august 2014 battalion frg newsletter 3-116 cav

7/21/2019 August 2014 Battalion FRG Newsletter 3-116 CAV

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After our first three-day drill in June, Iam extremely impressed with the ability of

your Soldiers to quickly transition from

their normal lives and accomplish so much

in so little time. I fully recognize that these

Soldiers and leaders could not make this happen

without your support and sacrifice, and thank you.

I also want to thank Jessica for donating her time

and energy to managing the battalion family pro-

gram, this newsletter and other programs.

Families are very important to me and I need your help. I want to help

and strengthen the family program and our relationship within our commu-

nities. What Jessica and I need is your ideas of how we can help you.

This is brainstorming, so feel free to tell me what and how you feel,

good and bad. I promise no reprisals against you or your Soldier. Spe-

cifically, I am looking for low-cost ideas that help families bond, im-

prove our communications and mutually support each other while teaching the skills necessary to build re-

siliency and a better life for everyone. More than anything else, we

need you to volunteer and help us build a program and connection we

can all be proud of.

Annual Training is coming in August and this is a long one. The Soldiers will be performing their duties

in an austere environment which may make communications difficult. Since we will not be operating from

bases, power supplies and down time will be at a premium. This is not meant to be a punishment; it is

meant to test and train them how to focus on their warrior skills under difficult and challenging condi-

tions. If an emergency occurs and you cannot reach your soldier, please contact your FRG coordinator for

further action. Serious crisis that require the Soldier to be pulled from training will go through the Red

Cross as they do during deployments. Thank you and Sine Mora!

COMMANDERSMESSAGE

LTC Brian Dean

3-116 CAV F AMILY PROGRAM N EWSLETTER

AUGUST2014

PAGE ONEOn the Cover: Commanders MessageLTC Brian Dean, Commanding

PAGE TWOAnnual Training in Our Sights

Jessica Specht, BN FRG Leader

Red Cross Emergency Instructions

PAGE THREEKids Craft: All About the Flag

Sarah Singleton, Volunteer

Photos from July Drill

PAGE FOURAnnual Training FAQ

CPT Christopher Miller, Battalion S1

PAGE FIVECommand Sergeant Majors Corner

CSM Ron Bloker, 3-116 CAV

FRG Coordinator & Contact List

I am very impressed with the

ability of your Soldiers.


2/5

A

s we approach Annual Training,

there are many unanswered ques-

tions for the families and

friends of Soldiers. Some of thequestions I ve asked my own soldier are,

Where are you going to be, exactly?

Why is AT so much long this year?

Will you have your cell phone with you?

In this issue, Captain Miller, one of the

Battalion s full-time staff, and I attempt

to answer the most commonly asked questions. If there s any questions

you have that we don t answer, please contact me, your local FRG

leader or the unit s full-time staff to get them answered.

We re also getting closer to

our units annual summer fam-

ily barbecues. We need assis-

tance not just from our offi-

cial volunteers; we need you

to step forward to make your

FRG the best it can be for your unit, its families and you! I under-

stand that a lot of hesitance to assist the FRG can come from past ex-

periences drama. What I promise you is that the Battalion does

not promote or endorse negativity in its programs and the unit Command-

ers are highly motivated to eliminate these problems. If you come for-

ward, not only can you make it better and gain a great opportunity to

become closer to your military commu-

nity, but you help our FRG leaders do

so much to keep our great programs and

events going for everyone.

If you haven t met your FRG leader

before or aren t familiar with your

Soldier s unit, this is a great time

of the year to do so! The FRGs are al-

ways looking for new people with new

ideas and energy to assist with put-

ting events together. And there s

never anything more fun than having a

barbecue with a bunch of Soldiers and

their families that is, unless you

were a part of making it happen!

-Jessica Specht, BN FRG Coordinator

ANNUALTRAININGINOURSIGHTS

Theres never anything more fun

than having a barbecue with a

bunch of Soldiers and their fami-

liesthat is, unless you were a

part of making it happen!

Major emergencies that require

Soldiers to be removed from

training to return home must be

processed through the American

Red Cross.

If you require this service,

please complete the following

steps to ensure most rapid

processing:

1. Immediately contact your

local FRG leader. If you

dont have an FRG leader,

contact Jessica Specht or the

units NCOs or Commander.

(See page 4 of this newsletter for

a complete list of FRG leaders

and their contact information.)

