Army reserves coming to Fallbrook

Rick Monroe

Special to the Village News

Local residents may have seen someone in town with short hair wearing khakis, who may not be a Marine. If the pattern on the OCP – operational camouflage pattern – had larger “blotches,” is colored more green and black than tan, the person is likely a member of the U.S. Army.

They should be seeing more Army personnel around town, especially in September, as units of the Army Reserves shift into their new facility next to the Fallbrook Naval Weapons Station.

The Army is coming basically as tenants, with construction completed for three major buildings, 95,000 square feet total. The 19 full-time staff are beginning to move in now, and up to 800 reservists, many of them from North County, will train mostly on weekends.

The date of the dedication or memorialization of the Army Reserve Center at Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook is still being determined. The facilities include an organizational maintenance shop, weapons simulator, physical fitness center, vehicle wash racks, offices, and storage.

The various Army Reserve units are scheduled to arrive as soon as they are ready, said Rosario G. Urquieta of the 63rd Readiness Division public affairs office. The media affairs specialist is based in Mountain View in the Bay Area. She is a civilian working for the Department of the Army.

Soldiers that will be trained here are part of the U.S. Army Reserve based in Mt. View. The reservists have already signed a contract which keeps them in the U.S. Army Reserve, usually four years or more, depending on how long they have been serving. When a soldier is on military duty as an Army Reserve member, they usually are able to go into the local towns because they tend to be members of that community or another city nearby, Urquieta said.

U.S. Army Reserve units usually rotate their duty days among the units to make sure that the space is available to conduct effective training. Most Army Reserve units attend military training once a month for two days, depending on the training that they need to conduct for their specific unit or command. Most Army Reserve facilities have units that have been assigned to conduct their military duty or battle assemblies.

Prior to this location at the Naval Weapons Station in Fallbrook, the Army Reserve was leasing a building in San Diego which was not cost effective for the Army Reserve, Urquieta said.

It’s become more common for the Department of Defense to have branches of the military share space, she explained. The Naval facility, under the jurisdiction of the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach, backs up to Camp Pendleton, but it is a separate facility.

Urquieta said the location was selected based on a study which determined that the highest concentration of soldiers in the area was near the station in Fallbrook, and the fact that there was land available for the construction.

Other Army locations in San Diego County include Miramar Army Reserve Center on the Marine Corps Air Station, Van Deman Hall in San Diego, Roark Hall on Camp Pendleton, and a leased facility, San Diego Army Reserve Center in San Diego on Opportunity Road. The latter is a closing when Fallbrook is completed.

The Army Reserve soldiers will focus on the individual training for their units based on their command guidance.

The selection of the Pendleton site was based solely on the availability of land and the proximity to the higher concentration of Army Reserve Soldiers in the area, Urquieta said.

Most Reserve soldiers travel from their homes during military training daily for one weekend a month. If a soldier lives outside of commuting distance, then they would be housed in town for their military duty days. After the weekend military duty days are over, the soldiers travel back to their home of record.