Golden Coyotes, golden opportunities

Over the past few weeks, military convoys could be seen driving across hundreds of miles of Western South Dakota highways. Some of those convoys carried members of the Golden Coyote Training Program, the South Dakota National Guard’s largest and longest-running training program.

“Golden Coyotes provides reserve forces from the U.S. Army, Navy and active-duty Air Force with realistic training opportunities in support of overseas contingency operations and homeland defense,” said Maj. Anthony Deiss, director of Public Affairs with the SDNG.

Members of the 842nd Engineer Company, the Northern Hills unit based in Belle Fourche, Spearfish and Sturgis, South Dakota, embarked on a project to improve a three-quarter-mile stretch of road near the Sanford Underground Research Facility’s Waste Water Treatment Plant.

“When we get heavy rains or a lot of snow, it can cause real problems,” said Dan Regan, surface operations foreman at Sanford Lab. “The road washes out sometimes due to the slope and shape and makes access to the Waste Water Treatment Plant difficult and sometimes dangerous, especially in the winter when ice builds up.”

The Golden Coyote team assigned to Sanford Lab bivouacked on site from June 11 through June 21. They spent 8-10 hours daily grading the road and laying 650 tons of road base, a gravel mixture donated by Barrick Gold Corporation from a stockpile at Grizzly Gulch.

“We’re extremely happy with the project the Golden Coyotes did for Sanford Lab,” Regan said. “The road and the water drainage are in much better shape.” Regan said he hopes to be able to work with the SDNG on future Sanford Lab projects.

The project is just one of dozens of engineer projects carried out throughout the state by this unique National Guard exercise, which has been in operation for 33 years. In Custer State Park, they built a new footbridge from the Visitor Center to the Black Hills Playhouse, allowing access to different areas of the park. In Custer Gallatin National Forest, which covers more than 3 million acres across Montana and South Dakota, they helped build roads.

“The public really benefits from these programs,” Deiss said.

The Golden Coyotes also focus on humanitarian missions. Through the timber haul, which they’ve done for 10 years, they deliver timber from the Black Hills National Forest to reservation communities throughout Western and Central South Dakota.

“It’s a great mission in and of itself,” Deiss said. “It helps us strengthen relationships with our tribal communities. And the timber provides wood for ceremonial and construction purposes.”

This year alone, the Guard traveled 164,000 miles to deliver 430 loads of timber to 19 locations on five reservations: Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, Crow Creek, Rosebud and Pine Ridge.

“We love to do this,” Deiss added.

Organizations go through an approval process to see if they meet the criteria of the program, the guard supplies manpower and equipment to help them complete projects.

“It’s a direct benefit to members of the Guard and reserves,” Deiss said. “It gives them tremendous opportunities to gain real-world experience in real-world settings through a variety of projects that broaden and expand their skills.”

But it’s also a real benefit to the organizations, said both Diess and Regan.

“You know, I was asked who got the best benefit,” Regan said. “They said they did, I say we did. I guess it’s a win-win for both of us.”