and readiness.
Assigned under USAREUR, the 7th ARCOM's units are directly aligned with their respective active-Army parent organization from USAREUR's major subordinate commands. This is a unique relationship - one of the most integrated in the U.S. Army between the active and reserve component - which fosters close teamwork and partnership. Reflecting this close integration, command soldiers wear their parent active component unit's patch. The 7th ARCOM's units are based on U.S. Army Europe installations as tenant organizations, with close ties to their host communities and supporting base support battalions.
In Germany, 7th ARCOM's units are aligned under HQ, USAREUR; V Corps (their 1st Infantry/1st Armored divisions; 21st Theater Support Command; 1st Personnel Command; the Europe Regional Medical Command; and work alongside the 7th Army Training Command. In Italy, units fall under the Southern European Task Force (SETAF).
In support of Operations Joint Endeavor and Guard, 19 of the 7th ARCOM's then 22 units, were mobilized and deployed, serving in Germany, Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia - the largest percentage of any reserve component command. Five 7th ARCOM units and HQ, 7th ARCOM received the Army Superior Unit Award from the Secretary of the Army for their exceptional contributions to the OJE/G mission. During the Gulf War, five 7th ARCOM units were mobilized and deployed. In 1998, the command won the Army Communities of Excellence competition (Army Reserve category) and was Runner-Up in 1999.
Three European-based U.S. Army Reserve units of the 7th Army Reserve Command won honors for supply excellence in Army-wide competition (Reserve Category). The units received awards from the Chief of Staff, Army, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 7, 2001. The Southern European Task Force (Augmentation) Unit, Vicenza, Italy, won the TDA (Table of Distribution and Allowances) Small Category. This marked the second consecutive year the unit won their category - the first ever back-to-back win in the Reserve Category of competition. The 317th Rear Area Operations Center, Wiesbaden, Germany, was the Runner-Up in the Medium MTOE (Modified Table of Organization and Equipment) Unit, without Property Book Category. Headquarters, 7th ARCOM, Schwetzingen, Germany, was selected as the Runner-Up in the TDA Large Category. The 7th ARCOM's units have won or placed in the Chief of Staff, Army's Supply Excellence awards program for the past three years. The program was created in 1986 to enhance logistical readiness, enhance command supply discipline, and recognize group and individual supply initiatives. The recognized units are three of 22 European-based units of the 7th ARCOM, located throughout Germany and in Vicenza, Italy, which are aligned with and support U.S. Army Europe, and its major subordinate commands.
The 280th ROC's rear operations community participated in a series of challenging V Corps exercises which led up to the Victory Corps' Warfighter exercise. These included training on the new command and control systems in a Victory ROX exercise; V Corps Victory Start exercise and BCTP seminar; and Victory Focus and Urgent Resolve exercises. The followed the realignment of the 7th ARCOM's RAOCs under the 280th's command and control in peacetime.
The 313th ROC played leading roles in the concept development and planning for the Rescuer 01 exercise in Sofia, Bulgaria, which was unfortunately cancelled due to real world events. Despite this, the 313th demonstrated their capabilities to the 21st TSC, in coordinating their staff activities. As a training mission for the 313th's METL, the unit completed a full force protection assessment in preparation for the event.
The 330th ROC was also heavily engaged in support of the 29th ASG's demanding real world missions, including the KFOR 3A/B rotation mission in Bulgaria; with 330th soldiers providing continuous support in the areas of force protection, serving as battle captains and the Tactical Operation Center's NCOIC, intelligence, safety, and host nation liaison support. This was the second time 330th soldiers deployed with the 29th ASG in support of the KFOR mission, and each time, the unit continues to set new standards of excellence in support of their AC parent organization.
The 7th ARCOM enables soldiers separating overseas, Americans living and working in Europe, and Reservists transferring here, to continue their military careers in the Army Reserve. Consistent with the Chief of Army Reserve's (CAR) vision, the Army Reserve is the essential support provider for the Army engaged in worldwide operations. The CAR recognizes the strategic importance of capitalizing on forward stationing of units and personnel of the 7th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) in Germany, for carrying out selective USAR missions in support of U.S. Army, Europe.
The 7th ARCOM understands the criticality of the overall support mission and, in response, has developed an ESS-X concept that has significant potential to alleviate pressing problems of maintenance and storage of multi-component unit equipment in Europe. The ESS-X is located at Spinelli Barracks in Mannheim, Germany. It is the point where the wholesale logistics system for virtually all classes of supply arrives in Europe from CONUS. The location is a true logistics hub with its own rail spur, access by road and autobahn, proximity to inland waterway for barge traffic and near major U.S. Air Force Bases of Ramstein and Rhein Main. The location facilitates reception, staging, onward movement and integration (RSOI) operations.
The ESS-X concept provides continuous maintenance, repair and storage of equipment. The operation of the ESS-X is based on effective and proven business practices, automation and modern maintenance processes. The ESS-X concept is a unique operational model that is flexible and responsive to changing demands and external missions. It operates on a Government-managed contractor-operated concept complete with financial management, logistics automation, and established business processes. These are designed to accommodate fluctuating workloads and storage, and employ management resources that meet strict demands for accountability and efficiency. At the completion of Phase I testing, the ESS-X demonstrated its value and cost-effectiveness in achieving a validated readiness rate of 98%.
The capacity of the ESS-X goes far beyond servicing the ARCOM's equipment. Full utilization of both the work and storage capabilities of the ESS-X optimize integrated logistical support and further reduce costs per item. To optimize efficiencies, the ESS-X operations can be available to new customers such as CONUS-based USAR or multi-component early-deploying units requiring pre-positioning of equipment in Europe, or U.S. Army, Europe, units requiring maintenance and storage.
