2 0 4 T H B R I G A D E

S U P P O R T B A T T A L I O N

S P E C I A L P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

A Message from Black

Knight 6

Assassins Share Thanksgiv-

ing with Special Guests

A Soldier-Built Oasis for

Combined Task Force

WarHorse

Cobra Warm Welcome

Communications and Elec-

tronics Equipment Repair

NEWSLETTER STAFF:

CPT Ashlea Cleveland

1LT Betsy Arndt

Rough Rider Connection

This newsletter contains official and unofficial information. The inclusion of some unofficial information in this

newsletter has not increased the cost to the Government, in accordance with DOD 4525.8-M

Greetings Rough Rider Families and Friends, The Holidays are fast approaching and as each day we get closer to completing the mission we are still busier than ever. The temperature has dropped to the 50s here in the last week and although it may seem warm compared to Colorado it is a 20 degree drop since about two weeks ago. Mail has increased and I’ve seen a few Christmas trees and lights around the FOB. Right now the dining facility is already preparing for a spectacular Christmas meal. They are in the process of setting up a huge gingerbread house display. The cooler weather and new scenery is a good change. The Black Knights are staying busy with many missions. The Service and Recovery Section has contributed significantly to the safety of our routes with the culvert intrusion denial systems they build from rebar material. The ―Mech Maintenance‖ Platoon con-tinues to work diligently on the battalion’s fleet of security and commodity trucks. The Ground Support Equipment Platoon keeps the power generation, weapons, radios, and night vision devices working for the battalion and customers of the FOB. As we continue our mission in Kandahar, I think it’s important to keep focused on our efforts, but also take a little time to remember our loved ones back home, especially during the Holidays. The Battalion has put together a reading program which Soldiers can use here on FOB Walton to stay in touch with their children back home. Soldiers can read a book while being recorded then send the video, book and a special mes-sage to their children. Another opportunity I’d like to highlight is the Build-a-Bear holi-day program at Ft. Carson. Soldiers can call a phone number and record an audio message to be placed in a bear, and then picked up at Ft. Carson for each child and spouse back home. If you are interested, I encourage you to talk to your Soldier about taking advantage of these programs. 1SG Kennedy and I are very proud of all the hard work our Soldiers do on a daily ba-sis. We realize their accomplishments could not be possible without your support. Thank you for all you do. Best wishes and Happy Holidays! Black Knights—‖Deal with it!‖

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 1 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 1 8

Country music artist, Aaron Tippin poses with members of Alpha Company’s Trans-portation Platoon who issued him a military driver’s license during his visit to FOB Walton on November 25, 2011.

P A G E 2 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 1 8

Assassins share Thanksgiving with Special Guests

KANDAHAR, Afghani-stan—This year the Assas-sins celebrated Thanksgiv-ing in a way no one will ever forget. In addition to an awesome meal served at the Goetz Dining Facility (DFAC) at FOB Walton, we also hosted some special guests. On Thanksgiving the Under Secretary of the Army Joseph Westphal, New York Yankee Nick Swisher, and his wife, ac-tress Joanna Garcia Swisher paid a visit. The Honorable Joseph Westphal presented an Army Commendation Medal to PFC Quintin Pitts and a coin to PFC Michael Johnson for their hard work and dedication to the Assassins. The Swishers spent a few hours with our Soldiers taking pictures and signing autographs. The festivities did not stop there. On

Friday country music re-cording artist Aaron Tippin visited FOB Walton. Mr. Tip-pin conducted an impromptu acoustic set in the FOB Walton DFAC performing hit songs including, ―Where the Stars and Stripes and Eagle Fly‖, ―Kiss This‖, and Soldiers’ favorite ―You Got to Stand for Something.‖ Following his performance, Mr. Tippin took an opportunity to weld with Bravo Company, shoot from a gun truck and visited the Transportation Platoon, where he got to sit the truck and take

pictures with Soldiers. Alpha Company then issued Aaron Tippin an official mili-tary license so he was road legal. Our guests brought a much needed morale boost for the Soldiers and the time they spent with us was much appreciated.

By an Anonymous Assassin Soldier

CW2 Suther-

land in the field

m a i n te n a nc e

facility where he

conducts re-

pairs and ser-

vices on com-

m u n i c a t i o n s

and electronics.

