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FORT BLISS, Texas - More than 120 Soldiers with 420th Eng. Co., 458th Eng. Bn., 411th Eng. Bde., 412th Theater Engineer Command, returned early morning Friday after 11 months in Afghanistan. They are pictured here with Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler, J...
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FORT BLISS, Texas - Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler, Jr., commanding general of 412th Theater Engineer Command, Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Hatchell, interim TEC CSM and 926th Eng. Bde. CSM, Col. John Seeley, provisional commander of 411th Eng. Bde., and C...
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FORT BLISS, Texas - Soldiers with 420th Eng. Co., 458th Eng. Bn., 411th Eng. Bde., 412th Theater Engineer Command, eager to turn in weapons minutes after they landed here early morning Friday. The Soldiers will spend several days to out-process befo...
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FORT BLISS, Texas - Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler, Jr., commander of 412th Theater Engineer Command, Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Hatchell, interim TEC CSM and 926th Eng. Bde. CSM, Col. John Seeley, provisional commander of 411th Eng. Bde., and Command Sg...
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FORT BLISS, Texas - Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler, Jr., commander of 412th Theater Engineer Command, thanked members of the Fort Bliss Band for their part in welcoming home the Soldiers of 420th Eng. Co., 458th Eng. Bn., 411th Eng. Bde., 412thTEC, ear...
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FORT BLISS, Texas - Soldiers with 420th Eng. Co., 458th Eng. Bn., 411th Eng. Bde., 412th Theater Engineer Command, enjoyed their first meal shortly after arrival early morning Friday. They will spend several days out-processing here before heading ho...
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Platoon leaders and platoon sergeants with 420th Eng. Co., 458th Eng. Bn., 411th Eng. Bde., 412th Theater Engineer Command, share their deployment experience with Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler, Jr., commanding general of 412th TEC, Command Sgt. Maj. S...
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FORT BLISS, Texas - (Left to Right) Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Oddo, interim 411th Eng. Bde. CSM, Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler, Jr., commanding general of 412th Theater Engineer Company, 1st Sgt. Davis of 420th Eng. Co., Capt. John Forte, commander of...
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FORT BLISS, Texas - Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler, Jr., commanding general of 412th TEC, and Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Hatchell, interim TEC CSM and 926th Eng. Bde. CSM, thank the Soldiers of 420th Eng. Co. for their service, sacrifice and a successful...
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FORT BLISS, Texas - More than 120 Soldiers with 420th Eng. Co., 458th Eng. Bn., 411th Eng. Bde., 412th Theater Engineer Command, returned home Friday after 11 months of deployment in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler, Jr., commanding general of 412th TEC, along with Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Hatchell, interim TEC CSM and 926th Eng. Bde. CSM, Col. John Seeley, provisional commander of 411th Eng. Bde., and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Oddo, interim 411th CSM, welcomed the Soldiers as they deplaned and thanked them for their service and sacrifice and for a job well done.
The 420th Eng. Co., based out of Indiana, Pa., was awarded with 110 Combat Action Badges, four Combat Medical Badges, 13 Purple Hearts, 28 Bronze Stars, one Bronze Star with Valor, eight Army Commendation Medals with Valor and 112 Army Commendation Medals.
"Our Soldiers displayed exceptionally meritorious conduct while executing sustained route clearance operations in Regional Command-North," said Capt. John Forte, commander of 420th Eng. Co.
The unit completed more than 480 engineer clearance operations over a 16,000 square kilometer area, cleared over 45,000 km of MSRs, ASRs and tertiary routes and access trails, served alongside three US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Companies, and conducted extensive partnership with Afghan National Army Route Clearance, Sapper Engineer, and Infantry platoons.
Throughout their deployment, Forte and his team supported seven coalition Provincial Reconstruction Teams with clearance and security operations. The PRTs consisted of German, Swedish, Dutch, Finish and Norwegian units.
They also trained and validated three Afghan National Army Route Clearance Companies through the execution of over 90 partnered missions.
"This marked an important milestone; the first time in Operation Enduring Freedom that ANA Engineers conducted independent route clearance missions in RC-North," said Forte.
"Through all these responsibilities, challenging missions, and operating throughout the entire RC-North area of operations, the 420th Engineer Company was one of the most active, highly utilized and successful clearance companies in Afghanistan during our deployment tour," said the company commander.
I am extremely proud of our Soldiers for all that they have accomplished. I'm proud to be their commander and truly honored for the opportunity to serve with them and to be a member of this unit, said Forte.
The 420th will spend approximately two weeks to complete out-processing procedures here before heading home to Pennsylvania to be with their families.
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