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Reservists Get the Training They Need

Navy NewStand

Story Number: NNS030304-02
Release Date: 3/4/2003 7:14:00 AM

By Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Eric Powell, Naval Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport Public Affairs

GULFPORT, Miss. (NNS) -- The President has mobilized more than 6,000 Reservists in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those thousands, approximately 500 Seabee Reservists have reported aboard Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) for their initial processing prior to reporting to their follow-on units.

"We're one of 14 Navy mobilization processing sites," said Bill Brazell, Reserve coordinator and mobilization planner for NCBC Gulfport. "Port Hueneme, Calif., and Gulfport, Miss., are for mobilizing the Seabees, so we in essence take everything east of the Mississippi and process them through Gulfport," he explained.

The process began for Seabee Reservist William Bayer, a Steel Worker 3rd Class, with a phone call from his chain of command.

"I was working in the finance department in a hospital when I received the call from my chief," explained Bayer. "He told me I was being activated on a Friday, and I shipped out the following Tuesday."

He arrived at NCBC to begin the refresher training he would need before deploying overseas.

"We are going through intense training schedules, such as Basic Combat Skills 1 and 2, which freshens us up on land navigation, communication, fire plans, convoys, chemical, biological and radiation warfare (CBR)," explained fellow Reservist Construction Electrician 2nd Class Robert Gray.

This training isn't new for the typical Reservist; with possible war on the horizon, it is an essential part of the mobilizing process.

"We take this training very serious. CBR is nothing to play around with and out in the field. It could be the very thing that saves your life," stated Bayer.

The "can do" attitude of the mobilized Reservists currently in NCBC Gulfport, and the life they are leaving behind, was summed up by Steelworker 3rd Class Bayer. "Many of us are taking big pay cuts from our civilian jobs, but my work and family give me all the support I need, and I feel proud defending my country."