National Guard tackles forest jobs

National Guard troops used heavy equipment to clear ground at the Black Butte gravel pit as part of their annual training exercise in the Sisters area.

Sisters took on the appearance of a military base this week as approximately 300 troops of the 1249th Engineer Battalion of the Oregon Army National Guard moved into the area.

The Guard troopers put in arduously long days in a combined training/service operation that leaves some improvements in the National Forest -- and makes the unit better prepared for active duty.

The engineers are expanding the Forest Service's gravel pit west of Black Butte Ranch; building restroom facilities atop Black Butte; building a fire engine garage at the Sisters Ranger District compound; and resurfacing the road to the Green Ridge Lookout.

"A lot of times we have work that is unfunded," said Keith Clinton of the U.S. Forest Service, describing the National Guard-Forest Service partnership as a "win-win" arrangement.

"They want to work on real, live projects," he noted, rather than "just moving boulders around."

Projects are selected from a long list of priorities established by each ranger district, Clinton said. The Guard selects the projects that have the most training value.

For example, the gravel pit expansion offered an opportunity to do some "tactical" training.

Engineering teams dug tank emplacements at the pit, practicing a variety of combat engineering scenarios.

"We can build some defensive positions and obstacles that we don't usually get to because it tears up a lot of ground," said Sergeant Kevin Whitworth of "Charlie Company."

That training will be applied if and when the unit is mobilized for active duty in support of Army tank units. Such mobilizations were a critical factor in the Persian Gulf War a decade ago.

Once the unit completed its tactical exercise, the soldiers turned their heavy equipment to moving brush and earth. The team will scrape off several feet of ground over an area of several acres, preparing the site for aggregate mining by the Forest Service.

Guard troops were to use explosives to blast holes for outhouses atop Black Butte and practice demolition techniques at Sullivan Gravel Pit. The road building techniques used in resurfacing the Green Ridge Lookout Road also translate into combat training.

The Guard trains and completes work projects all over the state. The 1249th has been in Central Oregon several times, doing most of its work on the Bend/Ft. Rock Ranger District. This year, the Sisters Ranger District receives the bulk of the work.

The troops are certainly gung-ho.

During a pre-mission briefing, a noncommissioned officer mentioned that he expected the hike up Black Butte to take his men 45 minutes.

"Let me know if you make that hike in 45 minutes with packs," an officer told him. "We did it in 52 minutes just carrying water."

"Sir," the non-com replied. "If I issue that challenge, if I tell them you said that, they'll do it."

That kind of spirit is commonplace. The Forest Service's Clinton said, "they'll be working 15 hours a day, seven days a week. They really get after it."

He recalled a project at Newberry Crater where troops started working their usual 15 hour days. When it became apparent that the project was going to take longer than expected, the troops simply started working 24 hours a day, relieveing each other in shifts.

The Guard troops are genuine citizen soldiers, taking weekends and a two-week annual stint out of busy civilian lives to train for war or disaster and to perform service projects such as the ones being done near Sisters. When called up, National Guard troops may have to leave homes, families and jobs for extended periods.

Sergeant Whitworth, an X-ray technician in civilian life, has been in the Guard for nearly 20 years.

"A friend of mine talked me into joining," he said.

Whitworth gets a lot of satisfaction out of the Guard's projects, knowing that their training work will be put to good use for years after they depart an area.

The sergeant has reaped his own benefits from his association with the National Guard. He went back to college on the G.I. Bill to further his career.

"At the time, that was a tremendous help," he said. "I wouldn't have been able to go back to school without the additional help."

Sergeant Whitworth said that most employers are supportive of National Guard service. Many benefit directly from the skills the troopers acquire in the field, he said.

As part of an effort to build a strong relationship with employers, the 1249th planned a "boss lift" for the weekend of June 16-17. The Guard was to helicopter some of the troopers' employers in for a visit so they could see for themselves what their workers have been doing on their "vacation."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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