BROKEN ARROW, Okla. – Soldiers with the 2120th Engineer Company, 120th Engineer Battalion, 90th Troop Command, bid their goodbyes to family and friends during a deployment ceremony, held at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, June 8, 2017.
The 2120th is deploying to the Middle East in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, an operation focused on working with and through regional partners in order to militarily defeat DA’ESH in the Combined Joint Operations Area in order to enable whole-of-coalition governmental actions to increase regional stability (www.inherentresolve.mil).
While deployed, the unit will conduct vertical engineering operations, including plumbing, electrical, carpentry, masonry and more.
“We will be falling in on multiple construction projects ranging from the refurbishment of existing structures, to the construction of new facilities,” said Capt. Amanda Thornton, commander of the 2120th.
Despite being away from home until next summer, the Soldiers have remained positive. While waiting to load the busses outside of the armory, they stood in formation waving goodbye to their families, singing engineering cadences, smiling and laughing.
Among the formation stood a handful of Veterans in a sea of Soldiers who will experience a deployment for the first time.
One of those first-time deploying Guardsmen is Spc. Nathan Myers-Antiaye, a carpentry and masonry specialist. Though he will miss his loved ones, he looks forward to the opportunity.
“[I’m] excited, nervous at not knowing what to expect,” Myers-Antiaye said. “Just having the experience under my belt, I’m ready for the task at hand and I’m ready to go with my battle buddies, accomplish the mission and come back home safely to our family.”
For Myers-Antiaye, having the ability to lean on his Veteran peers and leadership helps provide confidence and assuredness while in a combat environment.
“[Having] trust with my training and trust with my battle buddies, I know I’ll be safe out there,” Myers-Antiaye said.
Part of that training took place at Camp Gruber Training Center near Braggs, Oklahoma, and included basic warrior tasks and mission-essential tasks that are required of all Soldiers in order to better prepare them for deployment.
Now that pre-mobilization and the deployment ceremony are complete, the unit will move onto their next phase of training at Fort Bliss, Texas, before heading overseas later this summer.