Missouri Guard engineers build retaining wall at Honduran school

By Army National Guard 1st Lt. John Quin

Missouri National Guard

NACO, Honduras (7/3/12) - Soldiers from the Missouri Army National Guard’s 1438th Engineer Company (Multi-Role Bridge) took on a new project, building a retaining wall at a school outside Naco, Honduras on June 28.

The wall, which sits beneath a hill, will serve a dual purpose by stopping further erosion and increasing security for the young students. Some of those students were on hand, watching the Soldiers work.

“The kids have been great,” said Spc. Zack Adkins, a member of the 1438th Engr. Co. “We’ve been trying to get past the language barrier with them.”

The Soldiers are in Honduras as part of U.S. Army South’s Beyond the Horizon exercise.

The exercise seeks to combine military skills training in areas like engineering and medicine with humanitarian outreach projects. The vast majority of service members who have participated are in the National Guard or Reserves and many, like the 1438th, came to Honduras in two-week rotations for their annual training.

The Soldiers working on the wall are part of the exercise’s final rotation. Although they have been in Honduras since Saturday, much of their previous work was finishing nearly-completed projects left by previous rotations.

Because extra materials were available and the community expressed a need, the Soldiers were able to take on the retaining wall mission as a ‘project of opportunity.’

By the time the Soldiers leave, the wall will be four cinderblocks tall, said Army Sgt. Brad Fouch, also from the 1438th Engr. Co.

“After we leave, the locals will build it the rest of the way up,” Fouch said.

Even with temperatures soaring into the 90s and a heat index well above 110 degrees, Adkins said the mission was a rewarding one.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s a good time – it’s hard work, but it’s worth it.”

For Army Pvt. James Walker, Army Pfc Brandon Smith, and Spc. Jamin Coleman, this was not only their first humanitarian mission, but their first trip outside the United States.

“It’s a good experience,” Walker said.

Coleman agreed.

“It’s good to be able to help out other people,” he said. “You have to start from something, so it’s nice to help the people here get to a good starting place.”

The Beyond the Horizon exercise concludes in early July.