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| U.S. Army photo by Spc Adam J. Simmler, 121st Public Affairs Detachment, MEARNG Spc. Chad Vaillancourt of Fort Kent, a member of the 185th Engineer Support Company, gives directions to a truck driver delivering top fill to a road construction site on June 13 in Caswell. The ongoing project will give northern Maine National Guard units a place to train on both soldier skills and engineer tasks. |
CARIBOU — Recently during the unit’s annual training period, Army National Guard soldiers from the 185th Engineer Support Company in Caribou began construction on a new soccer field at the Wisdom Middle/High School in St. Agatha. The project had been in planning for over three years and it wasn’t until this year that the 185th received permission to break ground on the project.
The 185th specializes in the quick construction of crucial facilities such as roads, airfields and landing zones. On this project, the engineers are going beyond their normal standard to provide the St. Agatha community with a new playing field.
Recent rain hasn’t been kind to the engineers’ progress, causing the access road to the field to become almost impassable due to deep mud. Work began to reinforce the road, which will allow construction on the field to continue.
“It feels good to be doing something like this, it’s very rewarding,” said Spc. Matthew Jeffery, an equipment operator from Houlton. “We’ve had a lot of folks come down to check out what’s going on; it’s been a great response from the community”
While first platoon worked in St Agatha, another group of soldiers from the 185th were busy in Caswell, building an access road. The road is part of an ongoing project to develop the area into a place where northern Maine National Guard units can come to train on both soldier skills, and engineer tasks.
Construction of the road has other benefits as well, providing a training opportunity.
“Most of the soldiers here are fresh out of school,” said Sgt. James Theriault, the job site manager from Frenchville. “They have training, but we’re giving them valuable experience.”
The engineer company’s goal is to finish 60 percent of the work in St. Agatha during this annual training period, with hopes of coming back next year to finish it.
