The Touch-A-Truck: Sea, Land, Air and Space Expo was held at the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania, June 15, 2024.
The event aimed to increase awareness of the branches of U.S. military by showcasing the vehicles, equipment and uniforms used to accomplish missions worldwide.
“Sometimes the best way to explain the military is by sharing personal experiences,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Valentine Egbo, the senior property accounting technician with the 316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), a U.S. Army Reserve unit based in Coraopolis, PA. “There’s nothing out there that can explain to the community what we do. It’s through one-on-one communication.”
Community members interacted with representatives from the U.S. Army, National Guard, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force. Representatives from local public safety organizations including police departments, fire departments, SWAT teams and bomb squads were also in attendance.
“We want the public to see our military working together. That’s what ‘One Team, One Fight’ is all about. We bring it all together to accomplish the mission,” said Richard Castelveter, a representative of Military Affairs Council of Western Pennsylvania and the force management analyst with the 316th ESC.
Both the 316th ESC and 99th Readiness Division’s Area Maintenance Support Activity (AMSA) 105 provided the majority of military vehicles for this event.
Some vehicles on display included Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle, Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) 5-Ton Tractor Truck, High Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE), Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV), Humvee, Heavy Dump Truck (HDT), UH-60 Black Hawk, C-17 Globemaster III, MH-53E Sea Dragon, and Response Boat II (RB-S).
In addition to showing the community behind-the-scenes of mission readiness and joint interoperability, Touch-A-Truck was an effort to recruit the next generation of the armed forces.
“It’s for the whole community. It’s for those young kids who say, ‘When I grow up, I want to join the military.’ It’s about our future force,” said Castelveter.
“We appreciate the community coming out in numbers and bringing their children. Our future leaders are among them,” said Egbo.