2. Call the Red Cross:

(877) 272-7337

Be prepared with the following

information:

Full legal name of service

member

Rank

Branch-Oregon Army Na-

tional Guard

Social Security Number

Date of Birth

Military Unit Address

Information about the unit

in this case, soldiers are at

Annual Training at OCTC in

Idaho.

In Case of Emergency ...

Submissions

Wanted!

Since the FRG is all about Fami-lies, this Newsletter is only

made possible by the Soldiers,volunteers and family members

of 3-116 CAV.

To help make this publicationbetter, please consider submit-

ting your:

Photos from Drill

Ideas for Improvement andUseful Articles

The Names of OutstandingCommunity or Military Vol-

unteers

Direct emails to Jessica Specht

[email protected]


3/5

On the Cover: The view from the top of aBradley looking over the Umatilla Army Depot.

A big thank you to everyone who submitted photos!

This craft is a perfect opportunity to teach yourchild about the history of the flag and the purpose behind

its specific number of stars, stripes, andthe coloring. The poemAmerican Flag byErin Ryan does a great job of explainingthis creatively if you want to go all theway!

Items Needed: 1 thin canvas, preferably, or very

heavy paper 1 package (50+) foil stars

Masking tape Non-toxic acrylic or finger paints Brushes, if desired.

Step One:Adhere the strips of maskingtape to the canvas, ensuring that the stripsfollow the picture at bottom-right.

Step Two: Peel and stick the 50 stars, alternating the rows.Step Three: Give your child units of red and blue paint, andencourage them to paint the cor-rect areas.

Step Four: Let dry, then peelaway the foil stars and maskingtape to reveal their own flag!

Special thanks go out to

Sarah Singleton from Char-

lie Company who donatedher time and efforts to cre-

ating and photographing

this craft for our newsletter!

KidsCraft

ALLABOUTTHEFLAG

Aboveleft:A

Chinookhel

icopterin

flightand,at

center,thein

teriorwith

infantrymen

boundforfie

ldtraining.

SOMEPHOTOSFROMJULY!Below:ThepleasedDeAndaboyswiththeirPatrioticPrintcraftfromtheJulyNewsletter.


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Can I contact my Soldier at AT?

It is important to remember that

your Soldier must remain focused

on their mission. Distractions

from home can be detrimental to

training and can even become dan-

gerous. Ensure that you have a

plan in place to be self suffi-cient while your soldier is away

from home. When circumstances per-

mit, your Soldier will be able to

call you.

Can they take pictures for us?

They certainly may. How they get

them to you will be a function of

their personal electronics capa-

bility.

What do I do if I have an emergency

and need them?You can contact them on their per-

sonal cell and call the Red Cross

if the situation requires

it. See Red Cross instruc-

tions for major emergencies

on page 2.

How does Annual Training (AT)

differ from standard monthly

drills?

Annual Training is field-

focused. Your Soldier will

be spending their time at AT

under austere conditions. They

will be living on their vehicles,

in tents or out in the elements,

depending on their job. Comfort

items will be limited to what they

can carry.

Why is it so long this year?

AT was lengthened this year be-

cause of where we are in the five

year Army Force Generation

(ARFORGEN) training cycle. This is

the year we assess our tactical

and technical proficiency during

eXportable Combat Training Capab-

lity (xCTC) before deployment year

of the cycle to the National

Training Center (NTC) next year.Where will they be?

Soldiers will be training at the

Orchard Combat Training Center

(OCTCalso known as Gowen Field)

near Boise, Idaho. This is a na-

tionally renowned training site

operated by the Idaho National

Guard which offers premier train-

ing facilities. OCTC allows the

entire battalion to train together

and train on all of its equipmentand weapons systems. There is not

a training site in Oregon that af-

fords this opportunity.

Are the Soldiers always eating MREs?

MREs will definitely be a staple,

but our Forward Support Company

will break up

the monotony with some hot chow.

How often do they sleep?

Leaders within your Soldiers

unit know that sleep is a key

piece of keeping them sharp and

motivated and will get them as

much rest as the mission allows.

What are the best parts about OCTC?

The worst parts?

OCTC s most endearing qualities

are its training facilities and

the world class training opportu-

nities they provide. Other than

that, it is hot, desolate, dusty

and miserable.

What is the climate like?

