Military reserve center damaged

HARLINGEN - Hurricane Dolly inflicted damage to homes and businesses across the Rio Grande Valley. The Armed Forces Reserve Center in Harlingen was not spared.

An air conditioning unit was blown off a roof and water damage inside the facility caused mold to bloom, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Mauro Pedrozo said.

The center is temporarily being used only by active duty support staff, and reservists are attending weekend drills at the Texas Army National Guard armory in Weslaco, Pedrozo said.

The Navy's portion of the Harlingen center was affected the most, he said.

Before Dolly arrived, all full-time Navy, Marine Corps and Army support staff pitched in to place plywood over windows and doors and place sandbags around doorways to keep out storm water, Pedrozo said.

Air Force and Coast Guard reservists drill at other facilities, he said.

Full-time staff members received an order to evacuate to San Antonio during the storm, but part-time sailors, Marines and soldiers who live in the Rio Grande Valley were not ordered out because only a Category I storm was expected, Pedrozo said.

"I talked to a lot of reservists and they said, if another hurricane hits, they're not going to take a chance and they're going to evacuate with their families," Pedrozo said. "There was no electricity, no water for a couple of days, so the next time, they're not going to take a chance."

Some Naval Reserve sailors are also in the Border Patrol, so they are called out in their Border Patrol roles to assist the Texas National Guard during hurricanes, Pedrozo said.

After the July 23 hurricane, Navy representatives from Naval Facilities Corpus Christi and Naval Facilities Southeast at Jacksonville, Fla., came to Harlingen to assess damage and hire contractors to make repairs, Pedrozo said.

One function of the Harlingen center - making identification cards for active duty, reserve and retired armed forces members - is temporarily shut down, Pedrozo said.

"Right now, folks have to go to Kingsville Naval Air Station to get their ID cards made," he said.

Another office, located at Harlingen Armed Forces Reserve Center, the Military Retired Activities Office, which assists retired military families with retirement benefits and ID cards, has temporarily moved to Peacher Hall at Marine Military Academy, said retired Marine Corps Capt. Noe Vera, director of that office.

The Navy's "Knowledge Online" computer-training program cannot be accessed at Weslaco, Pedrozo said.

"We're doing training, but we're doing old school training," he said. "We download the training and put in on PowerPoint."

"We have 170 drilling Navy reservists and 16 are currently deployed," he said.
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FYI
Retired military members should call toll free to Brooks City Base in San Antonio until the telephone at the temporary office at MMA is connected. That number is 1-866-654-3540.

Navy, Army and Marine Corps reservists can call the Harlingen center at regular numbers on weekdays, he said.