120th Engineer Battalion returns home

The 120th Engineer Battalion mobilized in late June 2012 and deployed to Afghanistan in the fall of that year in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Broken Arrow-based unit served as command and control for engineer route clearance companies operating in southern Afghanistan, particularly in the area around Kandahar province. Their deployment lasted until May 2013, when approximately 200 members of the battalion returned home to Oklahoma following a demanding and successful tour of duty.

During their time in Afghanistan, the 120th Engineer Battalion operated under the designation Task Force Outlaw and held the distinction of being the only "combat effects battalion" in the theater. This unique status reflected the direct impact that the unit's route clearance work had on combat outcomes across the southern region. The battalion's subordinate companies collectively logged more than 150,000 miles traveled through hostile territory during the course of the deployment, demonstrating the enormous scope of their mission.

The return of the 120th on May 15, 2013, marked the conclusion of a deployment that paralleled a broader strategic shift in the Afghanistan campaign. American and coalition forces were beginning the long process of drawing down their presence and transitioning security responsibilities to Afghan national forces. The 120th played a meaningful role in supporting that transition by keeping routes safe and enabling the movement of equipment and personnel during a critical period of the drawdown.

The homecoming on May 15 brought together soldiers and their families after months of separation, offering a long-anticipated reunion for the men and women who had served far from home. The return was celebrated by the Oklahoma National Guard community and the broader state, which has consistently demonstrated strong support for its deployed soldiers throughout more than a decade of continuous combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Combat engineer units like the 120th Engineer Battalion undergo extensive and specialized training to prepare for the range of missions they may be called upon to perform in a deployment environment. This training encompasses both the technical skills specific to engineering operations — such as route clearance, bridge construction, and demolitions — and the broader soldier skills required to operate in a combat zone, including weapons qualification, tactical movement, first aid, and communications. Pre-deployment training often involves mobilization at a major Army training installation where units can rehearse the specific mission requirements they will face overseas.

Route clearance training is particularly intensive, as it involves learning to operate specialized vehicles and detection equipment, recognize indicators of buried explosive devices, and execute deliberate clearance procedures under pressure. Soldiers must become proficient with equipment such as ground-penetrating radar, mine detection systems, and route clearance vehicles specifically designed to withstand the blast effects of IEDs while still allowing their crews to detect and investigate threats. This technical training is layered on top of the fundamental combat skills that all soldiers must maintain.

The National Guard's training model also emphasizes the integration of full-time Active Guard Reserve soldiers with part-time traditional Guard members, ensuring that units maintain readiness even when not mobilized. Units conduct regular monthly drills and annual training exercises that keep soldiers proficient in their military occupational specialties and ready to mobilize on short notice. For engineer units, this ongoing training often includes field exercises that simulate the conditions they would encounter during a real deployment.

In addition to military-specific training, engineer soldiers often bring relevant civilian skills that enhance their effectiveness in the field. Construction workers, heavy equipment operators, surveyors, and law enforcement professionals are all commonly found in engineer units, and their civilian expertise complements and reinforces the military training they receive. This dual base of knowledge makes National Guard engineer soldiers particularly adaptable and capable in the diverse operational environments they encounter during deployments.

Combat engineers provide a wide range of essential capabilities that enable military forces to move, fight, and sustain themselves in complex operational environments. Their core missions include route clearance and obstacle removal to keep roads and trails safe for friendly forces, construction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure to improve mobility, establishment and improvement of forward operating bases and other military facilities, and demolitions to destroy enemy fortifications and equipment. Engineers also provide critical expertise in the detection and neutralization of explosive hazards, a mission that became central to the American military's approach in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan specifically, combat engineers played an outsized role relative to their numbers because the improvised explosive device threat made engineer capabilities essential to nearly every other military operation. Without effective route clearance, supply convoys could not safely move between bases, combat patrols could not reach their objectives, and the medical evacuation of wounded soldiers was put at additional risk. Engineers essentially provided the freedom of movement that all other military elements depended upon to accomplish their missions, making engineer units force multipliers of the highest order in the Afghanistan operational environment.

The 120th Engineer Battalion was specifically trained and equipped to provide combat engineering support to forward combat elements as well as to construct roads, buildings, military support facilities, and aircraft support facilities. This broad capability set reflects the full spectrum of engineer work, from the dangerous front-line route clearance mission to the skilled construction work required to establish and improve the bases and airfields from which coalition forces operated. The battalion's ability to perform across this entire range made it a versatile and invaluable asset for commanders in southern Afghanistan.

