ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam –
For the past month the sounds of heavy
equipment and the cries of "oo-rah!" from U.S. Marines has been a constant
presence on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. These sounds ended April 29 when the
engineers of Combat Logistics Battalion-3 from Marine Corps Base Hawaii
completed their site improvement project for Task Force Talon, 94th Army Air and
Missile Defense Command, the U.S. Army's first forward deployed terminal high
altitude area defense unit.
Task Force Talon first deployed to Guam in
2013 to protect the U.S. territory from ballistic missile threats. Since
arriving in Guam, the task force has steadily made progress improving the area
on Andersen Air Force Base's Northwest Field called Site Armadillo. In the past
the task force relied on private contractors and Army and Air Force engineers to
complete site improvement projects. The completion of the latest project is the
first one completed by U.S. Marine Corps engineers for the task force.
"It was great to be able to be able to lead a squad of Marines to do
this heavy equipment project and be part of such an important homeland defense
mission," said Staff Sgt. Delsean Barrow, the non-commissioned officer who led
the Marine Corps mission to Guam.
Over the course of one month, the
CLB-3 Marines removed 11.5 acres of debris that was piled up from when the site
was originally cleared two years ago. They used the debris to build a berm that
has improved the security of sensitive assets on Site Armadillo while providing
additional building space for future projects.
"I see this as a win-win
for both the Marines and the Army because we got to train on our core engineer
tasks while completing an important site improvement project for the task
force," said Sgt. Vincent Rhoads.
At the conclusion of the project the
six Marines, who spent a month working on Site Armadillo, were recognized with
Army Certificates of Achievement and Task Force Talon coins during an awards
ceremony. The ceremony was attended by members of Task Force Talon, the
commander of CLB-3, Lt. Col. Patrick Tucker and CLB-3 Sergeant Major, Sgt. Maj.
James Vealey.
"We appreciate the hard work the Marines provided for the
task force for the past month and look forward to cooperation with CLB-3 on
future projects," said Lt. Col. Jefferey Slown, Task Force Talon commander, 94th
AAMDC.
The completion of the site improvement project is part of a
master building plan to improve the THAAD location in Guam which the Joint
community to include now the US Marines have played a key role in moving
forward.