Oregon Army Guard engineers deploying to Kuwait
The Oregon Army National Guard’s 234th Engineer Company, 1249th Engineer Battalion, is set to deploy about 180 citizen-soldiers to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
A mobilization ceremony is scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Salem Pavilion, located at the Oregon State Fairgrounds, 2330 17th St. NE, Salem. The public is invited to attend.
Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR 5th District); Heidi Moawad, Public Safety Policy Advisor for Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber; Maj. Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, Adjutant General, Oregon; and State Command Sergeant Major Shane Lake are some of the dignitaries who are scheduled to attend.
The 234th Engineer Company is headquartered at Camp Rilea in Warrenton, and includes a platoon-sized detachment located in Prineville.
The soldiers will spend about nine months conducting carpentry, plumbing and electrical construction missions on U.S. military facilities throughout Kuwait and the surrounding region during the deployment.
The Soldiers of the 234th Engineers have been conducting pre-deployment training in preparation for the overseas mission.
The unit will depart for Fort Bliss, Texas, for additional training before deploying to Kuwait. While in Kuwait, the 234th Engineers will fall under the 528th Engineer Battalion (Louisiana National Guard).
“I expect that our company will lead the way in the new battalion. We will have the best Soldiers, the strongest team, and be the ‘go to’ company,” said Maj. Andrew Vidourek, commander of the 234th Engineer Company.
Vidourek added that the unit’s soldiers not only train to be experts in their assigned construction duties, but they also make safety the highest priority to ensure every Soldier comes home to their families.
“Discipline is a vital factor within our organization,” said 1st Sgt. William Young. “I expect every soldier; enlisted, non-commissioned officer, and officer, to be professional and respectful.”
The majority of soldiers in the unit come from communities throughout western and eastern Oregon, but the company also includes individuals from Washington, California, Idaho and Montana.
The 234th Engineers previously deployed to Iraq from July 2007 to April 2008, where they conducted security operations for civilian contractor convoys. The company received the Meritorious Unit Commendation award for its exceptional performance of the mission.
In recent years, the 234th has completed projects throughout Oregon as part of the Innovative Readiness Training Program, including improving city and county parks around Heppner; renovating the Washington County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro.; and refurbishing a United States Bureau of Land Management forestry facility in Colton.
To see video of the unit’s pre-deployment training, visit: http://youtu.be/SXhmMrIRO6U
