The 92nd Engineer Battalion, a tenant unit of the 3rd Infantry Division, cased its unit colors Thursday morning in a formal ceremony held on Fort Stewart’s Cottrell Field.

Braving strong, icy winds that battered the soldiers standing in formation and family members waiting in the reviewing stands, Black Diamonds’ commander Lt. Col. Ken Boggs and Command Sgt. Maj. Andrew Lonning cased the unit’s colors under the supervision of Col. James Raymer, commander, 20th Engineer Brigade, which is headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C.

“This is the sixth deployment of the 92nd Engineer Battalion since 2001,” Raymer told soldiers and family members. “I thank you for your sacrifices … In the Army, we never quit until the mission is complete.”

Raymer explained the engineers were the ones who built the infrastructure used by American forces in Afghanistan for more than 10 years. Now that American forces are preparing to leave that country, he said engineers were the ones who would break down that infrastructure and bring our equipment home.

In his own remarks, Boggs thanked everyone for attending the ceremony on a “chilly morning.” He specifically thanked special guests, including Brig. Gen. John Hort, 3rd ID deputy commanding general-rear, and Command Sgt. Maj. Jimmy Pegues, 3rd ID rear detachment command sergeant major.

Read more in the Feb. 2 edition of the News.