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Far from Virginia

May-16-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

Kirk sent us this nice long article about the Virginia National Guard's 276th Engineer Battalion, a support unit for Task Force Olympia.

[Link to Full Article]
By Maya Alleruzzo, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

ALONG THE IRAQ-SYRIA BORDER - The 372 miles of arid, hilly border with Syria is a terrorist sieve, and the Virginia National Guard's 276th Engineer Battalion is the plug.

Every day, about 75 young men drive bulldozers and earth movers to fill in gaps in a massive sand berm running the length of the border; U.S. officials say this is where insurgents pour through on their way to join the fight against American forces.

Protection for the guardsmen is minimal, consisting mainly of a green, 5-ton dump truck with a black Iraqi tank turret welded to the top. Normally, half a dozen soldiers keep watch from the "Iron Maiden," as it is called, while their colleagues perform their landscaping missions.

The berm-mending project is one of several missions juggled by the 276th, which is made up of college students, plumbers, police officers, bankers and computer technicians. Other duties include the construction of roads and buildings, and security patrols in the city of Mosul.


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