La. National Guard Soldiers welcomed home from overseas
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana National Guard welcomed home members of the 926th Engineer Company from a 365-day deployment to Afghanistan at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport in Baton Rouge, La., April 14.
Governor Jindal said, “It is truly an honor to welcome back home these brave men and women. We will be forever grateful for the service to our nation. We must also keep in our thoughts the Soldiers who are still fighting overseas in defense of our freedom and pray for their safe return.”
Based out of Baker, Louisiana, the 926th mobilized with approximately 100 Soldiers to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to conduct mobility, counter-mobility and survivability operations. The 926th MAC conducted mobilization training at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, before deploying overseas. The 926th Engineer Company operations were essential to mobility, counter-mobility and survivability operations in Afghanistan.
“It’s a great day when our troops return home to their families and friends. The 926th has performed superbly in support of our nation and they can be commended for a job well done,” said Brig. Gen. Glenn H. Curtis, the adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard. “We are proud of their accomplishments and know that all Louisianan’s should be proud of their service.”
During this deployment, the 926th served as the lead element for route clearance under the 1249th Engineer Battalion/7th Engineer Battalion in Khowst/Paktya Provinces. In that time they cleared 29,500 miles of road, found 72 IEDs, conducted 624 route clearance missions and were awarded 22 Purple Hearts.
In July 2002, then designated as A Company, 769th Engineer Battalion, the company deployed to Bahgram, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 926th has participated in Emergency Operations and Recovery Operations for the State of Louisiana including Hurricane’s Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike. The 926th also provided support to Task Force Gator in assisting the NOPD, as well as Operation Deepwater Horizon oil spill response.
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