Welcome to all! I hope all our Fathers out there had

a wonderful Father‟s Day! The weather in Iraq re-

mains fairly much the same every day – or as they

say here,…. “Safya Dafya” (Clear and Warm – very

warm). We get varying degrees of dust storms, so

it is not always so clear either! When you read this,

we will be knee deep into our

move to COB Adder. It has been

a great deal of work, and as you

can guess, a bit frustrating to eve-

ryone as well. Folks don‟t have

their same working environment

available to them; computers

have to be shared by many, and

your desk is normally replaced by

an Army “field desk”, or a small

piece of wood on make-shift

stands, or a really cheap plastic

table – that sort of thing. Life will get back to nor-

mal once the containers are unpacked – something

we can all look forward to!

Our new teammates (74th EN CO, 389th EN CO) are

all on board now and have settled into somewhat

routine operations – nothing is ever “routine” here,

but they have at least established their preferred

patterns of life in Iraq. I want to take this opportu-

nity to remind everyone that we will remain very

busy until the absolute end of Operation New

Dawn; Engineers and Logisticians always bear a

lion‟s share of the burden when large numbers of

troops move – we need to keep the bridges up, the

potholes patched and the roads free from bombs,

and also make sure that Soldiers have a decent

place to lay their head down at night, as they move

out to Kuwait and their final destination. By now,

…… it should be very clear to all that we will com-

plete a full 12 month (1 year) tour in Iraq, regardless

of whether or not Iraq asks US Forces to remain.

CSM Kendrick and I are continually amazed and

extremely proud of all the work the Soldiers of the

20th Engineer Brigade have done: across every unit,

across every component, across every service, and

every skill set whether it is bridging, counter IED,

construction, power generation, or the numer-

ous support activities that keep us all going.

Last month, our team showed their true value,

strength, and responsiveness when we were

asked to provide immediate assistance to a

small outpost in Baghdad that was viciously

attacked by enemy rockets –

an attack which caused nu-

merous casualties and tre-

mendous devastation on the

base. Within 24 hours of the

attack our team was on site,

setting up operations to pro-

vide clean up and debris re-

moval and get the base back

to an operational condition.

Under the superb leadership

of LTC Pat Kinsman and the

326th EN BN and the 467th EPBS and LTC

Larry Harris - with a joint task force of Soldiers

and Airmen, we rapidly brought a small sem-

blance of normalcy back to this group of Sol-

diers; and every one of them expressed ap-

preciation for our efforts and compassion dur-

ing this very trying time. The entire US Forces

-Iraq (USF-I) leadership team from GEN Aus-

tin on down has heaped praise on the team‟s

efforts; you should be very proud of your Sol-

dier or Airman – I know that I am!

I would ask everyone to enjoy the upcoming

4th of July weekend. As military Families -

you certainly feel the significant sacrifices that

are made in the name of Freedom, and I

would encourage you to share that with others

as you are out and about. Everyday Ameri-

cans can never be reminded enough that free-

dom is not free – never let that phrase ring

hollow. Thank you for all you do and for all

you sacrifice for the freedom of our great Na-

tion!

“GET THERE!” -Castle 6

COL Richard G. Kaiser

BRIGADE COMMANDER’s CORNER

CASTLE COURIER

C A S T L E C O U R I E R V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 5

BDE CSM Pg 2

CHAPLIN Pg 2

ATA-E Pg 3

LEGAL Pg 4

HHC OPS Pg 5

SAPPER-

EAGLES

Pg 6

380th ESC Pg 7

HHC 20th Pg 7

CONTACT

INFO

Pg 8

INSIDE

THIS

ISSUE:

P A G E 2

BRIGADE CSM Hello again to all the Families, friends

and Soldiers of the mighty 20th Engineer

Brigade. The summer has arrived at

Balad and the heat is here to stay, but

our Soldiers are doing the right thing by

staying hydrated. Just when the Sol-

diers seem to be comfortable with their

surroundings, we have packed up our

equipment so we can relocate to COB

Adder. The move and the upcoming

challenges will definitely keep our Sol-

diers busy as we establish our duties as

Mayor at Adder.

Castle 6 and I had the pleasure of

watching the 299th conduct a transfer of

authority ceremony (TOA) with the 74th

bridge company out of Fort Hood, TX.

We also witnessed 2LT Ashley

Nievescrus get promoted to 1st LT and

watched her recite the oath of enlistment

to SPC Sherrill and SPC Estes as they

raised their right hand to serve their

country for more years, under combat

operations.

Unfortunately, the Engineers were called

upon to conduct operation recovery ac-

tions in Baghdad, after COL Loyalty

base was attacked by large rockets.

