Photo By Staff Sgt. Armando Limon | Staff Sgt. Dennis Taylor II, engineer equipment chief assigned to Engineer Services...... read more read more
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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — The sounds of circular saws, sledgehammers pounding concrete and backhoes digging out a trench were heard in F Quad, here, Jan. 22-31.
F Quad is the site for the new home of the Bronco Memorial.
Engineers assigned to the 561st Engineer Company, 84th Eng. Battalion, 130th Eng. Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, worked on preparing the grounds for the memorial, which belongs to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, “Broncos,” 25th Infantry Division.
“The Bronco Memorial is being relocated from its current location on the corner of Waianae Avenue and Lewis Street into F Quad in front of the brigade headquarters,” said Capt. Stanley Kareta, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd BCT, 25th ID. “The purpose of the project is to move the memorial to a location more suitable for ceremonies and add a flagpole for the brigade colors.”
Engineers with the 3rd BCT’s 29th Bde. Eng. Bn. construction cell provided the initial plans and scope of work, while a Marine engineer unit assigned to Marine Corps Base Hawaii assisted in moving the memorial with a crane, Kareta said.
“The move gives us the ability to encapsulate our fallen and remember them internally,” said Col. Robert Ryan, commander, 3rd BCT. “It allows us to pay tribute to them daily.
“Every day our Soldiers will face and salute (the new flagpole) and be reminded of their sacrifice,” Ryan said. “Their service was in support of this brigade, and remembering them gives us a sense of identity and purpose.”
The Soldiers, assigned to the 561st Eng. Co., carried special skill sets, such as interior electrician, carpentry and masonry, and plumber.
“It’s a great opportunity for my Soldiers to come out here and get some work in out of the office,” said 1st Lt. Jessica McAllister, platoon leader assigned to 3rd Platoon, 561st Eng. Co. “It’s also awesome because we’re working with the Marines. We don’t get to work with them too often, but they’re high speed, I’d say.”
The Marine engineers are assigned to MCBH’s Eng. Services Co., Combat Logistics Bn. 3, Combat Logistics Regiment 3, 3rd Marine Logistics Group. They brought a crane to remove the memorial from the original site, load it on a flatbed, and then take it off the flatbed to be carefully placed at its new home.
“Moving the memorial was our greatest challenge,” McAllister said. “We were afraid of it breaking due to its size.”
Her squad leaders and noncommissioned officer in charge had a hand in altering the original plans to make it more visually appealing for the customer, she said.
Plans for the new site had to be altered on spot. A concrete structure a couple of feet below the monument – dedicating F Quad to Technician 5th Grade Lewis Hall, where the Bronco Memorial was placed behind – was discovered.
“We ran into a few issues, like there’s probably an old bunker we want to look into to see if the Tropic Lightning Museum has any idea what that is,” McAllister said. “Just having to change plans in the middle of the project … but it’s all going to work out and look better in the end.”
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 02.01.2018 17:58 |
| Story ID: | 264350 |
| Location: | SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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