Engineers ready for border support

The South Dakota National Guard has announced that 31 soldiers representing the 155th Engineer Detachment of Rapid City will deploy for training Oct. 19 through Nov. 8 to the U.S.-Mexican border, near Deming, NM, for three weeks as part of Operation Jump Start.

"This is a great opportunity for our soldiers to be involved in a nation-wide mission," said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Jennings, detachment first sergeant.

The 155th specializes in vertical construction and includes carpenters, plumbers, electricians and masons. In helping with the border-protection program, the unit will be responsible for building a three-foot high, vehicle-barrier fence.

"It is going to be a tough mission," said Jennings. The scope of work for the unit during the mission will include drilling and jack hammering holes for the metal posts, pouring concrete for posts and welding metal cross members.

Jennings said the unit's goal is to put up more miles of fence than any other National Guard unit since the mission began last June. He said safety is the most important issue he and the other unit leaders focus on when working with the heavy equipment combined with exhausting labor.

"A South Dakota unit always does better than any other unit," boasted Jennings on his soldiers' work ethic.