Karen Rados returns from duty in poverty-stricken Uzbekistan
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Rados, 33, is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and the commander of 728th Engineering Detachment, a 44-man and woman unit based out of Bardstown, Ky. During their time overseas, the unit’s members supported troops in Uzbekistan and neighboring Afghanistan.
Activated last July, the 728th spent three months training at Fort Knox, Ky. before deploying to Uzbekistan. Upon arriving there, Rados said it was like stepping back in time.
“It’s really a pre-industrial nation,” she said. “They’re trying to change that, but it’s an antiquated process. It was like being taken back 200 years. We had to learn a whole new system.”
An engineering unit, the men and women of the 728th spent their time working on construction projects like creating roads and buildings, and completing base camp maintenance projects. Rados said her group faced many challenges, which were exacerbated by the unit’s small size.
“We had to do more with less and we never ran out of work. Our biggest constraints came in getting materials,” she said. Asked about the current campaign in Iraq, the 11-year veteran said it has gone well so far and described her view as “cautious optimism.”
“It’s only been three weeks and we’re already in Baghdad. I am surprised it’s been so short. I thought they would put up more of a fight than that,” she said. “We’ve seen some causalities, but all things considered, they’re acceptable losses.”
She added she does not anticipate her engineering unit will be sent to Iraq anytime soon, but noted a mass rebuilding project will need to be undertaken when the military campaign ends.
A resident of Murfreesboro and a researcher with Vanderbilt Medical Center in civilian life, Rados is the daughter of Everett and Carol Rutledge.