BARGNY, Senegal - The 131st Engineering Company, Vermont National Guard, arrived on Feb. 10 and began work the very next day.
“Our main body of our engineer force arrived yesterday in Dakar,” said Capt. Austin Barber, commander, 131st Engineering Co. “We bussed them up to the billeting area and got them all settled in. Real positive attitudes. Ready to hit the ground running.”
The engineers are building a land mine detection training range. The range will train Senegalese Soldiers proper techniques and procedures to safely detect and dispose of land mines.
“It's critical for the Senegalese Soldiers to have this training,” Said Barber. “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. 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.”
Senegalese Soldiers and Vermont Soldiers will work side by side throughout the two-week project.
“I think this is an incredibly important mission for the Vermont National Guard in cooperation with the Senegalese Army and AFRICOM,” said Maj. Gen. Steven Cray, Adjutant General, Vermont National Guard. “This is an effort to improve training and ultimately the capabilities of the Senegalese to do demining not only here in Senegal, but in Western Africa.”
The both countries' engineers stood tall during the groundbreaking, but they were ready to get to work and move dirt.
“They've been excited to meet each other, so there's a lot of expectations,” said Master Sgt. Michel Moore, Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of mission, Garrison Support Command. “As soon as the ground breaking is over, they are going to get to work. I think they are excited to do it.”
After the ribbon was cut, the plaque revealed, and the shovels struck dirt, the engineers got to work. Each country brings different knowledge and experiences to the mission. Pride is one of the most shared emotions.
“I'm proud to see Vermont Soldiers over here, doing what they joined the Guard to do,” said Cray. “They are going to moving dirt, creating a project from scratch, so incredibly proud to just be a part of that and knowing that you're really making an impact. Not only in the capabilities of the Senegalese Army, but you're making and impact on some of the citizens in Senegal and perhaps other citizens in Western Africa.”
| Date Taken: | 02.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2015 17:05 |
| Story ID: | 158231 |
| Location: | BARGNY, SN |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Ground Breaking, by Nathan Rivard, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT