Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Caycee Watson | U.S. Army National Guard Spec. Kenneth Roberts, assigned to the 1782nd Engineer...... read more read more
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VARNVILLE, S.C. - The S.C. Army National Guard’s 1782nd Engineer Company “Ground Breakers” from Lancaster, S.C., arrived at the Varnville Armory Tent City, May 17, ready to set up camp and begin their role in Ardent Sentry, a chance to validate their hurricane plan.
“We’re here to provide defense support to civilian authorities, post-landfall, for any hurricane disaster,” said 1st Lt. Joseph Powell, 172nd Engineer Platoon officer in charge.
The 1782nd Engineer Co. kicked off their exercise with a lane clearing scenario with downed trees and crushed vehicles that needed to be cleared from the street.
“This training would help us tremendously in a real world situation. Now we’ll know how long it takes to clear an obstacle like this and how well all the pieces of the puzzle will work together,” said 2nd Lt. James Woodwyk, 1782nd Horizontal Engineer Co., 2nd Platoon leader said.
Some puzzle pieces being their job is to clear debris and road obstacles. They work around damaged vehicles until civilian first responder authorities are able to gain access and extract any casualties that may be present.
In the event of a hurricane disaster, the 1782nd Engineer Co. mission is to clear debris quickly and safely so residents can get back on the road and back to normal, as much as possible.
Private 1st Class Christopher Greene, a high mobility engineering excavator operator said, “It’s an honor to be here and to participate in this exercise to help citizens as well as state and federal government. The excavator has lots of incredible capabilities. It allows us to travel on the highway, works as a front-end loader, and can work as a back-hoe.”
Spc. Daniel Bethke, a horizontal construction engineer was working hard to properly maintain chainsaws and fuel to keep the operation moving smoothly.
“We are performing a practice mission to prepare ourselves for any future event, like a hurricane, that could destroy or block a road,” said Bethke.
The S.C. National Guard is participating in Ardent Sentry, a major North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command sponsored training exercise held May 17-21. Units will train to support scenarios escalating from a simulated hurricane striking the South Carolina coast requiring more than 1,700 members of the SCNG to practice disaster response activities and coordination procedures.
| Date Taken: | 05.18.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2013 22:45 |
| Story ID: | 107192 |
| Location: | VARNVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 354 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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