Area Guard unit one of two receiving alert notification for possible mobilization

Two North Dakota Army National Guard units have received alert notifications for possible mobilization. The 835th Engineer Team, based in Carrington, N.D., and the 1-112th Security and Support Aviation Battalion, based in Bismarck, have been placed on alert.

If mobilized, the 835th Engineer Team will be comprised of approximately 40 members of the 897th Engineer Team (Concrete) and the 835th Engineer Team (Asphalt). Approximately 55 members of the 1-112th Security and Support Aviation Battalion were notified of a possible mobilization.

The decision to mobilize these units 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.

Soldiers of the units were notified of their alert status by a phone call from their leadership. The 835th Engineer Team (Asphalt) and the 897th Engineer Team (Concrete) specialize in paving operations and have never been activated as a unit. Soldiers in the unit hail from more than a dozen different communities across North Dakota. The unit is led by Sgt. 1st Class Steve Webber, of Fargo, who mobilized with the 142nd Engineer Battalion to Iraq in 2003.

The 1-112th Security and Support Aviation Battalion specializes in aviation command and control and was last activated as a headquarters element to Bosnia in 2005. Soldiers in the unit hail from more than a dozen different communities throughout North Dakota. The unit is led by Lt. Col. William Watson, native of Cavalier, N.D., task force commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Schuchard, of Jamestown, senior enlisted soldier.

Currently, fewer than 100 North Dakota National Guard soldiers are serving in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (1-188th ADA) Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) and two Sentinel Radar missions. One other unit, the 188th Engineer (Vertical Construction) Company, which is based in Wahpeton, N.D., with a detachment in Oakes, N.D., was placed on alert last month for possible mobilization.

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