Soldiers/Airman from the 326th Engineer

Bn and 467th EPBS were on site to pro-

vide cleanup, recovery and removal of

destroyed equipment and living facilities.

Castle 6 and I visited the site the morn-

ing after the attack – we spoke to the af-

fected command team about the catastro-

phic events, and realized how much our

team could do to help these Soldiers in

need. I am very proud of the tremendous

efforts our Soldiers and Airmen made to

get Loyalty back on its feet. Our condo-

lences go out to all the Families and the

Soldiers who suffered loss, and our

prayers are with those who remain stead-

fast at COL Loyalty.

We also had numerous Soldiers from the

Bde HQ get promoted this month to the

rank of Sergeant and Specialist. SSG

Moore provided me with the opportunity to

remove his Sergeant chevrons and replace

them with the new rank of SSG. I‟m ex-

tremely proud and boastful of the tremen-

dous sacrifice our young NCOs have giving

to this nation and their Soldiers during the

last eight years. The members of the Per-

sonal Security Detachment ( PSD) were

awarded their Combat Action Badge (CAB)

and one Combat Medical Badge (CMB) for

their diligent acts during a complex IED

attack. Families and friends - we are al-

most at the half way point, but we still have

a long journey ahead of us. Please re-

main devoted to your loved one, for to-

gether we must trust each other‟s daily

judgment. I want to personally say thanks

for YOUR service. -Castle 7

”...as they

raised their

right hand to

serve their

country for

more years,

under combat

operations.”

CSM Butler J. Kendrick

One of the great friendships in the Bible was between David and Jonathan. The friend-ship was even more remarkable because King Saul, Jonathan's father, hated David. Once Saul ordered Jonathan to betray David. Jonathan refused. When it comes to doing what is right or wrong, neither a parent nor our closest friend can force us to violate our conscience. The decision to follow our faith touches the deepest part of our being. No one may interfere with it, not even father, or mother, or closest friend. "There is no room for compromise". You and I live in the New Testament era, the age in which good will defeat evil. But the victory won't come automatically. We must make it happen. Furthermore, we must be on guard lest we become casualties in the struggle. Let us pray: Lord, be with us in our struggle to make something beautiful here on earth. CH (MAJ) Dino Besinga

Chaplain’s Corner

ATA-E TEAM P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 5

June was a month of many changes for the members of the

ATA-E team here in Taji. Early in the month we said goodbye

to the 299th MRBC and welcomed the 74

th MRBC to Taji. We

welcome SSG Vicente Tarrats and SGT Mootaz Alsultani to

the ATA-E team. They have already shown that they are more

than capable of picking up where the 299th left off and seeing

the bridge training for the HQBR through to the end.

We also said goodbye this month to three members

of our horizontal team, 1LT Katherine Haimann, who was

moved up to HHC to take the XO position; and PFCs Maxwell

Geib and Joshua Southerland, who returned to the 34th Sap-

per company where I am sure they will pitch in and help the

34th accomplish it‟s important mission. They will be missed by

us here in Taji.

Fortunately for us, we still have SPC Johnson and SPC Pri-

mus from the 34th to cover down on the horizontal training

mission and in recognition of the additional responsibilities

they inherited this month, they were both promoted to Specialist on 01 June. Congratulations to both. Under the

leadership of SGT Joyner and another new arrival, 1LT Dionell Brathwaite, who comes to the team from the XO

position in HHC; the horizontal training team will continue to provide valuable training to the HQBR.

We also took advantage this month of our last opportunity to get some of our Soldiers down to Victory to

attend the last Iraqi Language and Culture Class. The skills they learn will help their understanding of Iraqi social

customs and culture and strengthen the bond we have created with the HQBR and the HQFER.

C A S T L E C O U R I E R

SGT Alsultani guides his BEB into the Tigris River

COMMANDER, HHC 20th EN BDE June is already here and mostly passed, we spent most of the month setting up for our transition to USD-South. It‟s hard to believe how much planning is involved in moving a company of Soldiers and equipment. So far the transition is going smoother than ex-pected. I have the Brigade XO and my new XO to thank for that, MAJ Binetti helped re-fined my plan and LT Haimann helped with the execution of it. Last weekend we had our Monthly Birthday Party, this time at the pool. It turned out very well. The NCO‟s and Soldiers bought out the PX of ribs, steaks, chips and we had 3 huge coolers of iced down Gatorade, sodas and water. When I arrived SGT Huskey looked right at home working on the grill, Red Lobster lost a star and we got him. The volleyball court stayed busy most of the day even in 100 plus degree heat, granted we had a lot of water breaks and quick dips in the pool to cool off. Not sure who the final volleyball winners were, but I do think the unit as a whole was a winner all day. Transitions are coming at us fast and furious, SFC Prescott is assuming duties as Pla-toon Sergeant with the 591

st EN CO to finish out the deployment, SFC Tucker will assume the HHC OPS position. The

largest transition will be the move to USD-South and assuming new duties as the Mayor Cell while continuing Engineer Operations, I can speak for the whole company that we are ready and looking forward to the challenge ahead. -Mongrel 6

