Sikeston Guard unit joins with Dexter's 1221st

Members of the 1221st and dignitaries cut the ribbon officially making the unit part of the 1221st.

The 1221st Transportation Company is now stronger by 35 soldiers.

Saturday marked the official redesignation of the Sikeston unit of the Missouri National Guard from C Company, 1140th Engineer Battalion to Detachment 2, 1221st Transportation Company. And while the change entails the loss of 45 troops to other units, the assignment to the 1221st of the approximately platoon-sized unit makes it part of the single largest battalion in the Missouri Guard.

"Getting the troops trained for their new [job specialties] is going to be a big issue," said the commander of that battalion (835th Corps Support Battalion) Maj. Mark Randazzo, just before the ceremony marking the conversion of the unit from C/1140 Engineers to Det 2/122st Transportation.

Typically, engineers do things like building bridges, clearing obstacles and land mines, demolishing facilities to prevent capture by an enemy, and battlefield preparation for either a friendly attack or defense. Transportation personnel, on the other hand, maintain vehicles and transport supplies, people and equipment to desired locations.

Randazzo's command also includes the 735th Quartermaster Company (a supply unit) and the 1035th Maintenance Company. He said total strength of the unit is about 800 soldiers, including the 1221st and its two detachments (Detachment 1 is at St. Peters).

Master of ceremonies Maj. Ed Gargas, executive officer of the 1140th Engineer Battalion, noted the origin of the National Guard goes back to 1636 with the creation of colonial militias to combat hostile Indians and potential foreign invaders. He noted that it therefore was the earliest American fighting force.

Gargas noted the twin missions of each state's National Guard, which when federalized saw both Company C and the 1221st deploy to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. He added both units had, in state service, always been ready to respond to natural disasters, as they did right when again mobilized after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Gargas told the attendees Company C of the 1140th had been created as part of the 6th Infantry Regiment in 1898, and had been reorganized in 1968 as C Company, 1140th Engineer Battalion. The 1221st, he said, had been organized on Aug. 20, 1920 as Company M, 140th Infantry Regiment, which was assigned to the 35th Infantry Division during World War 2.

In 1968 it was likewise reorganized, into its current form. "The blending of the heritage for decades here in Sikeston, and the addition of the of the history of the 1221st Transportation Company in nearby Dexter,is creating a new future for the soldiers in Sikeston," Gargas concluded, "and we are proud to begin a new chapter in our history."

"'More often than not, the first to come to the aid of others wear the uniform of the National Guard," said US Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in a letter to unit members read by a member of her staff, Judy Thrower. "In a difficult time for our nation, they give us all reason to be proud Americans."

Thrower said Emerson was not able to be there in person.

"I've always had the utmost respect for the 1140th Engineer Battalion," added Randazzo in comments from the podium, "and we're here to take care of the soldiers and execute the mission."

"We of the 1140th are very sorry to see our soldiers go," gargas said after Randazzo's remarks. "Mark, I promise you you're getting some outstanding soldiers."

Capt. Tamara Spicer, commander of the 1221st which is gaining the Sikeston unit, said the 45 soldiers no longer assigned to the Sikeston unit after its reorganization into Detachment 2, were being assigned to different units or, as the individual soldier chose, discharged from the Guard. And she added a clarification to her comments printed in Friday's edition of the Daily Statesman about a possible delay in the opening of the armory at Dexter.

"We are pushing ahead with the Feb. 4 opening date," she said of earlier comments indicating the armory might not be available for use till March. "And I have to say we have gotten absolutely great cooperation from the contractors, Dale Rogers, Robert Stearns and Associates; and Brockmiller Construction."

The former company, she said, was the architectural contractor, while the latter was the construction contractor.

Spicer added the Guard's facilities department had offered rave reviews regarding the cooperation of the two contractors in the project. "'Both of these firms have given their utmost priority of attention to the design and construction of the new Dexter Armory,' Spicer read from an e-mail from the facilities department.

"'The adjutant-general considers this one of the finest design efforts of any major project undertaken by the Missouri National Guard.'"

gexelby@dailystatesman.com