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Show Local Guardsmen return from duty in Panama i! jr j I f :!SlsWt':!;!,. f ? -iWM&JM. villll ' ; - s O ' ' ' " N v ' " "fe x i ' - ' i I - 5 f I f 4 v 1 By GARY BEST A second group of Utah National Guard members from American Fork, Pleasant Grove and Lehi recently returned this week from a tour of duty in Panama. Amongother duties, members of the 489th Utility Detachment from Camp Williams renovated two floors of the US ARSO's Headquarters Headquar-ters Command's Building 126 at Ft. Clayton. The renovation project provided Building with 56 air- conditioned rooms and a remodelled day room in the attic, much needed additional addi-tional accommodations for USARSO. Commander of the Utah unit, Capt. Neal Christensen, said he was excited about the project as it gave his troops a chance to brush up on a wide variety of construction skills, such as carpentry, masonry, electrical work, air conditioning, plumbing and other skills. The project also provided many of his men with a chance to cross-train cross-train in the unit's 17 different MOS skills as well as good training for new members. "This is exactly the type of work my men would be required to perform per-form if we were activated, using native materials and equipment," said 1 Sgt. Jim Hall, adding that they would also have to get used to different climates. One of the challenges facing the units was getting used to Panama's 90 degree temperatures and high humidity. On the day the first unit left Utah, two inches of snow fell. The project coordinator, CW04 Elvin Harlward, said the work, which is scheduled to be completed June 17, will require the efforts of two other National Guard construction con-struction units. The other group involved in the work was the 1457th Engineers construction section from American Ameri-can Fork, which worked on the final phase of the project. The units were supported by Air National Guard units stateside which provided transportation in C-130s to and from Panama. Most guard members were excited ex-cited at being able to participate in the project with the chance to travel to a foreign country. ' Zane Berry, American Fork, works on National Guard project in Panama. , |