Michigan Guard engineers wrap up Afghan deployment

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan – Michigan National Guardsmen from 3rd Platoon, 1431st Engineer Company, left Forward Operating Base Salerno, Oct. 28, on their last mission to find and destroy Improvised Explosive Devices.  
    
For 10 months, the engineers have battled through some of the most dangerous roads in eastern Afghanistan on more than 300 IED-hunting missions throughout Khost and Paktika provinces.

“A lot of units depend on us,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel DeRoche, a native of Gwinn, Mich., and a team leader with 3rd Plt. “We’re getting out there and making sure the routes are clear, and making sure it’s safe for the other guys.”
    
According to U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Robert Jeannotte, 1431st Eng. Co., and Hubbell, Mich., native, their mission in Afghanistan is a very dangerous one, but the Soldiers know the risk. “Right now we’re looking at about 40 purple hearts in the unit and it takes some inner courage for them to keep getting in there and getting back out time after time.”
    
Even though the engineers are not active duty Soldiers, the Guardsmen insist they’re no ‘weekend warriors.’

“Being National Guard is not a part time thing anymore,” said DeRoche. “It’s a bigger part of our lives; it’s not just one weekend a month anymore.”

“This is my third deployment, and there are a lot of Soldiers in the same boat. We have some Soldiers, and it’s their first deployment, but that’s the junior soldiers that are fairly new to the National Guard,” said Jeannotte. “Anyone who’s been in the National Guard more than five years has at least one deployment if not two.”

However, the Soldiers feel deploying with the National Guard does have its advantages. Most people in the unit have known each other their entire lives.  

“It’s pretty crazy because we all pretty much came from the same area, so our moral towards each other is a lot better than it is on an active duty unit,” said U.S. Army Spc. Dominic Fredianelli, a native of Hancock, Mich. “We work a lot easier together knowing everyone and knowing each other’s families.”
    
During their last mission the team discovered one last IED. While travelling down a road during the final hour of their 12 hour mission, the lead vehicle identified a suspicious object in the road. After investigating, the team verified that it was a roadside bomb and directed the explosive ordinance disposal team travelling with them to place an explosive charge on the object. Once all Soldiers were clear of the device, the EOD team detonated the charge, destroying the IED and ending the engineers’ year long tour in Afghanistan.