The Mississippi National Guard welcomed home Soldiers of the Vicksburg-based Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 168th Engineer Brigade (EN BDE) at Thompson Field Air National Guard Base in Flowood, Dec. 19, 2023. Just in time for the holiday season, families reunited with their Soldiers after an approximately 10-month-long deployment to Kuwait in support of Operations Spartan Shield and Inherent Resolve.
The 168th EN BDE was assigned as the headquarters element of U.S. Central Command’s Theater Engineer Brigade (TEB), comprised of two Task Force Battalions and several specialized units consisting of active-duty, reserve, and National Guard elements. As part of Task Force Spartan, the 168th provided a fully functional headquarters in support of its parent organization by providing logistics, administrative, and operational support. These functions included personnel and finance management, intelligence and communications, fuel, healthcare, and transportation of task force personnel and equipment.
“The incredible accomplishments are too numerous to mention individually but as a collective combat formation, you exceeded every expectation,” said Brig. Gen. John C. Nipp, commander of the 184th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), the parent unit of the 168th EN BDE. “The reputation of this storied unit [is] truly enhanced by your actions and accomplishments during the past 10 months.”
While serving as the TEB in the U.S. Central Command area of operation, Mississippi’s 168th EN BDE, commanded by Col. Kendrick Cager of Brandon, served in three main lines of effort; conducting host nation collective training and supporting interoperability of host nation capabilities, directing combat engineering and construction operations, and seamlessly transitioning engineer units postured in the U.S. Central Command’s area of operation.
“The professionalism this unit demonstrated clearly enhanced the overall readiness and relevancy of the entire Mississippi National Guard,” Nipp said. “Job well done. Welcome home. Take a knee. And enjoy your family [time], you’ve earned it!”
