An Army Reserve company that specializes in building things left New Kensington on Monday for a deployment based in Kuwait.
Police and firefighters from across the Alle-Kiski Valley helped with their sendoff as the roughly 150 members of the 340th Engineer Co. left on tour buses from the New Kensington Reserve Center on Leechburg Road on their way to Pittsburgh International Airport.
They’ll be in Texas for 30 to 40 days before heading to Kuwait, with the deployment expected to last at least nine months, said Lt. Col. David McKelvin, commander of the Johnstown-based 458th Engineer Battalion, which the 340th is under.
McKelvin said the company has been preparing for more than a year and took part in training exercises in January in Louisiana.
“I’m here to make sure morale is high, and that they’re mentally and physically ready to go,” he said. “They’re very excited. It’s that feeling of, we’re trained, we’re ready, we want to show what we can do.”
McKelvin, of Washington, D.C., said more than 300 people attended a farewell event for the company Sunday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 92 in Lower Burrell.
“There was a lot of love and support from the community,” he said. “The soldiers walked away with a sense of pride.”
The company’s members hail from the local area; across Pennsylvania; and nearby states including Maryland, Virginia, New York and Ohio, said Doug Fulton, a civilian administrator for the unit.
Sgt. Isaiah Gillespie, 24, of Lancaster is using his time in the Army Reserve to decide if he wants to enlist full time. This is the first deployment for Gillespie, who works as an engineer at a water treatment plant.
“I don’t know if the military is for me,” he said. “I need to experience it a little more.”
Sgt. Adam Lawicki, 29, of Baltimore joined the reserves right out of high school 11 years ago, and was deployed to Afghanistan from June 2013 to March 2014. He was looking forward to leaving his work in a steel mill for operating bulldozers and excavators.
“We’ve got a really good group of people,” he said. “I’m excited to get to know them further and build those bonds.”
From their base in Kuwait, the company will go on missions into other Middle East nations, Fulton said.
Their primary focus is clearing areas and compacting soil for construction, Fulton said. The company also has a platoon that can build structures.
Their members include plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, and equipment operators, said Capt. Zachary Hennessey, 32, the company’s commander from Arlington, Va. About a dozen are women.
“We’ve been working very hard to get to this point. There was a lot of training that went into it,” he said. “Everyone is really excited to get to it.”
Some said their goodbyes before Monday. Others did so at the reserve center.
Kalena Le, of Philadelphia, was seeing off her boyfriend of just two months, Johnathan Rupp.
“It’s going to be hard,” she said. “It’s our first deployment together. I’m just praying for them.”
It wasn’t until the tour buses arrived that the reality of her boyfriend leaving hit Haley Cadamore, 24, of Harrison. She said she and Levi Maines, 22, have been together for almost three years.
“I’m sad that he’s going but I know he’s going for a good reason,” she said. “I’m proud of him more than anything.”
Maines was one of five company members who were awarded a commander’s coin from McKelvin for meritorious conduct leading up to the deployment.
Cadamore said Maines works in road construction, which sometimes keeps him away for stretches of time.
“He’s definitely nervous,” she said. “He’s more excited to see the world. That was one of his dreams.”
The deployment comes at a bad time for Joshua and Kaylee Harmke of Acme, who have an 11-month-old son, Levi. Kaylee said Joshua has been in the reserves for about eight years, going back to before they were married, and this is his first deployment.
“I hate it,” Kaylee said. “It will be OK. It’s something he wanted to do. It’s bad timing with starting our family.
“It helps to be here and be part of the process,” she said.
Three-year-old Samuel Delp, of Cadogan, waved a small U.S. flag and smiled on the side of Leechburg Road as the procession of fire trucks leading the tour buses left the reserve center. His father, Sgt. Sean Delp, was on one of them.
Sgt. Delp, 51, has been in the active military and reserves for 32 years, said his wife, Abigail Delp, 36. That has included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He previously worked in construction and is now a registered nurse.
“I’m very proud of him,” Abigail Delp said. “I wouldn’t change it in the world. He set off to serve this country and that’s where his heart is.”
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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Army Reserve engineers gather in New Kensington for deployment to Middle East - TribLIVE
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