Vaughn deploys to Afghanistan

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Spc. David Vaughn, of Cape Girardeau, is one of nearly 93 Missouri National Guard Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan with the 1138th Engineer Company, of Farmington.

The unit -- which draws Soldiers from the 1140th Engineer Battalion in Cape Girardeau -- is part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and will be conducting route clearance missions.

Soldiers spent 29 days training at Camp Crowder and Camp Clark for pre-mobilization training that allowed them to learn necessary skills for deployment. Training conducted there included weapons qualifications, route clearance operations and tactics, battle drills and warrior tasks.

Currently, Soldiers are finalizing appropriate training for deployment at Fort Bliss, Texas, including squad and platoon battle drills and tasks while being in vehicles and environments similar to that in which they will encounter while deployed. After mobilization training, the Soldiers will deploy to Afghanistan in mid-August.

Vaughn has been with the Missouri Army National Guard for four years and is a combat engineer. He has received Missouri Commendation awards for his service during the 2008 northeast Missouri floods in Operation Show Me Waterfall, the southeast Missouri ice storms in Operation Show Me Freezing Rain, and the 2011 southeast Missouri floods in Operation Show Me Rising Tide. He also served with the 1140th Engineer Battalion during a humanitarian mission to the Dominican Republic in April 2009.

He's looking forward to serving his country and protecting his Family's freedoms, said Vaughn.

"I enlisted at a time of war and I knew the call would come one day," said Vaughn. "I will miss a year of life with my Family, but for my Family to be able to exercise the freedom we all have as Americans will be well worth the fight."

While deployed, the company will fall under the command and control of the 120th Engineer Battalion, Oklahoma National Guard. The Soldiers are scheduled to return in the spring of 2013.

Vaughn is supported in his military career by his wife, Patricia; his children, Logan, 5, and Caitlyn, 4; his father, Jerry Vaught, of Dexter; and his mother, Linda Cloninget, of Brownwood, Mo.

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please visit www.moguard.com and our social media sites: www.facebook.com/Missouri.National.Guard; www.twitter.com/Missouri_NG; www.youtube.com/MoNationalGuard; www.myspace.com/missouri_ng; www.flickr.com/photos/missouriguard; www.moguard.com/blog; www.pinterest.com/monationalguard/