WASHINGTON –
The District of Columbia National Guard joins other agencies nationwide on Feb. 18 through Feb. 24 to celebrate 2024 National Engineers Week.
National Engineers Week was founded in 1951 by The National Society of Professional Engineers and is celebrated annually to coincide George Washington's Birthday. President Washington is seen as the nation's first engineer, especially for his survey work.
National Engineer Week was created to honor remarkable men and women in the engineer career field. The week is also a way to increase the discourse about the need for engineers while emphasizing the contributions engineers have made in society.
According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the theme for 2024 National Week Engineers week is “Welcome to the future! It’s about celebrating today’s achievement and paving the way for a brighter and more diverse future in engineering.”
The District of Columbia activated two engineer detachments in 2019, The 1380th Engineer Detachment and the 140th Engineer Detachment. The 1380th Engineer Detachment is the headquarters component for the 140th Drilling Engineer Detachment. Both units specialize in well drilling.
“We're a unique set of units,” said Capt. Chad Pickering, Commander, 1380 Engineer Detachment. “I believe there's less than 10 water well drilling units in the Army overall and they're all in the National Guard.”
The units will provide the District of Columbia National Guard with the ability provide water to areas that didn’t have access previously. The unit also trains in horizontal construction.
“Horizontal Engineering is important because we can set roads, build bridges and basically get you from here to there,” said James Porter, Horizontal Construction Engineer, 140th Detachment. “We are a well-drilling company that means we can also offer a humanitarian aspect for the DC Guard in addition to the other capabilities we offer.”
The District of Columbia National Guard celebrates the engineers in its ranks, as well as worldwide and are thankful for their service.