Reserve center names Sailor of the Year

Dick Benoit

Thursday, March 13, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Root was recently named the Las Vegas Naval and Marine Center active-duty Sailor of the Year for 2002. Root, who calls San Diego home and resides at Nellis Air Force Base with his wife, Theresa, and three daughters, is in charge of the training department at the center.

According to his superiors, during the past year he has significantly improved training, making the reservists better prepared for deployment as well as for promotion exams. He also managed and tracked more than 300 active-duty-for-training orders for reservists, overseeing the proper funding of more than $110,000 annually.

As the command career counselor, Root provides timely career advice to the Las Vegas sailors and encourages them to be proactive in preparing themselves for advancement and promotion.

"He is also an excellent professional example to all of our sailors," Command Chief Petty Officer Greg Murphy said. "Petty Officer Root possesses excellent military bearing and a poster quality appearance. He is a model sailor."

Root is also involved in the community. He is an active member of the Parent Teachers Association at his daughters' school, and he is currently working to arrange a program with the Air Force Thunderbirds to interact with local schoolchildren.

Rebalancing the load

As of March 5 more than 176,500 members of the reserve components have been mobilized to support the war on terrorism, according to Defense Department officials. This buildup of forces is placing a strain on reservists, families, employers and the country's ability to maintain so many people on active duty.

To ease the burden, the Defense Department has announced that officials are laying the foundation to "rebalance" the workload shared between the reserve and active-duty components, according to Thomas Hall, assistant defense secretary for reserve affairs.

"Nevada Army Guard operations tempo was fairly stable prior to 9-11, but elevated quickly after 9-11," Maj. Gen. Giles Vanderhoof , Nevada's adjutant general, said. "While this is a strain for employers, families and individuals, morale is high among our Nevada soldiers and airmen, and we have solid support from the families, employers and communities.

"However," Vanderhoof said, "repetitive call-ups are a problem, so I agree that DOD should address the balance of critical skills between active and reserve components. While our soldiers and airmen appreciate being challenged and utilized, we need to be careful that we don't call the same people over and over, or we will have a retention problem.

"I think the most salient factors involved in maintaining the support of the individual, the families, the employers and the community are: keeping our troops well trained and equipped; that the call-ups are answering a critical need of the nation; and, that when the emergency is over the Guard men and women and reservists get to come home," he said.

In brief