Army Engineer Divers in the Fight.

摘要

The most common response Army divers hear when explaining their profession no matter what they are doing or where they are in the world is I didn't know the Army had divers. Although Army divers have been in the fight since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, this response is still heard today in Iraq, Kuwait, and the rest of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. The 74th Engineer Team (Dive) and the 544th Engineer Team (Dive) were deployed to serve during the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and their missions primarily consisted of conducting river reconnaissance, mine clearance, bridge demolition, hydrographic surveys, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) searches, and personnel recovery (see Army Diver Missions in Iraq, Engineer, July-September 2003, page 28.) After completing five months of service, the 544th was sent home, but in December 2005, was again deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit conducted its relief in place (RIP)/transfer of authority (TOA) with the 511th Engineer Team (Dive). Currently, the 544th falls under the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) C-7 (engineer staff section) and Area Support Group Kuwait (ASG KU). Although some missions have changed over the past few years, many remain the same.