Hot, desolate, dusty and miser-

able. Seriously, though, the

training area is high desert with

dry grass, sage brush, volcanic

rock, lots of dust, antelope,

deer, badgers, ground squirrels,

snakes, spiders and, in the sum-

mer, high temperatures in

the upper nineties. Every

once in a while, a thunder-

storm will roll through to

break up the monotony.

What will my Soldier want andneed most when he gets back?

A shower and sleep.

What are the best ways for them

to decompress? Will they need to de-

compress?

This depends on your Soldier. They

may want to sleep for a week, or

go on vacation. Ask them what they

need.

Soldiers from Alpha Company board a Chinook helicopterduring June drill for the trip to OCTC outside Boise, Idaho.

CONTACT

TRAINING

LIFEATOCTC

SOLDIERRECOVERY

ANNUALTRAININGFAQwith Captain Christopher Miller

Serving as the Battalions full-time S1, supervising personnel, and as the Commander of the

tankers at Charlie Company in Ontario, Captain Miller is a very knowledgeable and familiar

face to most of the Soldiers in 3-116 CAV. He also assists the Battalion FRG as the Military

Point of Contact. He answered our list of what we thought may be the most prominent ques-

tions in the minds of families as we head into AT.


5/5

CSMSCORNERWith the Battalions Own Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Ron Bloker

Families of 3-116 Soldiers,

I want to thank each of you foryour continued support of your

Soldiers. I understand that Sol-

diers and Families sacrifice a lot

in the service of our country. I

also

want to

recog-

nize

the work and efforts of our volun-

teers. The FRG Leaders at the

Companies and at Battalion, and

the individual family, friends,

and community organizations that

arrive to help with birthday cele-

brations, food boxes and family

events. None of these things can

happen without the tireless ef-

forts. With deep appreciation,

Thank You!

Our Annual Training (AT) is around

the corner, as I'm sure youknow. Our Soldiers have a very

full training schedule this

AT. They will be starting

their training in small units

working up to Company size

operations. The training and

lessons learned during AT are

the foundation for the full

Battalion operations next

year. This is the first time

since 2002 that we've had an op-

portunity to train at this

level. It is a very exciting

time. I encourage you to ask

about the training tasks and your

Soldiers role in the upcoming op-

erations. Every Soldier plays a

critical role in the success of

the Battalion.

As we finalize the training sched-

ule and events for the 2015 Train-ing Year (TY15) that begins in Oc-

tober, I know some people are al-

ready asking about the family

events. It is important to in-

clude families

as they are such

an important

part of the suc-

cess of the Com-

panies and the Battalion. The

significant change to the trainingschedule is December's drill,

which is often a home station

drill filled with mandatory brief-

ings. This next December will be

spent preparing for a very full

gunnery train-up. This means that

individual Companies will be look-

ing for non-traditional ways to

include families around the holi-

days. I encourage you to contact

your unit FRG leadership to help

with the development of the upcom-

ing events. Unit Commanders need

input to help direct events that

include as many families as possi-

ble.

I hope you all have had some time

to spend with your families and

maybe enjoy some of the great

weather that we've had

lately. August is going to be

busy and likely hot.

Best Wishes,

and Sine Mora! (Without Delay!)

This is the first time since 2002 that

weve had an opportunity to train at this

level. It is a very exciting time.

Companies will be looking for non-

traditional ways to include families

around the holidays Contact your

unit FRG to help.

CSM Ronald [email protected]

HHC (La Grande): SFC Shannon Hively

Phone: 541-963-4411

Email: [email protected]

2/F (La Grande): SSG Phillip Rice

Phone: 541-490-8135


A Company (The Dalles): Nancy

DeAnda


B Company (Woodburn): SFC Avery Kerr

Phone: 503-939-0565


C Company (Ontario): Marcy Bybee

Phone: 208-739-1801


D Company (Hermiston): Rachel Siller


F Company (Baker City): SSG Andrew

Vowell

Phone: 541-519-3792


Or [email protected]/HHC (Pendleton): SSG Michael White

Phone: 541-861-9142


2/HHC & 2/F (Hood River): Terri Han-

sen

Phone: 541-400-0515

Battalion FRG Coordinator: Jessica

Specht


Please contact Jessica Specht if you are unable toreach your volunteer or the units designated soldier.

FRG Leaders or

Soldier Contacts

are below!Where soldiers are listed, we do nothave volunteers. Consider volunteering!

august 2014 battalion frg newsletter 3-116 cav

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