Engineers ready to deploy to help draw down efforts in Afghanistan

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs
Story by Sgt. Richard Wrigley

Date: 02.05.2013
Posted: 02.05.2013 16:22
News ID: 101505
Engineers ready to deploy to help draw down efforts in Afghanistan

FORT STEWART, Ga. - Friends, families and soldiers of the 92nd Engineer Battalion “Black Diamonds,” attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, gathered to watch the Battalion’s colors being cased in a ceremony held on Cottrell Field, Jan. 31.

The Black Diamonds cased their colors in a time-honored tradition, symbolizing their completed preparation for their forthcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

The Black Diamonds, the Army’s “Premier Construction Battalion,” is deploying in order to facilitate the Army’s draw down in Afghanistan. They will do this by removing much of what has been built up over the course of the 13-year conflict in the region, said Lt. Col. Kenneth Boggs, commander, 92nd Eng. Bn.

“The last time this battalion cased its colors here on Fort Stewart, it was to support the uplift of forces in Afghanistan through construction efforts … today, we case our colors so that we might help reduce [the Army’s] footprint in Afghanistan,” Lt. Col. Boggs said.

The Black Diamonds will be deploying within the month with this mission in mind, and the day’s events represent months of training, preparation and hard work on the part of the soldiers and their families.

Lt. Col. Boggs said it well when he concluded his speech at the end of the ceremony.

“I’m incredibly proud of these Black Diamond soldiers and their families, and I am humbled to be counted among them.”