FARGO, N.D. — A North Dakota Army National Guard unit has received an alert notification for possible mobilization. About 160 members of the 188th Engineer (Vertical Construction) Company, which is based in Wahpeton, N.D., with a detachment in Oakes, N.D., have been placed on alert. The decision to mobilize this unit has not occurred, but upon a final decision, official Department of the Army mobilization orders will be published.  No potential duty location or mobilization dates were included in the alert orders, but would be included in a mobilization order if one is issued.

 “Should a mobilization order follow this alert, I have no doubt that the Soldiers of the 188th Engineer Company will make a positive difference,” said Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, North Dakota adjutant general. “They have demonstrated their competence and dedication time and again, most recently in building a classroom facility this summer near Garrison, N.D. building a classroom facility this summer near Garrison, N.D. These are highly skilled, well-trained Soldiers who take their construction mission seriously.”

Soldiers in the 188th were notified of their alert status by a phone call from their leadership yesterday. The unit specializes in vertical construction missions, and Soldiers are trained in a variety of military occupational specialties, primarily as carpentry and masonry specialists, plumbers and interior electricians.

The unit is led by Capt. Philip F. Baker Jr., of Neche, N.D., company commander, and 1st Sgt. Eric B. Binstock, of Argusville, N.D., senior enlisted Soldier. Soldiers in the unit hail from about 50 different communities in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.

Fewer than 100 North Dakota National Guard Soldiers are serving overseas, and no other unit is on alert for possible mobilization at this time.

——

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on America, the North Dakota National Guard has mobilized more than 3,500 Soldiers and more than 1,800 Airmen in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Currently, about 75 North Dakota Guardsmen are serving overseas while more than 4,000 remain in the state for emergency response and national defense.  For every 10,000 citizens in North Dakota, 65 serve in the North Dakota National Guard, a rate that’s more than four times the national average. 

Photos

Archived photos of the 188th Engineer Company are available on Flickr "188th Engineer Company (Vertical) Annual Training"