U.S. Fleet Forces Command Conducts Reception Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration Mobilization Exercise
28 July 2025
NORFOLK, Va. - Rear Adm. Kenneth Blackmon, Vice Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC), and Rear Adm. Kimberly Walz, Reserve Director, Maritime Operations, USFFC, led the USFFC Reception Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration (RSOI) mobilization exercise, July 25-27.
This exercise demonstrated the readiness and capabilities of the Navy Reserve and rehearsed plans to rapidly integrate Reservists into USFFC’s battle rhythm and daily functions.
The RSOI exercise brought together Sailors from various units to support their active duty commands, simulating activities they would experience after completing activation at their assigned Navy Reserve Centers or Mobilization Deployment Support Centers.
“This RSOI exercise afforded our Reserve Sailors and the Fleet Forces organization the opportunity to expose friction, gaps, and seams and, ultimately, learn critical lessons to improve the process of a mass mobilization in order to be ready to add value on day one,” Blackmon said. “Our Reserve Component is essential to warfighting readiness across all domains throughout the fleets. We demonstrated that capability here today.”
Sailors who participated in RSOI conducted onboarding and integration activities in support of mobilization billet-training to ensure the Navy Reserve Force is ready to activate within days. Integrated training exercises like RSOI are a critical part of operational readiness and underscore the critical partnership between active duty and Reserve forces, which enhances the U.S. Navy’s ability to respond to every mission from competition to crisis.
Immediately following the mobilization exercise, from July 30-August 8, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa will conduct the separate Large Scale Exercise 2025 (LSE 2025) with support from over 2,000 Reserve Sailors, including those who participated in RSOI.
“The first step of a rapid deployment of our Navy Reserve Forces is the mobilization of Sailors across the fleet to provide immediate support,” said Walz. “RSOI exercises hone our ability to refine mobilization processes to enable seamless integration with the active duty at the operational level of war. Our ability to practice rapid deployment through RSOI, followed by LSE 2025, shows the strategic advantage provided by our Reservists and our readiness to fight when called.”
LSE 2025 is a global, all-domain warfighting exercise designed to simulate complex, real-world threats—from the piers of U.S. naval bases to ships at sea and headquarters around the globe—creating a realistic environment that mirrors strategic competitor challenges.