Spokesman: 2 Pa. Army units to be activated

They are the first area Army Reserve units activated to fight terrorism.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- Two units from the Pendel-Caminiti U.S. Army Reserve Center here have been called to active duty in support of America's war on terrorism.
A spokesman for the 99th U.S. Army Reserve Command Center in Oakdale, Pa., said both the 475th Quartermaster Group, a unit of about 100 soldiers, and the 635th Quartermaster Detachment, about a dozen soldiers, have been told they are being activated Dec. 7.
Their specific assignment and destination haven't been revealed but the Army Reserve Command said they can expect to be sent to either Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq or a neighboring nation or to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan or a neighboring nation.
They are the first Army Reserve units from this area called to active duty in the war on terrorism.
Battery A of the 107th Field Artillery of the 1st Battalion of the Pennsylvania National Guard, stationed in Hermitage, was put on notice last week that it can expect to be activated to serve as military police officers in Iraq.
Official activation orders are expected next week for that unit, calling it to duty in January.
The mobilization period for the Army Reserve units will run for 18 months with 12 of those months spent in an assigned theater of operations.
Both units will have a week to get their equipment ready to go to their mobilization stations. The 475th must report to Fort Dix, N.J., on Dec. 13 while the 635th will go to Fort McCoy, Wis., on that same date.
Both units had also been activated in Operation Desert Shield in September 1990 and both served during Operation Desert Storm.
The two units work in petroleum supply for other military units with the 475th serving as a headquarters unit.
They got an alert about 10 days ago that an activation order was likely and there has been a lot of activity at the Pendel-Caminiti Reserve Center on Sharon-New Castle Road since that time as the soldiers were put on advance annual training.
That gives them a couple of weeks of advance training before they are deployed, the Command Center spokesman said.