MILITARY SERIES – After spending 20 years in the military and retiring in 2000 as a First Sergeant from the Wisconsin Army Reserve National Guard, I decided to create this series and dedicate it to all of the men and women that served before me, with me, after me, serve today and those who will serve in future generations.
Each of the caches in this series is named after a unit, position, rank or other significant event during my military career.
While some of these may be an easy find, others may require some creative and critical thinking. Look at the rating for each cache as they will vary within the series.
Det 1, Company C, 173rd Engineer Bn – Ripon, Wisconsin: The military reorganizes on a fairly regular basis to continue to meet the needs of the state, nation and world. This time I was part of the reorganization as my Military Police Platoon with the 32nd Separate Infantry Brigade was disbanded. Through that same reorganization the Brigade went from having a single Engineer Company to the creation of an entire battalion on Engineers with HHC 173 Engineer Battalion being on Onalaska, Wisconsin. The Companies for the Battalion were in different locations around the state with Company C being in Baraboo and a Detachment from Company C being place in Ripon, Wisconsin. This unit was formally known as Detachment 1, Company C, 173rd Engineer Battalion. Det 1 consisted of a Combat Engineer Platoon and an A&O (Assault & Obstacle) Platoon. Being a new unit, all of the positions were up for grabs, including the Platoon Sergeant position which also carried the role of Detachment First Sergeant as the senior NCO in the unit.
Based on being stationed in Ripon and the opportunity to gain some experience as the Detachment First Sergeant, I took the position with absolutely no knowledge of being a Combat Engineer or even knowing what an A&O Platoon was. I did have common sense and about 16 years of military experience to draw from.
I spent the first year there at the Platoon Sergeant for the Combat Engineer Platoon and my second year was spent at the A&O Platoon Sergeant. After two years at the Detachment, I was promoted to First Sergeant and assigned to HHC 173rd Engineer Battalion in Onalaska, Wisconsin.
Congratulations to Lobsters9494 on the FTF on this Cache Ba$hless weekend!