As the Afghanistan mission evolved and the drawdown accelerated, combat engineers took on the additional mission of deconstruction — systematically dismantling the extensive infrastructure that had been built over more than a decade of operations. This work required the same skills and equipment used for construction but applied in reverse, ensuring that facilities were properly disposed of or transferred to Afghan authorities rather than abandoned. It represented one final engineering mission that bookended the entire arc of the conflict, from building up the infrastructure of war to carefully taking it apart.

The Oklahoma National Guard has developed comprehensive programs and resources to support soldiers and their families during the reintegration process that follows a deployment. Reintegration is recognized as a distinct and sometimes challenging phase of the deployment cycle, during which soldiers who have spent months operating in a combat environment must readjust to life at home with their families and communities. The Guard's Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program provides events, services, and resources specifically designed to assist soldiers and their families at 30, 60, and 90 days after a soldier's return from deployment.

These reintegration programs address the full range of challenges that returning soldiers and their families may face, including mental health and behavioral health support, financial counseling and assistance, legal services, employment transition support for those leaving active service, and relationship and family counseling. The recognition that deployment affects not just the soldier but every member of the family has led to the development of resources specifically for spouses, children, and other family members who support the soldier from home. Military family life consultants and chaplains are available to provide confidential support throughout the deployment cycle.

Children of deployed soldiers receive particular attention in reintegration programs, as the absence of a parent can have significant developmental and emotional effects on young people at various stages of growth. School liaison officers work to connect military families with educational resources and support services, while programs like the Horseback Heroes event in Oklahoma demonstrate the broader community commitment to creating positive experiences for children who have experienced the stress of having a parent deployed to a combat zone. These programs recognize that children's experiences of deployment and homecoming deserve dedicated attention and care.

The broader Oklahoma community also plays an important role in the reintegration of returning soldiers. Employers who hire Guard members are encouraged to provide flexible return-to-work policies that allow soldiers time to readjust before resuming full civilian duties. Community organizations, faith communities, and civic groups often organize welcome-home events and ongoing support activities that help soldiers reconnect with their communities and feel valued for their service. This community-wide embrace of returning soldiers reflects Oklahoma's deep and enduring respect for its military members and their families.

Operation Enduring Freedom was the name of the United States military campaign in Afghanistan that began in October 2001 following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The operation's initial objective was to dismantle al-Qaeda's terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan and remove the Taliban regime that had provided it sanctuary. Over the following decade and more, OEF evolved into a broader counterinsurgency campaign aimed at establishing a stable Afghan government capable of preventing the country from again becoming a haven for international terrorism. American forces were joined by a broad coalition of NATO and partner nation military forces throughout the operation.

Oklahoma's National Guard played a sustained and significant role in Operation Enduring Freedom over the course of more than a decade. Units from across the Oklahoma National Guard — including infantry, aviation, engineer, artillery, support, and medical formations — rotated through Afghanistan on multiple deployments, contributing to security operations, training of Afghan forces, and the construction and maintenance of the infrastructure that supported the coalition mission. The 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the 120th Engineer Battalion, the 158th Field Artillery Regiment, and many other Oklahoma units served with distinction in the Afghan theater.

The human cost of Oklahoma's commitment to Operation Enduring Freedom was significant. Oklahoma National Guard soldiers were killed and wounded in Afghanistan, leaving lasting impacts on their families and communities. The first Oklahoma National Guard casualty of both the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns, Spc. Kyle Adam Brinlee, was killed in 2004 by an improvised explosive device, and subsequent deployments brought additional losses that the Oklahoma Guard community mourned collectively. Each deployment was undertaken with full awareness of the risks involved and the sacrifices that had already been made.

By 2013, when the 120th Engineer Battalion completed its deployment, Operation Enduring Freedom was entering its final phase as American and coalition forces prepared to transition security responsibilities to Afghan national forces. The return of the 120th was therefore part of a larger pattern of units completing their final or near-final rotations in Afghanistan, as the mission that had defined so much of the Oklahoma National Guard's identity over more than a decade moved toward its conclusion. The soldiers who came home brought with them the weight of that history and the pride of having served in one of the most sustained military commitments in American history.