'Oregon Marines' will decommission Allingham Guard Station House

The Deschutes National Forest will host an Engineering Services Company of the Marine Forces Reserve known as "the Oregon Marines" on July 13-26.

On the Sisters Ranger District, unit members will decommission the Allingham Guard Station House. Additional projects may be completed if time allows.

The Oregon Marines is a reserve unit of Marines and sailors responsible for general engineering activities in support of U.S. Marine ground forces. They train one weekend each month and are also required to conduct a two-week annual training exercise. As part of that annual training, approximately 40 Oregon Marines are working on the Willamette National Forest while 50 members of the unit will be working on several Deschutes National Forest projects in Central Oregon.

"We're happy to host 'the Oregon Marines' and grateful for their expertise and willingness to work with us to complete several projects and perform much needed maintenance for the Forest," said Deschutes National Forest Supervisor, John Allen. "We hope to continue this partnership in the future."

"By working with the U.S. Forest Service, we're able to complete the training we need without having to travel outside of Oregon. Not only are we going to maximize the amount of training we can do, we're also going to save on transportation and logistics costs," said Major Justin DiRico, Company Commander for Engineer Services Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 23. "The majority of the Marines and sailors of Engineer Services Company live, work and attend school in the state of Oregon. This is an opportunity for our Reservists to improve the public lands and forest that we enjoy."