Here's how you know
 **Official websites use .mil** .mil
 **Secure .mil websites use HTTPS** lock () https://


Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 Toggle navigation
            
            
            
            
            National Guard
                        Always Ready Always There
                    National Guard
            
            Search National Guard:
                        Search
                    Search
                        Search National Guard:
                            Search
    Home

    News
    
        Guard News

    Overseas Operations

    State Partnership Program

    News Features

    RSS Feeds

    Press Releases

    Transcripts

    Features
    
        Features by Year

    Posture Statement

    State Partnership Program

    Special Features

    About the Guard
    
        How We Began

    Air National Guard

    Army National Guard    
    
        DEERS Soldier Journey

    Leader Development Program

    History and Heritage

    I am the Guard

    NGB Official March

    Leadership
    
        CNGB

    VCNGB

    SEA

    DANG

    DARNG

    Joint Staff    
    
        J-1

    J-2

    J-3

    J-4

    J-5

    J-6

    J-7

    J-8

    Personal Staff    
    
        Inspector General

    General Counsel

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        National Guard Office of Special Victims' Counsel

    Office of the Provost Marshal

    Office of the Joint Surgeon

    Director of Acquisitions

    Small Business Programs

    Chaplain

    Senior Leader Management Office

    Diversity Equity Inclusion

    Comptroller

    Resources    
        National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance

