Local Guardsmen to construct military base, clinics, schools in Honduras

National Guardsmen from the 1140th Engineer battalion have been at work in Naco Cortes, Honduras, over the last month constructing and renovating a military base, two medical clinics and three schools.

The mission, known as "Beyond the Horizon -- Honduras 2012" will last until July and is intended to teach soldiers skills through participation in "real-world missions," according to a Friday news release.

About 250 guardsmen from battalion units in Cape Girardeau, Perryville, Mo., Festus, Mo. and Macon, Mo., will rotate in and out of the project every two weeks. Advance parties were sent to prepare the area in March and the operation began in full April 14.

The mission is led by Lt. Col. Robert Jones of Cape Girardeau, who is commanding a task force involving 14 other state National Guard participants, the U.S. Army, Army Reserve, Navy and Air Force, the Honduran army, air force, police and ministries of education, defense and health, Canadian and Colombian medical providers and humanitarian groups such as Children's International, the Honduran Red Cross Society and the Rotary Club.

"Over the past several months we've built a very strong and diverse team," Jones said in the release. "That's so important to the success of any mission."

Major General Simeon G. Trombitas, Commander U.S. Army South, left, and Lt. Col . Robert Jones, BTH Commander, meet with Lisa Kubiske, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras April 16, to escort her to the BTH-12 Opening Ceremony. (Submitted photo)

Beyond the Horizon 2012 - Honduras. NACO CORTEZ, Honduras - Major General Simeon G. Trombitas, Commander U.S. Army South, and Lt. Col . Robert Jones, BTH Commander, meet with Lisa Kubiske, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, to escort her to the BTH-12 Opening Ceremony, on April 16, 2012. (Photos by Army Sgt. 1st Class Walter van Ochten)

Jones called the Southeast Missourian on Friday from a 20-foot metal container that has served as an office and living quarters since he arrived April 7. Jones made three prior trips to Honduras to gather information about the mission sites and to build relationships with Honduran officials.

Jones said Beyond the Horizon trains guardsmen how to prepare soldiers for deployment and builds hands-on experience through mission activities during the time they spend on foreign soil.

In preparation, soldiers are screened for physical fitness and given any inoculations or medical treatments necessary. They also participate in classes to educate them about the history and culture of Honduras, including skills such as driving in areas which may not follow familiar rules of the road.

The operation required initially improving a military location to host the mission and the base left in the hands of the Honduran army once objectives have been completed. Soldiers also will renovate one school and build two new schools and two new clinics in five separate locations.

Jones said that Honduran locals have been "very receptive" to the mission's activities and look forward to benefitting from the new medical and educational facilities.

A second, similar phase of Beyond the Horizon involving the 35th Engineer Brigade, based in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., will take place later this summer in Guatamala.

Both missions are a result of the Missouri Guard's relationship with U.S. Army South, which, according to its website, focuses on "army-to-army exercises, counter drug operations, peace keeping missions, humanitarian missions, disaster relief, senior leader engagements and subject matter expert exchanges and training with partner nations" in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

salderman@semissourian.com

388-3648

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, MO

Naco Cortez, Honduras