911th Engineer Company
The 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Company, formerly the MDW Engineer Company, is a unit of the United States Army that specialises in technical rescue, particularly urban search and rescue. It is the only technical rescue company in the United States Department of Defense. The 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Company is stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Company is assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion, Army Air Operations Group, Military District of Washington. The company is modeled after a Federal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search and Rescue Heavy Task Force. The company is certified in mine rescue and technical rescue, and specializes in trench, structural collapse, ropes, and confined space disciplines. It regularly trains with local, state, and federal first responders.
In 2001, the company following to the September 11 attacks on The Pentagon. The First Sergeant and Company Commander 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.
The company was on standby during the first inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009. In 2012 the company was equipped with heavy transport and dump trucks.
