From staff reports

In a ceremony today in Baghdad, 70 members of the Vicksburg-based 412th Engineer Command turned over their duties to the Darien, Ill.-based 416th Engineer Command.

Both commands are major components of the U.S. Army Reserve Command and both have had multiple deployments.

The event in the International Zone started the process of returning the members of the Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment of the 412th to Camp Shelby in Mississippi and then releasing them  to their homes and civilian jobs. No precise timetable for the demobilization was announced.

In the ceremony 1st Lt. Justin Green, the outgoing commander, passed the unit guidon to Capt. Brandon Crull, the incoming commander, in an afternoon ceremony overseen by Col. Paul Legere, the Gulf Region Division chief of staff. Maj. Gen. Michael Eyre, commanding general of the Gulf Region Division, and his Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Prater were at the ceremony.

The 412th continent has been deployed for one year, leaving Vicksburg after a ceremony in January.

In Iraq, they have been working in support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division, which has headquarters in Baghdad directing the work of North, Central and South districts.

As in the United States, the Corps’ mission has been dominated by civil works, including rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq, establishing the facilities necessary to provide basic services such as electricity, water, health and education.

The Gulf Region Division is composed of nearly 600 civilians and military personnel.

With more than 4,000 projects valued at $6.9 billion already complete and another $2.6 billion for approximately 400 projects under way, the division’s mission has been to work with Iraqi partners to assure basic services are available.