Photo By Staff Sgt. Timothy Jackson | Brig. Gen. William Edwards, Land Component Commander, shakes hands with Oregon Army...... read more read more
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CLACKAMAS, Oregon – Six Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers from the 3670th Component Repair Company (CRC) were welcomed home in a demobilization ceremony, April 8, 2018, at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas, Oregon. The six Soldiers returned from a deployment to Eastern Europe where they conducted TMDE (Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment) missions.
During this period, the TMDE established a calibration lab in Powidz, Poland, with the mission of supporting the entire Eastern European theater. The Soldiers also established a concept of support, which included transportation of equipment to carry out maintenance, as well as transporting equipment to Kaiserslautern, Germany, for higher-level maintenance. The TMDE was also given the opportunity to send contact teams to Baumholder, Germany, to support active duty elements in completing their respective missions.
This was the first TMDE presence in Eastern Europe, and the team was responsible for starting from the ground up to get the mission rolling.
“It wasn't just the exercises, its been a long time since we had major formations in Eastern Europe, so a big part of the task that these Soldiers achieved was to help set the theater for sustained presence as part of Atlantic Resolve and the European Reassurance Initiative,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) Ross Rappe, a repairman with 3670th Component Repair Company.
In attendance at the ceremony to welcome the Soldiers home was Maj. Gen. Michael Stencel, Adjutant General, Oregon; the 234 Army Band, and other members of the Oregon National Guard, as well as family and friends.
“What these Soldiers did was more than just a tour of Eastern Europe, they participated in a strategic stage-setting event for our national security strategy,” said Brig. Gen. William Edwards, Land Component Commander, Oregon Army National Guard.
From arrival in February 2017 to departure in December 2017, the TMDE accomplished approximately 357 calibrations for eight different units, combining more than 9,400 man hours, spanning 1,100 miles from as far south as Bulgaria to as far north as Lithuania, and maintained a 100 percent availability rate throughout their European tour (versus a standard 95 percent).
Rappe said the deployment had its struggles in the beginning, being the first rotation through to establish the mission. The struggles were figuring out where and what they needed to be, the lines of support, how to transport equipment throughout the theater, and communication.
“We worked them out and set it up well enough for the next unit to not struggle,” Rappe said.
Oregon Army National Guard Col. Stephen Schmidt, commander of the 82nd Troop Command Brigade, said that in the past this job has been contracted out, so this deployment gets the National Guard and U.S. Army more involved in getting Soldiers doing their job, and it's highly visible and appreciated.
“We understand you were the first out of the pipe to deploy here, you had to set up the processes and labs, but we appreciate the fact that you took the task head-on and drove forward with the mission, despite your setbacks in the beginning,” Schmidt said.
Oregon Army National Guard Spc. Dominic Trujillo, a repairman with 3670th Component Repair Company, said the deployment was different from prior deployments the Oregon National Guard has made to places such as the Middle East because it was not a war zone and the Polish have a very peaceful society with great food and hospitality.
“Polish Soldiers were motivated and had a great sense of national pride, their excitement to work with U.S. forces was extra motivation,” said Trujillo.
| Date Taken: | 04.08.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.04.2018 17:32 |
| Story ID: | 279351 |
| Location: | CLACKAMAS, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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