Photo By 1st Lt. Kali Gradishar | U.S. Marine Sgt. Kyle Dugas, Marine Wing Support Squadron, Det. 472, Bravo, out of...... read more read more
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BELIZE CITY, Belize - A U.S. Marine Reservist has closed his construction company for two weeks to deploy to Belize in support of the U.S. Southern Command-sponsored New Horizons exercise.
Marine Sgt. Kyle Dugas, Marine Wing Support Squadron, Det. 472, Bravo, out of Chicopee, Mass., is working here as a technical engineering craftsman at the Edward P. Yorke school addition construction site project in Belize City, Belize.
During the exercise, civil engineers from both the U.S. and Belize are working together to construct a hospital clinic in Belmopan, three school additions in Belize City, and one school addition in Hattieville. The schools will support furthering the education of children in the country.
Dugas, from Plainfield, Conn., is very familiar with exercise objectives. Having been part of New Horizons’ exercises in Belize ‘13, Peru and the Dominican Republic, this is his fourth exercise with USSOUTHCOM.
“I think the best part of these types of exercises is the ability to get out of the states,” he said. “Not many times in your military career are you able to deploy to a country to build schools, hospitals, wells and whatever else helps the community.”
While in Belize, Dugas has taken the opportunity to learn the culture and to interact with as many local Belizeans as possible.
“I’ve had great interaction,” he said. “The Belizean people are very friendly, eager to talk with you and are very supportive of what we are doing here.”
Dugas comes from a long lineage of Marines. However, there was no expectation for him to enlist when he decided to join the military more than seven years ago.
“My father really wanted me to go to college, but I would’ve had to pay for it myself and I wasn’t interested in spending $20K per year just to find out if I would like college,” said the Marine.
He said he doesn’t ever regret his decision to enlist in the Marines as an engineer.
“I’d rather dig a hole anyways.”
When Dugas isn’t running his own construction company or deploying around the globe with the Marines, he’s spending time with his wife, Emma, a registered nurse he married in 2008.
When asked about how he met his wife, Dugas smiled and said “she was on a blind date with a friend of mine … their date ended and the rest of my life began.”
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2014 18:00 |
| Story ID: | 127729 |
| Location: | BELIZE CITY , BZ |
| Hometown: | CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Hometown: | PLAINFIELD, CONNECTICUT, US |
| Web Views: | 277 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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