Engineers help protect the force

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

01.04.2010

Courtesy Story

101st Engineer Battalion

BAGHDAD - After more than two months away from the rest of their unit and thousands of man-hours worth of work, the 1192nd Engineer Company completed a major mission just in time to return to Camp Liberty for New Years Eve.

The mission at Contingency Operations Site Taji, north of Baghdad, helped to improve security for the Soldiers that are stationed there by adding additional Hesco protection barriers to the perimeter of the COS.

Increased force protection is just one of the important missions the engineers have taken on. This mission is particularly important as they begin their drawdown, moving troops to different locations and sharing the bases with the Iraqi Army.

Capt. Joseph Ayers, commander of the 1192nd Engineer Company and a Luna Pier, Mi., said the work at Taji was quite involved.

"Our mission at Taji required us to improve the perimeter of the base. This proved especially difficult due to limitations placed on how we were permitted to execute," said Ayers.

While at Taji, the 1192nd had a second mission: help fix the approach to a floating bridge that U.S. and Iraqi forces use to cross the Tigris River. This bridge is significant because it helps keep both military forces from having to travel greater distances through the surrounding communities.

"We laid gravel, graded, rolled and compacted the gravel, so that the bridge could better support vehicles going on and coming off," said Ayers.

"We had to overcome days of inclement weather and equipment breakdowns," said Staff Sgt. Trevor Harlow of Huron, Ohio.

"When the inclement weather hit, it made it harder for us to haul dirt to fill the Hesco barriers due to the soft ground," said Harlow.

Another one of the challenges faced by the engineers was mechanical breakdowns.

Mechanical breakdowns can delay the completion of a mission. To help mitigate the effects of a breakdown, Sgt. Curtis Hoffman from Leavitstsbirg, Ohio was called in to help. He was the mechanic on the job site.

"The problem that we ran into is that Taji does not have any military construction equipment on the base," said Hoffman. "If something broke, we had to have the parts delivered to us by our unit back at Camp Liberty."

The 1192nd had a lot of help keeping their vehicles in working order from another Ohio unit stationed at Taji; 2nd Battalion, 107th Armor Regiment.

"The 2/107th [was] instrumental in helping in any repairs that we had to make," said Hoffman. "Without them, it would have taken a lot longer to fix any mechanical breakdowns because we did not have the facility. They did."

Glad to be done with the project at Taji, Hoffman reminded the Soldiers not to take their living quarters at Camp Liberty for granted.

"I have slept on a cot for the last two months," Hoffman said. "I will be glad to get back to Camp Liberty and my bed there."

• Date Taken: 01.04.2010
• Date Posted: 01.04.2010 09:58
• Story ID: 43435
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