Army Reserve highlights capabilities for congressional staff delegates
DANBURY, Conn. – The U.S. Army Reserve’s 99th Readiness Division and 411th Civil Affairs Battalion hosted a congressional staff delegation here Aug. 27 at the Veterans U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Center.
“When congressional members and their staffs visit our Reserve Centers, they get to meet Soldiers, see our Soldiers train and operate, see the facilities and equipment that our Soldiers are using, and have baselines for facilitating fiscal solutions to gaps that our Soldiers and units are facing,” explained Col. Dante Brown, 99th RD congressional legislative liaison.
Congressional staff members from the offices of U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro, James Himes and John Larson, received a capabilities briefing from the 411th CA BN, and a tour of the facility led by the 99th RD Directorate of Public Works.
Present for the day’s events were legislative liaisons from the Department of the Army, the National Guard Bureau, and the Army Reserve.
“The staff delegation learned about what civil affairs units - notably our hosts, the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion – bring to the fight,” Brown said. “Via nonlethal means, civil affairs units enhance the effects of soft power, which support our units who tackle missions requiring lethal means.”
More than 82% of all Army civil affairs units reside in the Army Reserve. These Soldiers partner with the government agencies and militaries of allied nations. They are persuasive and diplomatic negotiators who work to ensure U.S. interests are represented and defended when dealing with foreign governments.
The Danbury Veterans U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Center opened in May 2014 and replaced outdated Army Reserve facilities in Danbury, Fairfield and Waterbury, as well as the National Guard Armories in Naugatuck and Norwalk, thereby saving millions in renovation and sustainment costs.
“The 99th RD owns all 284 reserve facilities all the way from Virginia up to Maine, a 13-state footprint,” explained Col. Mark Smith, 99th RD regional engineer and director of Public Works. “We manage all the base-operations functions.”
This staff delegation visit also provided an opportunity for Congressional offices to understand resource challenges that Army Reserve units face and have a baseline from which to facilitate solutions.
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