A National Guard unit at a glance

— E Company is the engineer company of the 120th Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, North Carolina National Guard. The unit conducts a variety of tasks including clearing routes, destroying obstacles and base construction. The 76-man company also conducts basic combat operations, from patrols to clearing buildings.

The unit mobilized and deployed to eastern Iraq from October 2003 to January 2005. During that deployment, E Company primarily cleared routes, destroyed old ammunition dumps from the Iran-Iraq war and built several forward operating bases.

Most of the soldiers are part-time warriors, but the unit includes three soldiers who serve full-time. E Company is led by 1st Lt. Jay E. Janavice.