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FORT BLISS, Texas - The 1023rd Engineer Company, a Louisiana Army National Guard unit from Bastrop, Louisiana, departed Fort Bliss March 24 for a deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. One hundred and forty-four Soldiers from the vertical construction unit departed from the Silas L. Copeland Arrival/Departure Air Control Group after completing training here at Fort Bliss and McGregor Range, New Mexico, with the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security.
Command Sgt. Maj. Brent Barnett, senior noncommissioned officer, 225th Engineer Brigade, was at Fort Bliss to see the unit off.
“They are a good unit; (they have) an excellent command team, they have some strong squad leaders, strong platoon sergeants and a lot of young soldiers that will go and do a great job in theater and represent Louisiana well,” said Barnett.
Once in Kuwait, the 1023rd Engineer Company will be available for any missions in that area of operations.
“Although the order says Kuwait on it, everybody know what’s going on in the region around us. We got our game face on, so if they say Afghanistan is the new mission or Iraq is the new mission, we’re ready,” said Capt. Ross Duran Bethea, commander, 1023rd Engineer Company.
The Soldiers have been trained-up and can perform their call of duty regardless of their deployment. The unit is eager to start working, either in Kuwait or wherever they may be sent to in the Middle East.
“From what I understand, at Camp Arifjan and Camp Behring, (Kuwait), they have a lot of buildings that they want to repurpose,” said 1st Sgt. Frank Doles Boone, first sergeant, 1023rd Engineer Company. “However, considering the Middle East is in turmoil right now, we are prepared to move forward to any of those neighboring countries and support the fighting force, if it comes to that. We will be ready to complete any mission that is asked of us.”
Although quite experienced in engineer projects due to the nature of their state’s climate, the focus of their training at McGregor was geared toward other aspects of being a Soldier.
“Being from Louisiana, we have a lot of natural disasters, so we often do recovery missions and construction missions in our home state,” said Boone. “Every annual training event that we do in Louisiana is some sort of construction mission, so our on-the-job training happens quite often. It’s the tactical piece that really is missing from our training back in the state, which is what we did here in the past month.”
“I think that the training that we received here (will be) paramount to our success down range,” continued Boone. “We train for the worst and we always hope for the best.”
The unit is comprised entirely of Louisiana Guardsmen, although a large majority of the Soldiers deploying joined the 1023rd from other units.
“I have close to 60 volunteers from across the state of Louisiana that previous to our mobilization orders did not belong to my unit,” said Boone. “I am looking forward to getting to know those guys and for them to get to know me.”
One of those volunteers, Spc. Ernest Tyler, diesel mechanic, is deploying for the third time, having previously deployed to Iraq with the 769th Engineer Battalion and the 256th Special Troops Battalion, both from Louisiana.
“I would like to learn about the builder’s aspect of what these guys do, because they are vertical line engineers; they build, they plumb, they do electrical work,” said Tyler. “So if I could take anything away from this deployment, it would be to learn a few of their skill sets, talk to some of the guys that have been there and done these type of things before and learn from them.”
Focused and ready, the command team hopes Soldiers in the unit can grow during this deployment and is certain the 1023rd is set up for a successful mission.
“My main goal is to bring everyone back home,” said Bethea. “I hope to bring them back stronger and mentally ready for their next challenge in life. It’s only a deployment for a year, but at the same, they need to use this year as the stepping stone for the next step in their careers.”
“The motivation level is high, the competency level is extremely high, and we are prepared for the unknown,” said Boone.
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2015 18:37 |
| Story ID: | 161830 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 408 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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