2008 Annual Report - West Virginia Army National Guard - U.S. Army

West Virginia National Guard Annual Report 2008
111 th Engineer Brigade
In 2008, the 111th Engineer Brigade
continued an Operation Iraqi Freedom
deployment that began in August of 2007. The
111th deployed to Contingency Operating Base
Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq, providing command
and control for two engineer battalions and
exercising administrative control over separate
units totaling more than 2,500 soldiers. These
units included the 326th Engineer Battalion
from Fort Campbell, Ky., the 94th Engineer
Battalion from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.,
and the 1st Armor Division Special Troops
Battalion from Germany. The primary
missions were assured mobility and general
construction missions throughout the area
managed by Multi-National Division-North.
This professional team met each task with
professionalism and voracity.
The 111th Brigade’s Area of Operation
consistently had the highest number of
Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in
theater, which accounted for over half of the
IEDs in Iraq. The assured mobility mission
ensured safety along the roadways through
route clearance and route sanitation while
employing the latest technologies and battlefield
intelligence in the Army. During this time the
111th Engineer Brigade cleared IEDs from
over 32,000 kilometers of roads, which is the
equivalent of 80% of the distance around earth.
The brigade discovered a significant number of
IEDs and maintained a discovery rate of greater
than 50 percent of all IEDs found before they
could be used for an attack. The route sanitation
mission focused on denying the enemy the use of
areas to place IEDs, most commonly craters left
by previous IEDs and culverts under the roads.
The brigade protected 330 culverts and repaired
1253 craters.
The general construction missions
included a wide variety of engineer missions.
The 111th Engineer Brigade established
and developed a partnership program with
the Iraqi Army to establish safety and
security for their homeland. Training was
conducted for Iraqi soldiers in construction
techniques, medical treatment procedures,
force protection measures, maintenance, and
equipment operation. In a combined effort
with the Iraqi engineers, the 111th developed
and built Combat Outposts, Joint Combat
Outposts, Joint Security Stations, bridges,
force protection measures, and the upgrading
of airfields. The 111th Engineer Brigade
also hosted the country’s first Coalition Iraqi
Engineer Conference, which was designed to
develop resources and courses of actions in the
rebuilding of Iraq.
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