Photo By Capt. Meghan E. Keefe | Capt. Patrick Caukin gives his incoming remarks to the Soldiers of the 887th Engineer...... read more read more
AL BAKIR AIRFIELD, Iraq — Capt. Carl Oborski passes the 887th Engineer Support Company guidon to Capt. Patrick Caukin during their Change of Command Ceremony Oct. 10 in Iraq.
37th Engineer Battalion- Joint Task Force Eagle, based out of Fort Bragg, N.C., company commanders Capt. Carl Oborski, of Clarksville, Tenn., respectfully passed the 887th Engineer Support Company guidons to Capt. Patrick Caukin, a Murfeesboro, Tenn. native, during the company Change of Command Ceremony.
"Under Capt. Oborski's command the Empire has shined. However it was not easy as they completed their transformation and really regenerated combat power from a previous Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment, all without a true Bn. headquarters for the majority of their preparation and train up for this current deployment. But Carl led from the front, established and maintained high standards, and challenged the Empire from day one of his command," said Lt. Col. Paul Huszar, 37th En. Bn. - JTF Eagle commander, during his remarks to the Empire Soldiers.
Oborski has served as the 887th ESC company commander since February 2008 and in that time has achieved great success in developing relationships with his Soldiers and preparing them for combat.
"Capt. Oborski lead by example and knew each and every Soldier. You could always count on him to know the answer to any technical question, making him a huge asset to the company not just for leadership, but also engineering operations," said Capt. Nick Barry executive officer, from Granby, Mass.
Oborski has two previous deployments with the 326th En. Bn. based out of Fort Campbell, Ky. and the 1st En. Bn. based out of Fort Riley, Kan.
"Five hundred and ninety days almost 20 months have passed since I assumed the Guideon of the 887th Engineer Support Company. In that time I have witnessed some truly spectacular events and had the privilege to be involved in one of the most impressive unit transformations within the Engineer Regiment," said Oborski during his farewell remarks.
As the Empire looses one professional officer, they gain another. Caukin is no stranger to the Empire. While the 326th En. Bn. was deployed to Iraq this past year, Caukin served as the rear detachment commander.
"It's an honor to take command of the Empire after Capt. Oborski served with great distinction and set these fine Soldiers up for success for this deployment," said Caukin during his remarks to his Soldiers.
Caukin has served 4 combat tours, one of which as a Military Transition Team leader, where he trained and worked with an Iraq Army unit, something the 37th En. Bn. does every day during engineer operations. Already being familiar with the Iraqi culture, Caukin will be a huge asset to his company as they train, mentor and transition with the 5th Iraqi Army Field Engineer Regiment.
"Capt. Patrick Caukin assumes command of the Empire at a very dynamic and exciting time in Iraq. As the security situation continues to improve daily and the capacity of our Iraqi counterparts grows, our mission has rightly changed to focusing on civil support and capacity development by, with and through our Iraqi counterparts and the Iraqi government," said Huszar.
| Date Taken: | 10.16.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 10.16.2009 02:52 |
| Story ID: | 40193 |
| Location: | AL BAKIR AIRFIELD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 620 |
| Downloads: | 417 |
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