Photo By John Crosby | One of the many children, who attended the going away ceremony for the 1613th Engineer...... read more read more
CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. — After responding to Indiana's call during the flooding and tornado at Camp Atterbury and surrounding areas in June 2008, the Indiana National Guard's 1613th Engineer Company is here again, this time preparing to serve the nation in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The unit, headquartered in La Porte, Ind., is supplemented by the 1413th Engineer Company of North Vernon, and the 113th Engineer Battalion of Gary, Ind. The Soldiers arrived here last month for mobilization training.
"A lot of changes have taken place in the unit since pre-mobilization training," said company commander Capt. Matthew Bisig. "With all the cross leveling of Soldiers from other units, we really needed to find the continuity and gelling between us that is so vital to success. We saw that happen here at [Camp] Atterbury."
Although the Soldiers of the 1613th have come together from different units, they all have the same mission; to support maneuver elements in overseas contingency operations. In short, it's their job to improve the quality of life in the combat zone for combat Soldiers.
"Part of deployment is being away from your home, your family and your life," said 2nd Lt. Darric Appel. "Maybe, by providing a little more creature comforts for them, we can give them just one less thing to worry about. Without common [luxuries] like showers and plumbing, life can get stressful over there."
On top of the Soldiers coming from many other units, the men and women of the 1613th come from many different walks of life. Heavy-equipment operators, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, framers, roofers and masonry workers are just a few of the civilian jobs held by the Soldiers when not in uniform. This background experience proves extremely useful when it comes to the engineer company's mission.
"We've all come together to improve the quality of life so that the average Soldier feels more at ease with what they have to do over there every day," said the commander.
In addition to the normal warrior tasks and drills training that every Soldier learns and practices during mobilization training, the 1613th executed its quality-of-life-improving mission while here at Camp Atterbury.
The 1613th assisted the 2nd Training Support Battalion, 338th Regiment, 205th Infantry Brigade here by building additions to Contingency Operating Location Nighthawk, a training area in Camp Atterbury built to introduce deployed living conditions to mobilizing Soldiers.
Appel said it was the best training that they could have received.
"We built guard towers, leveled ground for new barracks and improved the drainage system," he said. "The younger guys got some really great hands-on experience. They really got a kick out of being able to do our primary job."
The junior-enlisted Soldiers agreed.
"We had the crane equipment set up so that everyone was able to get a class and some hands-on experience actually doing the job we will be doing overseas," said Spc. Jake Wetzel, a crane operator with the 1613th. "Everyone got a feel for it. The combat training was good but I think that this was the best experience we had at Camp Atterbury."
So far, the 1613th has overcome the challenges they have faced, from mobilization training to building camaraderie with the new additions to the unit. They face many more challenges on the road to come but they have a sense of eagerness.
"This is an opportunity," said Wetzel. "We've answered the call from the state of Indiana during the floods last year. This year we get to fulfill our federal obligation by serving our nation in Afghanistan. We're ready to perform our duties."
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2009 13:11 |
| Story ID: | 32777 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 342 |
| Downloads: | 255 |
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