    Community Engagement

    FOIA

    Fact Sheets

    Helpful Links

    Image Gallery
    
        News Images

    Graphics

    Historical Paintings

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Legislative Liaison

    Small Business Programs

    Social Media

    State Websites

    Videos    
    
        Featured Videos

    On Every Front

    2019 Videos

    2020 Videos

    2021 Videos

    Suicide Prevention

    Family Programs

    Environmental

    Trial Defense Service

    Holistic Wellness Challenge

    Contact Us  Home
  News
  Overseas Operations
 
 Download
 Details
 Share
 NEWS
 Beyond the Horizons builds schools and partnerships By Donna Miles
                American Forces Press Service
 SONSONATE, El Salvador - About 1,400 National Guard, reserve and active-duty Soldiers and Airmen working side by side with their counterparts from four other militaries are building a lot more than four new schoolhouses in remote El Salvadoran communities. With each concrete slab laid, each earthquake-resistant wall raised and each corrugated aluminum roof put into place, many recognize that they are building new hope and opportunity for the people of El Salvador – and new bonds that, like the schools they are building, will last a lifetime. Army Lt. Col Raymond Valas, commander of Joint Task Force Jaguar, is overseeing the Beyond the Horizons 2013 mission in El Salvador. In addition to construction projects in four communities in the country's Sonsonate and Ahuachapan states, it includes two medical exercises, a dental exercise and two veterinary exercises, all conducted by engineering, medical, dental and veterinary professionals from the U.S., El Salvadoran, Colombian, Chilean and Canadian militaries. Valas called the multinational participation one of the most important aspects of the mission, led by U.S. Army South in support of U.S. Southern Command's theater engagement efforts. All, he said, are working together in demanding conditions to accomplish a common goal. He recalled walking the construction site for a new school in Las Marias, and marveling at how easily a U.S. Soldier, a Colombian Soldier, two Chilean Soldiers and a Salvadoran Soldier pulled together to pour concrete in sweltering 120 degree temperatures. "No one put them together in that way. It was just a group of engineers from different countries, getting together to get the mission done," he said. "And all the differences between us kind of melt away as we focus on the task at hand. You take your motivation from one another, and it has an overall impact on our Soldiers that just can't be measured."
The new construction projects are quickly becoming the prides of their local communities. One, in rural El Taramindo, includes two new classrooms, a bathroom with flushing toilets and running water and storage space. "We used to have a lack of almost everything," said Raquel Ruano, describing the old structure, a refabricated building that turned into an oven under unrelenting summer temperatures and flooded during every rainfall. The school had become the butt of jokes in neighboring communities, but now Ruano and her students can barely wait to move into the shiny new blue-and-white structure that will replace it. "We are so very thankful," she said, gathering with the children to watch the progress taking place. "Now we feel whole." A second project, in Rancho San Marcos, consists of a two-room schoolhouse and latrine, including running water, a septic system and grading to divert standing water toward a nearby river. "It's a lot of hard work, and it's very hot," acknowledged Army Staff Sgt. R.W. Lemmons, a Wisconsin National Guard Soldier serving as the site's noncommissioned officer in charge. But as he walked the site, past the tired-looking brick school directly behind the new building, Lemmons said all that is quickly forgotten when he sees the excitement among the local children. "When you see the smiling faces of the kids, it makes it all worth it," he said. "This is going to be forever." The largest construction site, in Las Marias, consists of a new, three-room school, latrine and kitchen. The community has no school, and local children had to walk almost an hour along a dangerous roadway to attend classes in a neighboring town. Army Sgt. Anthony Rorick, a New Hampshire National Guard member serving as the site project manager, admits to a paternal tug at his heartstrings when he talks about what the new structure will mean to the local children. As a new father whose child was born just a week before he deployed here in late March, Rorick said, he's found particular reward in helping to give other children a better future. "The gratification is knowing that we are doing something important for the people in this community," he said. "It makes what we are doing really rewarding work." The final construction project, in El Castano, consists of new latrines to replace dilapidated outhouses at the schoolhouse there. With the Soldiers and Airmen on schedule to complete the projects within the next two weeks, Valas said their most lasting memories will be those formed in the local communities, especially with the children. "They build real friendships, and there is mutual admiration and a sense of respect that goes two ways," he said. "The kids in the neighborhoods are so happy that they are going to have a new school to study in, and there is a lot of excitement about that," Valas said. "And I think our Soldiers gain a respect for the folks in those communities – their day-to-day lives, what their joys and their hardships are. A real bond is built there, and I think that is something we will all take with us when we leave here that will last a lifetime." Those bonds are particularly strong for members of the New Hampshire National Guard, a 12-year partner with El Salvador through the Guard's State Partnership Program. Valas, for example, and his senior noncommissioned officer, Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Speltz, first came to El Salvador through that program in 2002. The New Hampshire Guard now conducts more than a dozen exchanges with El Salvadoran military and government representatives every year. "So we have a real stake in what we are doing here," Valas said. "We know that we are coming back to El Salvador," he added, noting that this provides an even greater incentive to do the best job possible. "We are going to come back and see those results," he said. "We won't just build it and then walk away." For many of the other Beyond the Horizon participants, one of the difficulties is leaving at the end of their scheduled rotations without getting to see their projects through to completion. "A little of their heart stays here," Valas said. Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Infante, a Maine National Guardsman who arrived here in May for his two-week annual training, ended up volunteering to finish out the exercise as noncommissioned officer in charge of all four construction programs. Infante said he loves watching the projects take shape, and the problem-solving and decision-making that goes into it. "This is the best training you can get," he said. But the greatest satisfaction, he added, is knowing the long-term impact the schools will have on their communities. "It all begins with education. And if we can do something to make it easier for the society to educate their kids, then that is a big step in the right direction," he said. Valas said everyone involved in the mission recognizes the role they have played in helping to educate El Salvador's future generation. "And if any of our Soldiers should pass through El Salvador again, they are going to know that their work there, and the sweat and labor they put into building those schools, is something they can take pride in forever," he said. A second Beyond the Horizons 2013 exercise is underway in Panama, and a sister mission, New Horizons 2013, is taking place in Belize.
 SHARE
 PRINT
 NY National Guard Strengthens Bonds with Allies in Morocco Overseas Operations • 6 days ago
 Alaska Guard Soldiers Honored Before Middle East Deployment Overseas Operations • 13 days ago
 29th Infantry Division HQ Heads Exercise Immediate Response Overseas Operations • 18 days ago
 134th Medical Company Joins Combined Resolve Exercise Overseas Operations • 19 days ago
 Guard Soldiers, Czech Partners Celebrate Victory in Europe Day Overseas Operations • 21 days ago
 2024 (24)  2023 (57)  2022 (71)  2021 (58)  2020 (41)  2019 (56)  2018 (55)  2017 (46)  2016 (31)  2015 (36)  2014 (48)  2013 (64)  2012 (134)  2011 (163)  2010 (179)
 Home
 Site Map
 Privacy & Security Policy
 Link Disclaimer
 Web Policy
 DOD Information Quality
 DOD Open GovernmentFOIA
 No FEAR Act
 Accessibility/Section 508
 Contact Us
 Army Guard Careers
 Air Guard Careers
 USA.gov
                    
Staying Connected
    XYouTubeFlickrFacebookInstagram
                 
                
                

Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil