The 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Company, formerly the MDW (Military District of Washington) Engineer Company, is a unit of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

that specialises in

technical rescue Technical rescue is the use of specialised tools and skills for rescue, including vehicle extrication, confined space rescue, rope rescue, trench rescue, structural collapse rescue, water rescue, and wilderness search and rescue. These often requi ...

, particularly

urban search and rescue Urban search and rescue (abbreviated as USAR or US&R) is a type of technical rescue operation that involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in an urban area, namely structural collapse due to natu ...

(US&R). It is the only technical rescue company in the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

. The 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Company is stationed at

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fai ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. The 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Company is assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion, Army Air Operations Group,

Military District of Washington The United States Army Military District of Washington (MDW) is one of nineteen major commands of the United States Army. Its headquarters are located at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. The missions of the units in the Military Distri ...

. The company is modeled after a

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA) Urban Search and Rescue Heavy Task Force. The company is certified in

mine rescue Mine rescue or mines rescue is the specialised job of rescuing miners and others who have become trapped or injured in underground mines because of mining accidents, roof falls or floods and disasters such as explosions. Background Mining law ...

and

, and specializes in trench, structural collapse, ropes, and

confined space A confined space is a space with limited entry and egress and not suitable for human inhabitants. An example is the interior of a storage tank, occasionally entered by maintenance workers but not intended for human occupancy. Hazards in a confined ...

disciplines. It regularly trains with local, state, and federal first responders. In 2001, the company responded immediately to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

. The First Sergeant and

Company Commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by country, ...

moved the company to the disaster site without waiting for orders and spent 10 days engaged in search and rescue operations. The unit was re-designated as the 911th United States Army Technical Rescue Engineer Company on 11 September 2006, in memory of its historic role in the subsequent recovery effort. 911th Engineer Co

The company was on standby during the

first inauguration of Barack Obama The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The 56th inauguration, which set a record attendanc ...

in 2009, and since then has been prepared for numerous other events within the

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

. In 2012 the company was equipped with heavy transport and dump trucks.

References

{{Reflist

External links

911 heritage day
Engineering units and formations of the United States Army Military in Washington, D.C. Engineer 911 Engineer companies