USA — Louisiana Guard Supports Shoreline Protection Mission

VENICE, La., May 13, 2010 — Sol­diers of the Louisiana Nation­al Guard’s 1023rd Ver­ti­cal Engi­neer Com­pa­ny, 528th Engi­neer Bat­tal­ion, con­tin­ued trans­port­ing water diver­sion sys­tem mate­ri­als from here yes­ter­day in sup­port of the shore­line pro­tec­tion mis­sion near the south­west pass of the Mis­sis­sip­pi Riv­er delta.

Sol­diers of the Louisiana Nation­al Guard’s 1023rd Ver­ti­cal Engi­neer Com­pa­ny, 528th Engi­neer Bat­tal­ion, unwrap car­go nets to load dam-build­ing equip­ment near Venice, La., May 10, 2010. U.S. Army pho­to by Pfc. Tarell J. Bil­bo Click to enlarge

The water diver­sion sys­tem replaces sand­bags, and it’s com­posed of a series of inter­lock­ing flex­i­ble tubes that are inflat­ed with water to form a tem­po­rary dam or lev­ee. After trans­port­ing the mate­r­i­al, the sol­diers will pre-posi­tion and con­struct 7.1 miles of the shore­line pro­tec­tion sys­tem along the south­west pass. The 1023rd, with head­quar­ters in Oak Grove, La., began prepar­ing the equip­ment for trans­port by plac­ing pal­lets into car­go nets to be wrapped for heli­copter trans­port. “Deal­ing with heli­copter mis­sions like this can be very dan­ger­ous,” said Army 1st Lt. James G. Jones, exec­u­tive offi­cer for the 1023rd. “Safe­ty is always para­mount at a time like this.” 

This is a unique mis­sion for the 1023rd, and morale is high among the sol­diers. “I’m very pleased with the great job we’ve been doing,” said Army Sgt. Ter­rence L. Pleas­ant, heavy equip­ment oper­a­tor. “We’ve been putting forth a great effort with all the mis­sions that we’ve been tasked with.” 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)