Reserve center remains active
LUZERNE TWP. – Both Army Reserve units that use the Hiller Reserve Center as their home base are now deployed, but that doesn’t mean life has come to a halt at the center. “The center will remain open,” said Jack Gordon, a spokesman for the 99th Regional Readiness Command. “There are two units at the center, the 430th, which just mobilized, has 10 soldiers who did not mobilize. Detachment 1 of the 298th is assigned there and mobilized. They have about five soldiers (at Hiller).”
Gordon said the remaining members of the 430th Replacement Company may train with their sister unit, the 23rd Postal Company, at Oakmont.
Gordon said that for the most part, training will continue as usual at the Hiller Reserve Center and day-to-day operations will also continue. Gordon said new recruits are constantly being sought for all of the reserve units.
“Recruiting goes on even when the unit is deployed,” Gordon said.
Gordon said keeping the reserve center open also gives members of the family support groups a place to meet without having to make arrangements at a school or other meeting hall.
Members of the 430th left this past Saturday for training at Fort Dix, N.J., prior to being deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They could be activated for up to 18 months.
It was the first time since World War II that the 430th was activated as a unit. Individual members of the 430th have been activated in the past, including two who served in Iraq during the Gulf War.
The 298th Transportation Company was activated in May for a commitment of up to 18 months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 298th had been deployed for four months last year as well, spending most of the time on a military base in Virginia.