RICHMOND, Va. – Personnel from across the Army Reserve met at the Defense Logistics Agency facility for the inaugural Army Reserve Equipment Modernization and Resourcing summit. The two-day event allowed attendees to discuss the congressional intent for the use of the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account appropriation.
NGREA is congressionally added funding for the National Guard and Army Reserve intended to bridge equipment capability gaps between the active and reserve components. The account directly supports growth or evolution in operational warfighting capability, as well as unfunded requirements and equipment shortfalls. Essentially, this funding allows the Army Reserve to maintain and obtain key weapon systems, which leads to increased readiness.
“As the lead organization, our office guides the Army Reserve’s major subordinate commands through the annual process of nominating equipment for procurement consideration within the regulatory guidelines,” said Col. Demetria Walker, director of the Army Reserve’s Strategic Equipping Division.
The summit began with remarks by Maj. Gen. Deborah Kotulich, Deputy Chief of Army Reserve. Kotulich is the senior advisor to the Chief of Army Reserve on policies, plans, and programs for the Army Reserve including force structure, Congressional budget and appropriations, development of manpower and personnel policies, and key administration and Department of Defense/Joint Chiefs of Staff initiatives for the Army Reserve.
"I want to thank Col. Walker for recognizing the need to have this conversation,” said Kotulich during her opening remarks. “Budgets are constrained, technology is evolving, adversaries are making themselves more visible and are more engaged. We must do something fundamentally different from the way we have operated and today starts that process.”
Day one of the conference included keynote sessions on topics such as Future Operating Environment and Total Army Analysis. Day two was a mix of breakout sessions and group briefings.
“This summit set the tone to drive future readiness in the Army and Army Reserve,” said Lt. Col. Jacient Winfield, a detachment commander with the 75th Innovation Command. “As Col. Walker and Maj. Gen. Kotulich spoke about in their opening comments, this educated key stakeholders down to the major subordinate command level on the modernization processes and NGREA’s role as a force multiplier.”
Winfield added that he thought the summit established and defined the relationship for force development at the strategic, operational and tactical levels within the Army Reserve.
“The unique civilian skillsets and military experience of the soldiers within the 75th can be a key enabler for the EMRS,” said Winfield.
The 75th Innovation Command conducts research, assesses technology, supports experimentation, and provides analysis to the Army transformation enterprise to build and refine requirements in support of Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership and Education, Personnel, Facilities, and Policy (DOTMLPF-P) while building readiness.
“This inaugural summit was a success and we look forward to more opportunities for the Army Reserve to have these discussions,” said Walker.
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