CPT Matthews

BRIGADE LEGAL SECTION

“Legal Eagles”

SPC Drew with her “kid” at the

May Iraqi Kids Day

COL Kaiser

Promotes

MAJ Longley

COL Kaiser

Promotes

SFC Cabrera

CPT Blakemore

Promotes SGT Kolb

The 20th Engineer Brigade Legal Team

The 20th Engineer Brigade Legal Section jumped right in and took over legal

operations for the Theater Engineer Brigade (TEB) back in January. The legal

section is primarily responsible for advising all Commanders within the TEB

on military justice, fiscal law, administrative law, and operational law. Our

main focus at the beginning of operations was to ensure all Soldiers were

adequately trained and knowledgeable on the current United States Forces-

Iraq Rules of Engagement (ROE) and Escalation of Force (EOF) measures.

Units within the TEB are spread throughout Iraq, requiring the legal section to

travel to several different installations to provide legal support to Commanders

and Soldiers.

It has been a long six months, but we‟re hanging in there. We actively search

for things to occupy our time when we aren‟t working, such as 5K runs, work-

ing out, and in the case of SPC Kolb, playing basketball. MAJ Longley and

SFC Cabrera were both recently promoted while in theater. Though we have

luckily been short on Courts-Martial, CPT Ingram has taken every opportunity

to participate in advocacy training with the USF-I Criminal Law Division. SPC

Kolb even got to participate in the USF-I Sexual Assault trial advocacy train-

ing at Victory Base in Baghdad. Finally, SPC Drew has made sure to “make a

difference” during the deployment by taking part in every

Iraqi Kids Day event held on Joint Base Balad.

The legal section has published various articles during

the deployment, including an article that provides guidance to Soldiers and Leaders

about professional conduct on social media sites such as Facebook. Our hope is

that, through continued proactive legal education, the Brigade can continue to enjoy

low levels of Soldier misconduct in order to ensure all Brigade Soldiers have a suc-

cessful deployment.

CPT Ingram running the 5K his first day back

from leave

P A G E 5 HHC OPERATIONS SECTION

C A S T L E C O U R I E R

HHC OPS has been busy this past month focusing on the move of the Brigade headquarters to another

base. We have been facilitating the pack up of all the sections to ensure nothing gets left behind and we

arrive at our new home fully equipped. Packing up and moving has been hard work but everyone has

pitched in to make it a smooth process. We‟ve gone through everything in the office and thrown out

quite a bit to lighten our load for this move. SGT Fulmer has done a great job operating the Bobcat to

get all the containers loaded on time. We said goodbye to our stuff and hopefully it‟ll be waiting for us

once when we arrive at the new Brigade Headquarters.

HHC OPS also helped run

a range here on Joint Base Balad

to provide the opportunity for Sol-

diers from every section to zero

and qualify on their weapons.

PSD was instrumental in making

this range happen and worked

very hard with HHC OPS to make

it a good training event. Soldiers

were able to fire their personal as-

signed weapons and the PSD also

had a chance to shoot with the M9.

We trained a total of 31 Soldiers at

the range over 2 days. SPC Mat-

thews from the Medical Section

had the highest score, shooting 40

out of 40.

HHC OPS conducted the July birthday party at the outdoor pool this month. We celebrated four

birthdays this month, SPC Corn from S3, SGT May from PSD, SFC Madison from S2, and CW2

Spencer from THS. We grilled lots of food, played volleyball, hung out, and of course swam in the pool.

It was a hot afternoon and provided all the Soldiers in the company a great opportunity to relax at the

pool and cool off.

This month we will be saying good-bye to SFC Pres-

cott who will taking a platoon sergeant position in the

591st Sapper Company. He was a great member of

the team and worked hard to get everything done in

operations. SFC Prescott did an outstanding job im-

proving OPS capabilities and he will be missed. We

will welcome SFC Tucker from the PSD to be our new

Operations Sergeant. He has done a great job with

the PSD and we have high hopes for him in Opera-

tions. -Mongrel 5

SFC Prescott at the Castle Fitness Challenge

Soldiers representing every section of HHC walking back to the firing

line after taking a look at their targets

TASK FORCE SAPPER EAGLE

sionalism and the never quit work ethic of the Battalion had shown through.

