Three Soldiers with the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 216th Engineer Detachment (Firefighting Team) were welcomed home by family and friends in Rapid City, May 16, after returning from duty in Romania and Bulgaria.
The Rapid City-based unit served nine months providing command and control of firefighting teams to provide fire protection of aviation assets, facilities and installations in the European Command area of operation.
This included firefighter support to Mihail Kogalniceanu, Romania, and Nevo Solo Training Area, Bulgaria, and being utilized as emergency first responders providing firefighter services to both structural base assets and aircraft and runway support.
“The mission was a complete success,” said Capt. Jared Bloomgren, 216th commander. “We set the new standard at both M.K. Air Base, Romania, and at NSTA, Bulgaria. We were praised for our work, our fast responses, lifesaving techniques, our professionalism, and our willingness to make both bases a safer and better place.”
Bloomgren, who led five firefighting teams from five other U.S. states, thanked South Dakota senior leaders and various commands for the support provided throughout the deployment. He then turned his attention and appreciation to the South Dakota Soldiers joining him - Sgt. 1st Class Austin Hagen, fire chief, and Staff Sgt. Robert Robertson, fire inspector.
“You two did a superb job on this deployment,” Bloomgren said to his team during the ceremony. “If it wasn’t for you, we would not have had the success we did on this deployment.”
State and local government leaders to include Lt. Gov. Matt Michels and Maj. Gen. Tim Reisch, SDNG adjutant general, also spoke to the 216th and their family members during the ceremony.
After thanking Bloomgren, Hagen and Robertson, Michels asked, by a show of hands how many in the audience had a dad who had been gone over the last ten months – and then spoke directly to the Soldiers’ young children and other family members in attendance.
“I want to thank you for sharing dad,” Michels said. “It’s very, very hard. And a number of us know how thankful we are for you, and mom, and for helping mom. It’s incredibly important, what you did, and all I’m asking is that you love them up a lot because they’ve missed you so much.”
The Soldiers returned stateside to Fort Bliss, Texas, May 6, where they completed demobilization requirements before to returning back to South Dakota.
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, this is the second deployment for the 216th, which also served in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from December 2003–June 2005.
“I’m very proud of the job you did over there,” Reisch said to the 216th during the ceremony. “You added to the great legacy of the South Dakota National Guard.”