More than 300 members of a Chicago-area Army Reserve unit were called to duty Tuesday in a move that paves the way for future troop mobilization.
As hundreds of family members watched, the 6015th Garrison Support Unit, whose members include cooks, computer specialists and lawyers, left its headquarters in Forest Park for at least a year’s duty at Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin.
There they will handle tasks necessary to move additional Army units into place in the event of hostilities with Iraq, according to Brig. Gen. William Kirkland, commander of the 88th Regional Support Group headquartered in Indianapolis.
“We are going to do what President Bush asked us to do,” Kirkland said. “I told the troops we didn’t ask for this fight [with Iraq], but we’re not going to back down.”
In the largest Illinois Army Reserve unit deployment since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the unit joins more than 530 Guard members and reservists already on active duty from Illinois. Nearly 60,000 reservists have been deployed nationally.
As those troops moved out, the Illinois National Guard announced Tuesday that about 50 members of a Crestwood-based logistical unit also were being sent to Ft. McCoy. The Guard’s 633rd Personnel Services Detachment will be deployed this week to process paperwork and other troop services as the activation of military forces continues.
Most of the 6015th members will remain at Ft. McCoy for the duration of their active duty, although some may move to other locations.
Hundreds of family members were on hand as the soldiers gathered in a large hall at the reserve headquarters and received a briefing before boarding buses for the five-hour drive to Ft. McCoy.
Giving the unit a thumbs-up sign, Kirkland said: “Godspeed. I’m proud of you all. Carry on.”
Spec. John Tucker, 34, said leaving his wife and two children in Chicago would be hard, but that he was eager to do his duty.
“I’m ready to do what we need to do,” Tucker said. “We need to take care of the situation in Iraq once and for all.”
Tucker, who had served in the Army from 1986 to 1990, joined the reserves last year.
“This country is my home and I couldn’t sit still [after the Sept. 11 attacks],” he said.
