1141st welcomes home more Soldiers at Kansas City armory

By Rachel Knight
Ngmo.pao@us.army.mil

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Missouri National Guard welcomed home an additional nine Soldiers, who were deployed to Afghanistan, at a ceremony held at the Kansas City Guard armory on Saturday, Sept. 25.

The Soldiers from the 1141st Engineer Company (Sapper) and the 203rd Engineer Battalion arrived later due to a training commitment to the Warrior Leadership Course.

"These are our future leaders, ladies and gentlemen, because they went an extra couple weeks to go through the warrior training course and not only did they do that, but I think we got the honor grad and another honor graduate here along with them," said Brig. Gen. Stephen Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard.

"There back in it," Danner said. "Their heads are in the game and they are willing to take the leadership of the Guard in their hands and take the extra time to do. I want to thank you very much for standing up to the bar and being willing to take on the warrior leader course to go that extra mile."

The 1141st Engineer Company deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the 203rd Engineer Battalion from Oct. 28, 2009, to Sept. 15, 2010.

For 11 continuous months, the 1141st executed the extremely hazardous mission of clearing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from priority routes, in order to ensure the safe passage of U.S., Coalition and civilian traffic. The Soldiers risked their lives daily to provide safe routes for their fellow warriors.

"You have had a great mission," said Danner. "And you have completed it well."

During the deployment, the 1141st was a part of Task Force Houn Dawg Counter-IED effort. The Bloodhounds of the 1141st Engineer Company conducted more than 36 combined action missions with Afghan National Security Forces to build relationships and increase their training and capacity. They conducted more than 59 counter-insurgency focused missions, including combined school supply distribution missions, route sanitation and improvement, and agriculture development team escort missions.

The company conducted over 77 battalion named counter-IED operations, more than 78 missions in support of division/brigade combat team named operations, and their route clearance patrols answered 19 specific priority intelligence requirements.

Danner recognized the Soldiers family for the sacrifice they have made to support the Soldiers and for them taking over the home lives while their Soldier served the country.

The 1141st ended the deployment with unprecedented results. Their route clearance patrols conducted 360 missions covering 18,357 kilometers and found 178 IEDs.

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please call 1-800-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.