Anniversary of Army Reserve finds backup forces ‘trained, capable, ready’

As the Army Reserve celebrates its 107th birthday Thursday, a regional commander says the reserves are in a good place to help the full-time soldiers.

Army Maj. Gen. Margaret Boor keeps tabs on 5,000 reserve soldiers in 13 states from her office at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

“I believe we are the best trained, most capable, most ready that I have seen in most of my years of service,” said Boor, commanding general of the 99th Regional Support Command.

Fewer reserve forces are being sent overseas now that the Iraq mission is over and the Afghanistan mission is winding down, Boor said. That means it’s even more important to find employers who don’t mind losing workers two weeks a year and one weekend a month for reserve duty.

“I have to thank them for their sacrifice that many of them have made for extended deployments and all they do to make our soldiers available,” she said.

Employers receive a benefit of a better trained worker who is disciplined from military service, Boor said.