Family, friends bid farewell to troops in Decorah

DECORAH - Spc. Kevin Urquidez, 26, of Marion, one of 162 soldiers saluted at a send-off ceremony here Friday, will have one fewer

Urquidez, a member of the Army Reserve's 322nd Engineer Company based in Decorah, was scrambling this week to find a temporary home for Hector, his pit bull-Labrador mix dog.

“It looks like everything is going to work out,” said Urquidez, who served with the Iowa National Guard's combat engineers in Iraq before joining the Army Reserve in 2009.

Urquidez, whose plans for Hector fell apart at the last minute, said he turned the search over to Nancy Crist, who said she'd had more than 30 phone calls from people interested in caring for Hector while his master is deployed.

“He's just a big, dumb, friendly pup, but I am going to miss him,” said Urquidez, who adopted Hector from a pet hospital in August.

The 332nd will leave Sunday for more training at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin before deploying to Afghanistan in March, said the company's commander, Capt. Troy King.

In remarks at the Luther College Center for Faith and Life, King thanked the thousands of well wishers who packed the center for the emotional send-off ceremony.

The soldiers, mostly carpenters, electricians and plumbers, soon will be constructing buildings on Army bases in southern Afghanistan, said King, who will be leaving behind a wife and three sons.

“The 7-year-old is taking it the hardest. There have been too many goodbyes, and they're getting harder each time,” he said.

The unit includes almost 70 “organic” members who train in Decorah one weekend a month and 93 other members from 19 states who were assigned to the unit since August.

First Sgt. Brian Losen of Decorah, the company's senior enlisted man, said the unit has quickly developed a family-like cohesion.

“I trust my battle buddies, and we look out for each other,” said Staff Sgt. Dawn Burrett, 27, of Waukon, who served in Iraq in 2003 with the same unit, which was then called Company B of the 389th Engineer Battalion.

“That's just the way the Army Reserve works. Most units are not up to full strength until they get the word that they are deploying,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Chesmore of Cresco, a 20-year Army veteran and 12-year veteran of the company.

“The most dangerous part of the mission will be traveling on the roads,” where roadside bombs are a constant threat, Chesmore said

This fall, soldiers have been training at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin on unit cohesion, construction operations, weapons and convoy operations training. They also received language and cultural awareness training.