OKLAHOMA CITY – Family and friends gathered at the Muskogee Readiness Center in Muskogee Jan. 13 to bid farewell to Oklahoma Army National Guard engineers preparing to deploy on a humanitarian mission to the Horn of Africa.
The loved ones and leaders of the 1120th Engineer Utilities Detachment, 90th Troop Command, gathered to honor and say goodbye to the approximately 50 Soldiers about to depart for their overseas deployment.
“Today’s game day,” said Capt. Addam Orsburn, commander of the 1120th. “We’ve practiced all year, and today we go play the game.”
During the mobilization, the unit will work to improve infrastructure in multiple countries across the Horn of Africa. Planned projects include building homes and other city structures and working on plumbing, electrical and HVAC.
“More than anything, I hope we come back knowing that we went out there and we helped a lot of people,” said Spc. Marshall Mack, a carpentry and masonry specialist with the 1120th. “We went out there and did some good work, made some good structures and buildings and we left the place in a better place than we found it.”
Although this is the first deployment for many of the Soldiers, they feel well-trained and prepared to tackle the challenge.
“We’ve worked our job for the last year pretty solidly on what we will be doing out there,” Mack said. “We’ve conducted our battle drills and all kinds of scenarios that we could possibly be in. I feel we’re the best prepared we could be.”
As the ceremony drew to a close, Orsburn reminded the Soldiers and their community of the importance of the mission, including the hard work they put in to prepare.
“The state of Oklahoma should be proud,” Orsburn said. “90th Troop Command should be proud. The 1120th should be proud. And I certainly am.”
The engineers will spend the next few weeks completing their post-mobilization training at Fort Bliss, Texas, before heading overseas.