Photo By Capt. Colin Cutler | Staff Sgt. Andrew Warner of the 361st Bridge Company, 391st Engineer Battalion gives...... read more read more
“It’s a lot of dealing with dirt,” says Staff Sgt. Andrew Warner. From the 361st Bridge Company in Warner-Robbins, GA, but attached to the 712th Horizontal Engineering Company for Resolute Castle 17, Warner is the non-commissioned officer in charge of constructing a moving armored target for a tank live-fire range in Cincu, Romania.
Before joining the Reserves, Warner spent 4 years with active duty engineering units. While assigned to the 814th Multi-Role Bridge Company out of Ft. Polk, LA, he deployed to Afghanistan, where he helped build “one of the first Acrow bridges in a combat zone. “
On the civilian side, Warner is an agronomist at the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, where he specializes in soils. As a row crop agent, he said, “Part of the mission of land-grant universities is to provide education to the people. I help farmers, or in general, if you have a problem with your row-crops or lawn or trees, you can call me.”
He’s put his background in soil science to good use here, too: “On a site like this, you have to understand what kind of soil you’re dealing with.” With up to a foot of organic matter on top before reaching the stable clay beneath, “You have to treat it the right way for it to do what you want.”
Warner is excited for the experience his soldiers are gaining in Resolute Castle 17, a multi-national operation to build NATO relationships and infrastructure at Joint National Training. “This is probably the best training environment for [horizontal construction engineers] I’ve ever seen.”
Normal National Guard summer training is two weeks long, but their three weeks on a joint operation in Romania allows them to further develop their skills. “It’s unreal how much training and stick time we’ve been able to get, and having an actual mission to complete is great.”
“In the end,” said Warner, “It makes all of us more prepared for a combat zone.”
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.20.2017 10:14 |
| Story ID: | 245391 |
| Location: | CINCU, RO |
| Hometown: | BIRMINGHAM, AL, US |
| Hometown: | CHARLESTON, SC, US |
| Hometown: | CHATTANOOGA, TN, US |
| Hometown: | COLUMBIA, SC, US |
| Hometown: | GREENVILLE, SC, US |
| Hometown: | MOBILE, AL, US |
| Hometown: | MONTGOMERY, AL, US |
| Hometown: | SUMMERVILLE, SC, US |
| Hometown: | TIFTON, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 722 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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