[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24303-24304]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   WELCOMING BACK THE 202ND RED HORSE

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I stand today to recognize and welcome the 
return of the last group of the 202nd RED HORSE Squadron, Florida's Air 
National Guard engineer unit. They are headquartered at Camp Blanding, 
which is in my congressional district. The remaining members arrived on 
Friday, October 3, completing a deployment that began with its 
activation in January and subsequent deployment the following February.
  RED HORSE stands for Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational 
Repair Squadron Engineers; and, as the name suggests, these members are 
the workhorses for the military's heavy construction and engineering. 
The 202nd was relied upon as part of the first Expeditionary RED HORSE 
group to complete the myriad of construction projects needed to ensure 
Central Command and its forces accomplished its underlying mission. One 
of the more notable projects was the repair of the Baghdad 
International Airport.
  I had the opportunity to meet a number of these individuals and have 
in my congressional office the red hard hat that was signed by members 
of this unit. So I am thankful and proud of their service. Mr. Speaker, 
I welcome them home.

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