BISMARCK, N.D. - The North Dakota National Guard's 957th Engineer Company, (MRBC) Bismarck, received the coveted 2010 Itschner Award, an award given to the single best engineer unit in the nation in each military component. It is presented each year to the most outstanding active duty, Reserve and National Guard Engineer units throughout the Army. The 957th won in the National Guard component, and was awarded the honor during an Engineer Regimental Awards luncheon held April 9 in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
"Thank you to the soldiers from the ground level up for their dedication and commitment to the mission. You are the foundation of strength that made this unit successful, both at home in North Dakota and deployed overseas as part of Kosovo Forces 12. Soldiers responded to the call and performed marvelously both in North Dakota and overseas," said Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, North Dakota adjutant general.
The Itschner Award is named in honor of Lt. Gen. Emerson C. Itschner, the 39th Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In order to be eligible for the Itschner Award, a unit must be selected at every level, from their battalion, to their brigade and finally their major command. Once they are approved, they advance to the Army level where the Engineer branch evaluates the nomination packets and selects a winner.
The 957th was serving in multiple locations during 2010, the year for which the award was given, 58 percent in North Dakota and 42 percent serving in a multi-national peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. While in Kosovo, the Liaison and Monitoring teams (LMTs) conducted more than 4,800 missions - and were the eyes and ears of the leadership providing information on the concerns and issues within the local populace.
Meanwhile, the 957th Soldiers back in North Dakota were fielded two new bridge systems - the largest fielding of new equipment in the history of the North Dakota Army National Guard, to include a full complement of the new Improved Ribbon Bridging (IRB) System and the Dry Support Bridge (DSB) System.
At the same time, the 957th was the only National Guard unit selected to test a new anchorage system for the IRB that will be used in current theater of operations.
The only other North Dakota National Guard unit to win the coveted award was Bravo Company, 141st Engineer Combat Battalion won the Itschner award in 1987.
Leadership from the 957th was given the award to bring back to the unit, and while in Fort Leonard Wood, the group also attended the dedication of the Fallen Sapper Memorial. Twelve Soldiers from the North Dakota National Guard have lost their lives during the Global War on Terrorism, 8 of them were engineers. These eight have their names etched on Missouri Red Granite T walls that make up the memorial at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., which is the main training camp for all Army engineers.
Those attending from North Dakota were: Brig. Gen. William Seekins, Col. Mike Aberle, Command Sgt. Maj. Harley Schwind, Lt. Col. Paul Harron, Capt. Daniel Claussen, company commander 957th Engineer Company and 1st Sgt. Darcy Schwind.
| Date Taken: | 04.15.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.15.2011 23:02 |
| Story ID: | 68832 |
| Location: | BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 141 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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