Deployed Virginia National Guardsmen remember VT tragedy

Courtesy Photo | Deployed Virginia National Guard Soldiers from C Company, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), headquartered in Christiansburg, Va., pay tribute to the three-year anniversary of the April 16, 2007, massacre of 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus. The Soldiers, deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, are either current students or alumni of VT.  

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IRAQ

06.18.2010

Courtesy Story

256th Brigade Combat Team, Louisiana Army National Guard

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq – “Ut Prosim” – That I May Serve. This motto rings ever so loudly to a group of Hokies who are currently serving their country in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On Oct. 17, 2009, C Company and the rest of the more than 400 Soldiers from 1st, Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, were notified that they were being deployed to Iraq in January 2010. Headquartered in Christiansburg, Va., the company has a close bond with Virginia Tech. Of the more than 50 “Charlie” Company Soldiers currently deployed, 12 are either current VT students or recent graduates.

“It was incredibly short notice,” said C Company, 1-116th Sgt. Matthew Spiker of Staunton, Va. “Despite this, the Charlie Company Soldiers managed to put their personal and professional lives on hold in order to answer to the call of duty. We had to be prepared to leave Virginia on January 5, 2010,” Spiker added.

When the deployment news came to these Soldier-students, many were preparing for midterms and others were getting settled in as recent college graduates, beginning their first jobs.

“I feel very proud and privileged to have 11 other fellow Hokies under my command while in Iraq,” said 1st Lt. Mark Hoffman of Reston, Va., C Company platoon leader.

Most military units, including the National Guard, typically have up to a year of advance notice for a pending deployment. A quick turn from student to Soldier left many lose ends to tie up and put strain on relationships. Just after Christmas break, these young college guys waved goodbye to their friends, family and the lives they knew to embark on an unknown journey.

The 1-116th spent the first two months of this year training for their new mission at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center near Hattiesburg, Miss. As a light infantry unit, accustomed to dismounted fighting, there were a lot of new techniques to master for their new mission doing convoy security in Iraq. This included a quick refresher on the basics of firing crew-served weapons from Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, and other tasks critical to understanding how things work after seven years of fighting.

Reston explained that at the end of March, after a short stay in Kuwait to do more training and acclimatize to the desert, Charlie Company and the rest of the 1-116th made their way to Contingency Operating Base Adder in Southern Iraq.

“We assumed our new mission on April 9, just a week before the anniversary of the attack at Tech,” Reston said regarding the 2007 massacre of 32 people on the VT campus. “Everyday our Soldiers travel some of the most dangerous roads in Iraq to accomplish the mission to provide fuel, food, water and other supplies to various bases in Iraq and to support the war effort.”

“We are scheduled to return home some time at the end of the year and those current students still in college intend to return to class the following spring semester,” he added.

The circumstances of such a quick deployment and a challenging mission have helped the men better understand that, just as they had been told, all Hokies are family. “The connection to our campus and shared experiences has helped this group come together much more quickly,” Reston stressed.

While all agree that Blacksburg and Virginia Tech are sorely missed, by being together they are better able to cope with the challenge of being away from home.

This family tradition of the Hokie nation has also been in evidence through care packages sent from friends and strangers back home in Blacksburg.

One group in particular, the sisters of Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Delta Pi sororities have taken it upon themselves to adopt the company as pen-pals during their time in Iraq. They have already sent many letters and packages to their team at COB Addar and all the men of Charlie look forward to mail call every day that much more.

On April 16, after a very long and difficult mission to Baghdad, a Charlie Company convoy escort team, or CET, made it back to COB Adder and wanted to send a message home to their Hokie brethren. Donning their Tech gear, the VT soldiers commemorated the three-year anniversary of the April 16th tragedy. They joined together in remembrance, replacing their uniforms for the iconic orange and maroon, half a world away. This group of Hokies continues to show their pride, support and love for the Virginia Tech community.

• Date Taken: 06.18.2010
• Date Posted: 06.18.2010 08:32
• Story ID: 51591
• Location: CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IQ