FARGO, N.D. - A North Dakota National Guard Soldier, who served in Iraq and was awarded the Soldier's Medal for disarming a gunman in Las Vegas, has taken the fight to Mother Nature here.
Staff Sgt. Justin J. Lampert of Fargo, N.D., was an instructor for air assault courses at Fort Benning, Ga., when efforts at holding back the flooding Red River began.
After his last course ended, he called up his North Dakota leadership and asked about the situation and if they needed any help.
"Because they were short-staffed at the time, I worked with the leadership at the 818th (Engineer Company) as well as the leadership at the school and booked a flight to Fargo," Lampert said. "I got here on (March 28), in-processed and started working the next day."
1st Sgt. Kenneth Miller, the 818th's senior enlisted Soldier, deployed with Lampert and the rest of the 141st Engineer Combat Battalion to Iraq from December 2003 to March 2005.
"I hadn't talked to him for a couple weeks, then I found out he was using personal leave to come up here," Miller said.
Not only did Lampert use his leave, but he paid for his own plane ticket back in order to help his fellow Soldiers and Airmen fight the flood.
Lampert has been working as a member of one of the many quick reaction forces (QRFs) in Fargo. He was first staged at Hector Airfield, then Discovery Middle School and finally, back to Hector Airfield.
When the dike around Oak Grove Lutheran School began leaking, QRFs responded. Lampert was squad leader of one six-Soldier QRF teams.
He said there were no leaks at the first location. "Then we found out about what was happening at Oak Grove Lutheran School," he said. "We ran about six blocks to that location. Sandbags had been delivered, so we got set up and started moving them so they could be placed."
His team worked at that school for about eight hours.
Quickly reacting to a situation is nothing new to Lampert, who in July 2007 subdued and disarmed a gunman who was firing at people at the New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
For his actions, Lampert was awarded the Soldier's Medal.
Miller said Lampert has extreme potential. "He's a go-to guy and a great mentor, just a good guy to have around," he added.
Since the response to the dike breach at Oak Grove Lutheran School, Lampert's team has continued their efforts as a QRF.
During downtime, he has taken on a role he learned, and later taught, at Air Assault School: sling-loading operations.
"If something came up, Lampert would assist in those operations," Miller said.
In Fargo, sling loading currently involves attaching one-ton sandbags to UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, which then place the giant sandbags in problematic areas of the dike.
"We have been doing some hook-up training," he said. "We trained up some South Dakota guys first, because they were headed home, and then trained up some people from North Dakota."
After his role in the flood-fighting effort comes to an end, he will return to instructing Soldiers in three back-to-back 11-day courses.
"My commander made it very obvious that after April 6, I would be done," Lampert said. "They wanted to ensure the integrity of those upcoming courses won't be sacrificed."
Lampert also earned a Bronze Star with "V" device for valor while he was deployed in Iraq with the 141st Engineer Battalion.