Reserve soldiers from Norway and Lewiston groups are set to leave around Dec. 7.
By Daniel Hartill
Staff Writer

More than 100 part-time soldiers from across Androscoggin and Oxford counties – members of Company C of the 133rd Engineering Battalion – are preparing to spend the next 18 months in the Middle East.

The company, located at armories in Lewiston and Norway, is due to ship out sometime around Dec. 7.

The group will go to a stateside base for final training and on to the Middle East a few weeks later, said Maj. Peter Rogers, director of public affairs for the Maine Army National Guard.

Army officials wouldn’t give exact numbers for the company or the battalion, nor would they release the names of the soldiers, citing security reasons.

The Army is also keeping the group’s exact destination a secret, though it could be Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere, Rogers said.

Morale is high and such orders have been expected for a while, said Capt. Michael Mitchell, Company C’s commanding officer.

Soldiers, like everyone else, watch the news. They know the conflict in Iraq is continuing.

“I think they knew deep down that they were going to go,” said Staff Sgt. Eric Richardson, who works at the Company C armory in Norway. “With everything going on, they have been preparing themselves.”

The company was created to act as a moving construction company. They can build roads, airfields and do other earth-moving projects. They can also build wood, metal and concrete structures and install the electrical wiring and plumbing systems.

They also have a combat mission, appropriate for a battalion that traces its history back to the 20th Maine, the Civil War unit headed by Joshua Chamberlain.

“They don’t take their roles lightly,” said Richardson. They also can fire weapons and hunt for land mines.

During weekend training periods, the unit has practiced all of its work, including what it may take to pack and leave.

Word of the deployment spread through the group on Nov. 6. The entire company plans to gather on Saturday, Nov. 22, when the packing will begin in earnest.

They will include people from Lewiston-Auburn, New Gloucester, Rumford, Norway, Dixfield, Mexico, Bridgton and many other towns.

Until their departure, the soldiers plan to prepare themselves and their families for a long separation. Medical checkups will be completed. Wills will be written and paychecks will be secured. For some of the younger soldiers, college classes will be completed during those last days.

“We’ll be ready,” Richardson said.

dhartill@sunjournal.com

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