The 326th Engineer Battalion is working hard

every day to make sure the transition with the Iraqi

Government goes smoothly and without a hitch. Know-

ing that we have the support from the home front gives

every Soldier in the Battalion that special little bit of en-

thusiasm to work even harder, even when faced with

adverse conditions. As a final word we would like to

thank the Families of the 20th Engineer Brigade, the

Families of the 326th Engineer Battalion, and the entire

population of the United States of America for their sup-

port for the troops. - 1LT Scheuch

Soldiers from the 326th Engineer Battalion compete on JBB

during the Father’s Day 5K Run

Greetings to all the friends and Families of the 20th Engineer Brigade from the 326th EN BN. The temperature outside is slowly rising everyday, and so is the morale of the troops on the ground. The mission that our Soldiers are conducting is very important. Such missions included clearing roads to allow safe travel to military and civilians, emplacing and removing bridges, and general construction. This keeps the Soldiers busy. Some people ask what do Soldiers do in their downtime in Iraq?

Soldiers are finding many ways to relax these days on the FOBs whether it is by poolside, at a café, watching a movie, playing cards, working out at the gym. Your Soldiers have amazed us by their creativ-ity in coming up with new ways to entertain them-selves by learning new skills, creating new products out of broken ones, taking online schooling, and learning about local cultures. There are many things one can do if they just put their mind to it.

Just a few days ago the Battalion conducted

a Father‟s Day 5 kilometer run on Joint Base Balad.

Participation was outstanding and it was estimated

that we had over five hundred participants. Soldiers

competed against each other to gain esprit de corps

and t-shirts for completing the run. The lines were

very long after the run to get a t-shirt and a photo-

graph can not do justice to how long a soldier will

stand for a free shirt...good times were had by all.

Some other events to note was the pulling of the Al Washra Bridge in Northern Iraq. The bridge had become dislodged from its abutments on the Northern Tigris river and had floated downstream until it crashed into an island in the middle of the river about ten miles south of its original emplacement. Working speedily and proficiently Task Force Sapper Eagle had moved it‟s bridging unit and security ele-ments to the site and removed the bridge from the river. This took a lot of time and effort but the profes-

Al Washra Bridge washed up on an island prior to removal by

Task Force Sapper Eagle engineers.

The 380th Engineer Support Company is totally adjusted to life here in Iraq. Even though the heat has increasingly gotten

hotter, we continue to provide a valuable service in country. Our Soldiers are extremely proud of the important role we play in support of Operation New Dawn. Our Soldiers are gaining more knowledge and confidence each day. Anytime the „War Eagles” are working, they put forth maximum effort. That effort can be seen on any project completed by the 380

th ESC.

When not performing missions or projects, our leadership is constantly organizing activities to give the Soldiers time to have fun. The last company event included basketball, volleyball, and card tournaments. There was also a barbecue and birthday party. The leadership also participated in a few of the events. It was an enjoyable time for everyone, and pro-vided a nice opportunity for our Soldiers to interact with the leaders outside of work.

Events like that keep our Soldiers motivated to accomplish their mission in Iraq. The various activities also allow our Soldiers to participate in the activities that they likely would be doing back in the US. Although every day presents a new challenge in country, our Soldiers meet every challenge with enthusiasm and confidence. Our group stands ready

each day to learn, adapt, and meet or exceed each and every expectation. –SSG Moore

C A S T L E C O U R I E R

380TH ESC

P A G E 7

“GET THERE!...

...All THE WAY!”

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Information.

Castle Courier is published by the 20th Engineer Brigade. Some of it‟s contents are official while others are the opinions

of the individual articles‟ authors, and are not endorsed by all Soldiers/Airmen or the Department of Defense. For ques-

tions/concerns, please contact the Brigade PAO at lamario.thomas@iraq.centcom.mil.

Join Us on Face-

book:

Search “20th En-

gineer Brigade

FRG” for Rear

Detachment in-

formation and

“20th Engineer

Brigade” for

20th (Forward)

Information.

Castle Courier is published by the 20th Engineer Brigade. Some of it‟s contents are official while others are the opinions

of the individual articles‟ authors, and are not endorsed by all Soldiers/Airmen or the Department of Defense. For ques-

tions/concerns, please contact the Brigade PAO at lamario.thomas@iraq.centcom.mil.

“GET THERE!...

...All THE WAY!”