Photo By Nathan Rivard | Sgt. Todd Newton, heavy-equipment operator, 131st Engineer Company, operates an...... read more read more
BARGNY, Senegal – Something a briefing cannot prepare you for is that first drive through town.
“It was like you see in the magazines, but it was real,” Said Sgt. Todd Newton, heavy-equipment operator, 131st Engineer Company. “Fruit stands on the side of the road and people walking around. The clay houses that people live in. Seeing it on TV or seeing photos in a magazine is one thing, but when you drive past it, it's a whole new experience”
This is Newton's first time leaving the country. The farthest he has been from home is Ft. Polk, LA. He was there last summer with the engineers for the Vermont National Guard's rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center. Ft. Polk is only 1,715 miles from his Vermont hometown, Marshfield. His job site in Bargny, Senegal is a little more than 3,800 miles away.
“Equipment is equipment no matter where you operate it,” said Newton. “We have sand and rocks in Vermont, the biggest difference is I'm running equipment outside in the middle of February.”
Newton laughed that he was outside and working with no doors on an excavator two days after Valentines Day. The high temperature for the day in Senegal was 82-degrees compared to -16 low in Marshfield.
The 131st Engineer Co., Vermont Army National Guard, is building a Humanitarian Demining Training Practical Exercise Area in Bargny, Senegal.
“With the growing population of Senegal, they're looking to expand their agriculture and some of the most fertile lands are located in that Casamance region,” said Capt. Austin Barber, commander, 131st Engineer Co. “So right now they are unable to farm some of this terrific fertile land down there. So by establishing this demining assistance program. Their armed forces, contractors, and other neighboring countries will be able to demine these critical areas to develop them for future growth.”
Newton is proud to help in the construction process.
“I love being able to build this site to help people,” he said. “I don't even know how to explain it. It's nice to work with them, so they can have a better future. It's a great experience to know that we are building something that they will use for years to come.”
While he is here for a mission, he is also enjoying the culture.
“I love the culture here. They are all happy with the way they are. To us, it would be living poor, but to them it is not living poor. They are happy with what they have and appreciate it. They feel blessed to have what they have.”
Newton is here for work, but he couldn't ask for a better experience.
“It is work, but not for me. I mean it is work, but it's what we do. When you can do this work in 70-80 degree weather in what is the middle of Vermont's winter, you can't beat that.”
It doesn't matter if it's dirt and rock in Vermont or dirt and rock in Senegal. Newton does what he is trained to do. Push, dig, and clean it up land to make it usable for military operations.
“If we need a hole dug to place metal objects in for their land mine training, I dig it,” said Newton. “If it needs to be moved to the other side of the field, I move it. And at the end when we are almost finished, I'll go through and put final touches on it, so it looks good. I'm an engineer and that's my job, whether it's here or Vermont.”
He had another first on this mission. He had the chance to run excavator with a Senegalese Soldier, Soldat de l’ere Classe Antoine Benjamin Baye Ndong, sitting right next to him and learning from what he saw. They speak different languages, so hand movements and smiles were the most common communication.
“It was way different than how I normally run excavator. It wasn't bad, it was just different,” said Newton. “ I was sitting in the driver's seat and Antoine was right there next to me watching every move. They do not get as much practical experience as we get as engineers, so they jump on any chance they get to watch, learn, or practice on the equipment. Its just good training, its nice when you teach them something and you get to see them do it and see it in action.”
His new Senegalese engineering friend was overjoyed to have the chance to work with Newton.
“He increases my experience and there was stuff I didn't know on the excavator,” said Ndong. “He taught me how to make a turn by putting the bucket down and turning without any pivot.”
That may sound simple, but being able to accomplish that simple turn can be difficult and also preserves the ground that the excavator is on. Ndong learned more than just that.
“He made me discover a new way to handle the engine,” said Ndong. “He improved my way of operating this engine and made my job easier.”
Ndong does not want to stop after one day. He wants to keep going.
“I want to work a lot with Newton,” he said. “Especially, Newton. I can operate all of the engines [equipment], but what Newton taught me was something I did not know. And I am going to take what Newton taught me and show those tricks to others.”
Cooperation and mutual exchange of knowledge is one of the goals of the engineers’ mission. Newton also enjoyed this experience working with Senegalese engineers.
“It was a good experience working with them and I hope to do it again in the near future,” said Newton. “This is a good project and I would like to do something similar here again.”
This is the first mission for the 131st Engineers in Senegal, but Newton hopes for future opportunities.
“I would love to come back here for another engineering project. The Senegalese engineers are great to work with. They appreciate what we are doing and they want to learn as much as they can from us. I'd come back here in a second and hopefully the next time I could see how much more they have learned.”
For Newton, it was his first time overseas, but with the potential of future engineering projects in Senegal, he hopes it won't be his last.
| Date Taken: | 02.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2015 17:06 |
| Story ID: | 158220 |
| Location: | BARGNY, SN |
| Web Views: | 83 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, First Time in Senegal, by Nathan Rivard, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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