Calumet Engineer Company recognized for National Guard excellence

Calumet’s 1431st Engineer Company is being hailed for its excellent track record. Using the Guard’s Key Performance Indicators tool, the national organization has determined the UP unit is the best of its kind in the country. There are approximately 30 engineering companies in the United States. According to a press release, “Combat engineers…maintain proficiency in multiple engineering duties such as facilitating movement and logistical support of allied forces while disrupting those of enemy forces.”

Brigadier General Lawrence Schloegl, assistant adjutant general and deputy director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, says, “The 1431st Engineer Company has excelled at major training exercises and maintaining mission readiness which has contributed to their successful support of our missions both here at home and abroad. Unit readiness is imperative to capably support assigned missions and through their outstanding effort, they have illustrated why they are the best in the country.”

Captain Alexander Sackmann is the company’s commander. He says, “This amazing accomplishment would not have been possible without the sacrifice of our Soldiers and families, both past and present, and the outstanding support of the local community and employers.”

Sackmann says, “When our national leaders called, we supported operations along the Southwest Border and Washington, D.C. At the height of the COVID pandemic, our Soldiers distributed emergency supplies across the Western Upper Peninsula and then transitioned to supporting testing and vaccinations across the entire state.”