Kodiaks set to deploy to Afghanistan

  • Published
  • By David Bedard
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Spc. Jacob Watson, 84th Engineer Support Company heavy equipment repair mechanic, tugged at his maroon beret to ensure the crease broke in a precise manner over his right ear. The pride the Chicago native took in ensuring the exact fit of the distinctive headgear was indicative of the satisfaction he took in what the beret represents - namely Watson's esteem as an airborne paratrooper.

More precisely, Watson is a paratrooper who joined the Army to fix earth-moving equipment designed to be offloaded out of the back of an Air Force cargo aircraft. After 10 months of demanding training spread across the United States, the mechanic is now ready to board a plane for Afghanistan, where he will maintain Mad Max movie-like vehicles designed to detect, dismantle and destroy improvised explosive devices.

The rapid change of Watson's mission is only a small part of the transformation paratroopers of the 84th ESC undertook to transition from an earth-moving airborne horizontal construction company to a unit who will scour the roads of south Afghanistan to make them safe for friendly forces and civilians.

Soldiers of the 84th ESC "Kodiaks" marked their impending nine-month deployment to Afghanistan during a Wednesday ceremony at JBER's Buckner Physical Fitness Center attended by family members and Soldiers of 2nd Engineer Brigade.

Army Capt. Michael Carvelli, 84th ESC commander, said the company will become part of the 120th Engineer Battalion, Oklahoma Army National Guard, in support of Regional Command South, Afghanistan.

Normally tasked with constructing airfields and roads after jumping into hostile environments, Carvelli said the unit's job in RC-South will be quite a bit different.

"The mission we were assigned for in Afghanistan is to conduct assured mobility - more commonly known as route clearance - and the mission is to keep roads and lines of communication for both mounted and dismounted friendlies - including coalition, Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, civilians - clear of obstacles and IEDs," the Buffalo, N.Y., native said.

With a deployment order in hand and 10 months to transition to an entirely new skill set, Carvelli said the company faced challenging hurdles.

"It's not an easy process," the commander said. "Because you are taking a group of people who joined the Army to be equipment operators - driving bulldozers, scrapers, graders - and now they have to do a combat-focused combat engineer type of mission."
Carvelli said the train-up consisted of a crawl, walk and run-phased model of building route-clearance proficiency from the individual to the squad, platoon and finally the company levels.

To start, Soldiers had to become proficient at operating Husky Vehicle-Mounted Mine Detectors, Buffalo Mine-Protected Clearance Vehicles and other mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle types. Leaders and operators traveled to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., to learn how to operate the vehicles and how to employ them for route-clearance operations.

Additionally, Kodiak mechanics were required to visit the Missouri Army post to learn how to keep the unique vehicles in prime-working condition. Watson said he feels up to the challenge with his heavy-equipment mechanic skills being augmented with knowledge of maintaining the specific components unique to the assured-mobility vehicles.

Carvelli said the company deployed to Donnelly Training Area for squad and platoon validations in mounted and dismounted operations before taking an October 2012 trip to the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., for the unit's mission readiness exercise. While supporting 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, at NTC, the company was certified to deploy to RC-South.

The company commander said the unit's families are also ready, having gone through their own training cycle of learning how to cope with the deployment, how to solve problems and how to deal with emergencies.

Crystal Dotson, wife of Sgt. Michael Dotson, attended the ceremony with the couple's first child, 4-month-old Aiden. Mrs. Dotson is a former Soldier, having served with JBER's 95th Chemical Company, and was frank as well as gracious when discussing the prospect of Sergeant Dotson deploying so soon after Aiden's birth.

"I'm sad but supportive," she said. "I'm definitely proud of him. I'm also glad it's a nine-month tour instead of a year long tour because of the baby."

During his remarks at the deployment ceremony, Army Lt. Col. William Conde, 6th Engineer Battalion commander, expressed his confidence in the paratroopers of 84th ESC.

"You see before us some of the most highly trained and motivated sappers in our nation's arsenal - warriors whose skills have been sharpened to a razor's edge to seek out and defeat the enemy's most effective weapon: the improvised explosive device," the Cadillac, Mich., native said. "The Kodiaks have poured their heart and soul into preparing for this fight, and I can assure you that they are ready for the challenge to clear the way for coalition forces to achieve their mission."

Carvelli echoed Conde's faith in the engineer company's readiness.

"The company is ready to deploy," he said. "The families are ready. We are at the threshold of walking out the door. Today's deployment ceremony is a line in the sand, and we're ready to jump over that line. The paratroopers in the company are ready to go."