Coalition engineer detachment builds a stronger alliance through construction

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The North Carolina National Guard’s 258th Engineer Utilities Detachment, Union III team, is a new unit on their first deployment.

Over the past few months, the team learned new capabilities and challenged themselves to be more creative as they supported operations and made Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Operation Inherent Resolve a better place to work.

The 258th’s mission is to provide facilities and engineering support in the areas of carpentry, masonry, electrical, plumbing, road maintenance and repair in Iraq and Kuwait.

Staff Sgt. Mark Guffey, construction supervisor, 258th EUD, leads the team that includes two electricians, one plumber and two carpentry and masonry specialists.

As the only member of the team with multiple deployments, Guffey said deploying with a smaller team is a big shift from his previous overseas assignments.

“It’s a new Army concept,” Guffey said. “We are deploying smaller, self-sustaining units with a variety of jobs.”

In the past, the EUD had company-sized elements full of one particular job specialty. Prior to this deployment, all of the companies’ Soldiers were split to place a variety of jobs into smaller teams.

Spc. Adam Heath, carpentry and masonry specialist, 258th EUD, was with the unit when they began the switch from an 11-person asphalt team to a utilities detachment within a year of their deployment. He said being part of the first unit like this to deploy together is humbling.

“Six months into getting set up, we got the official notice that we were deploying,” Heath said. “You got this ragtag group just thrown together, and we made it work.”

Heath said the team’s success serves as a good example for other units like his to emulate.

Guffey is on his fourth deployment and mentors the group of young Soldiers.

Many of the Soldiers had to learn and adapt quickly in their new environment and fill different roles. Spc. Daniel Czigler, 258th EUD, is an interior electrician by trade but learned he would be doing a lot of wood work when he arrived.

“The carpentry thing was something I had to pick up on the lines,” Czigler said. “Being able to pick up tasks in the military is a necessity. You need to be able to adapt. I think this deployment has really helped me with that. Not only am I with a leader that will put me in the right position, but he also is trying to mold me into that right Soldier.”

Czigler said Guffey and the team took time to train and mentor him in his new role and he took to it like a duck to water.

“They gave me a great opportunity to not only learn, but to take pride in what I am doing,” Czigler said.

Heath said they carry over that pride into their daily projects. The team has built a number of pieces for the Coalition including cabinets, cellphone holders and their “number-one seller,” stand-up desks.

“Every stand-up desk is completely different,” Guffey said. “I build them per the customer to their specifications and how they want it. There are 30 to 40 different stand-up desks. It’s currently our number-one item because when someone sees someone with one they instantly want one too.”

The complexity of the order goes into the amount of preparation they take to build a new item, Guffey said.

“If it is something simple I can just hand it over to my guys,” Guffey said. “Sometimes I draw a 3-D model with every single dimension on it so they know what it means.”

One of their special projects was for the Staff Judge Advocate office in Baghdad. Maj. Nathaniel Babb, staff judge advocate executive officer, CJFLCC-OIR, turned in a simple drawing of a design to replace two older bookcases.

After the EUD team received the drawing, they measured the workspace and created a bookshelf and cabinet system within 10 days.

Babb said the cabinet system serves multiple purposes. It holds their law library and features a lockable cabinet to store documents and weapons.

“They built it exactly how we wanted it,” Babb said. “They stained it for us. We get compliments on it all the time. Good work by the engineers.”

Czigler said he looks forward to seeing people’s faces when they see the final product.

“Some people love what we do and ask us for more just for the simple fact that we produce good quality things,” Czigler said. “We actually have fun with what we do.”

Editor's note: The original story can be viewed on the Fort Riley website.