FARGO — The 119th Civil Engineer Squadron for North Dakota’s Air National Guard was presented with the Colonel William L. Deneke Outstanding Civil Engineer Unit Award for excellence at the North Dakota Air National Guard base on Saturday, June 8.
The Deneke Award recognizes the unit of the 119th Wing, which has dubbed itself the Happy Hooligans, as outstanding civil engineer unit of the year, chosen out of nearly 100 civil engineer units across 54 states and territories for the period of Oct. 1, 2017-Sept. 30, 2018.
During this period, the 119th CES deployed 63 members for Air Expeditionary Force participation who were later recognized as the top unit in the 332nd Wing at its U.S. Air Forces Central Command location.
The 119th CES was also commended for rapidly mobilizing a disaster relief beddown set for airlift to the U.S. Virgin Islands following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the fall of 2017. This equipment provided vital shelter and services such as showers, laundry facilities, latrines, water purification, generators and power distribution for 150 people.
This is the second time the 119th CES has been presented with the Deneke Award — the first time was in 1997. North Dakota’s Air National Guard base houses one of only four civil engineer regional training sites in the country.
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