field outfit in the entire Army to receive the state-of-the-art Engineer Mission Module equipment. It is carried on a Palletized Loading System. Different types of heavy construction equipment can be quickly hoisted onto flatbed trucks and trailers and hauled through rugged terrain. Delivery of the six trucks, six trailers, a dozen 12-yard dump bodies, three concrete mixers and three bituminous spreaders from the Oshkosh Truck Corporation in Wisconsin is making this Maine battalion the premier engineer outfit in the Army until other units receive and learn to use similar equipment. Approximately 200 active Army, Guard and Army Reserve engineer units will get the new modular equipment during the next five years. The 133rd has been modernized with nearly $7 million worth of road-building and battlefield engineer equipment since 1998 when it received nine new 20-ton dump trucks. Three hydraulic excavators, two all-terrain forklifts, three all-terrain cranes, eight vibrating rollers, and three triangular-tracked D-7 bulldozers with blades that are automatically adjusted with lasers have also been added to the 133rd?s inventory as part of the Army Modernization Program. The National Guard and Army Reserve, now have 73 percent of the Army?s engineer assets. MAJ GEN Joseph Tinkham II has been part of the change. He became Maine?s new adjutant general on Monday, May 1, succeeding retired MG Earl Adams. It was the week that the world observed the 25th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Tinkham, 52, was an Army artillery officer on the Cambodian border in Vietnam in 1968-69 when the National Guard did not take such an active part in the Army?s worldwide operations. ?That the Guard is the first to field this new equipment is among the fruits of the One Army partnership that was planted several years ago,? observed Tinkham who joined the Maine Guard in 1972. Maine Engineers – (Continued) The military saw something that wasn?t obvious to me,? said Tinkham who was drafted in December 1966 and who earned his commission at Fort Sill, OK, the following year.

?I became a more responsible individual because the Army gave me responsibility.? The 30-piece modular package will, among other things, enable the battalion?s engineers to haul two loads of gravel on the trucks and trailers at the same time. Other possibilities include hauling a concrete mixer and a load of gravel to a construction site in one trip. The concrete mixer can be unloaded and operated independently while the truck and trailer bring in more gravel. ?Each truck and trailer can carry 16 and a half tons,? explained Tom Larson, one of the two trainers from Oshkosh. ?These trucks can ford through four feet of water, and they?ll go about anywhere that tracked vehicles will go.? The most obvious comparison is with the heavy-duty trucks, known as HEMTTs, which are also built by Oshkosh and that earned their spurs while transporting fuel and supplies throughout Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War nearly a decade ago. The Palletized Loading System is even more sophisticated. Four separate computers regulate the engine, transmission, loading system and tires, Larson explained. The trucks feature five-speed, push-button transmissions. The 10 four-foot tires can be inflated or deflated to adjust to different terrain while the trucks are rolling, he added. If you have driven a HEMTT, you have a pretty good idea of how these new trucks ride and handle. 112th Medical Company (Air Ambulance) returns from overseas deployment In August of 1999, members of the National Guard, family, and friends waved good-bye to the 112th with tears of sadness. On the 31st of March, they were welcomed back with tears of happiness. The unit?s professionalism was evident throughout the mission, as they provided medical air evacuation for the Multi National Division, North. 152nd Maintenance Company goes to Iowa for AT period On April 8th, the Maine Army National Guard?s 152nd Maintenance Company, consisting of 120 soldiers, flew via an Air National Guard C130 aircraft to Camp Dodge Iowa, to begin their annual training. 152nd Maintenance Company goes to Iowa – (Continued) The 152nd, participates in a four year rotation, one year they go to NTC, National Training Center, the next year to Fort Erwin, CA, the following year to Germany, then to