A Soldier-Built Oasis for Combined Task-Force Warhorse

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—Our Rough Rider Soldiers, along with the Engineers here on FOB Walton have been

working diligently to complete the Warhorse Oasis. The task was all sweat and elbow grease, from tearing down the

structure that once was FOB Walton’s dining facility to setting up 11 brand new tents. All tents have been completely

furnished with privacy walls and supplied with power generation. Decks for each tent and two new gazebos were

built by the Engineers. The Rough Rider Team has placed new gravel over what used to be fine powdered dirt, a

new volleyball court and the Oasis dining facility. The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was held on November 28, 2011

with the 4th Infantry Division (ID) Commanding General, Major General Joseph Anderson and Colonel John Kolash-

eski and Command Sergeant Major Ralph Delosa, Commander and Senior Enlisted member of 2nd Brigade Combat

Team (BCT), 4th ID. The Division and BCT leaders were the first to conduct a complete walk through of the Oasis.

The 204th Brigade Support Battalion is extremely proud to be a part of such a great accomplishment and the hard

work the Soldiers have put into this project.

By Sergeant Roy Wells, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, FOB Walton Mayor Cell

P A G E 3

R O U G H R I D E R C O N N E C T I O N

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—When a unit deploys, the Soldiers don’t simply become close friends with their peers, they become fam-ily. From what I heard about the 204

th Charlie Medical Company,

they seemed to have already de-veloped their own version of the Brady Bunch clan after only a few months of living and working to-gether. After I spent three months with the Rear Detachment at Fort Carson, Colorado, I was finally given news that I would soon be able to join the Charlie Company Cobras. Hello! I am PFC Brittny Es-camilla, the newest member of the 204

th Medical team here in Kanda-

har City, Afghanistan. My first offi-cial day here was 27

October

2011, and with thanks to my new peers it was a day of much excite-ment. Well, not so much excite-ment, but intensity that definitely began with a boom! Having trav-eled halfway across the world, I was exhausted when I arrived at the doorstep of the Camp Nathan Smith (CNS) Medical Treatment Facility (MTF). Never did I imagine that shortly after my arrival I would be given the opportunity to do what I trained for in Advanced In-dividual Training (AIT) – to be a combat medic. Talk about an adrenaline rush! When I first arrived to CNS, SPC Jessica Malbrough and PFC Robert Llamas met SPC Frankie Latchman (my travel buddy) and I at the Helicopter Landing Zone (HLZ) and led us to the MTF. They then proceeded to introduce us to the rest of the medical staff and company leadership. As we walked farther into the MTF, we met more and more people. Names were stated left and right and confirmed with the traditional

hand shake; however I’m a person who is terrible with names and faces so they essentially where forgotten as quickly as they were introduced. I figured with the amount of time I’ll be spending with them I will have many opportunities to get to know them more directly. Once I got my initial welcoming in the MTF, I was introduced to my roommates, and shown the shoe-box sized room the four of us would need to share. From the looks of the room and the number of bags we each owned it would be nothing but cohesion between the four of us. I dropped my bags, took a minute to catch my breath, and took joy in the fact that I was finally here, my new home with my new Army Family. SPC Malbrough then offered to give me a grand tour of the vicinity which she stated would take no more than a few minutes as the camp is rather small. We started with the essential buildings: the MTF, the Dining Facility (DFAC), and the gym, we then proceeded to the deluxe CNS latrine equipped with only two working hot water showers and two toilets stalls that wouldn’t lock the users in perma-nently. It’s always nice to get the inside tips from a helping peer. As we rounded out the end of the tour, I had yet to ask the main vital question about this camp location. And considering she had been hon-est with all her other remarks I knew her response would be legitimate. ―How safe is CNS?‖ I asked. Her response: ―Oh don’t worry hardly anything really happens here. It’s a pretty safe location.‖ SPC Mal-brough’s response seemed true enough…. until we heard the impact and metal being flung into the sky. We hurried on over to the MTF to see our fellow Soldiers preparing for what we were trained to do – save

lives. The next ten hours were a bustle of intensity – explosions, gunfire, we had it all! While everyone else on the camp seemed to scurry to bunkers, it became apparent that the bunker was not where the Soldiers of Charlie Company or the rest of the medical professionals on the camp were needed. SPC Malbrough jumped behind the communications systems, reading off updates from all the units involved as well as the Combined Task Force Warhorse Headquarters, prepared to send 9-line Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) requests as casualties came from all entrances to the MTF. Everyone seemed to know their place and the well-oiled medical machine began to execute the mis-sion. Despite not really remembering any names, they knew me and I was immediately scooped into casualty treatment. Every so often we would hear, ―INCOMING‖ at which point we covered pa-tients with our own bod-ies and ar-mor while others dove for the floor. Once the boom was over, we resumed treat-ment as quickly and smoothly as possible. As time passed, it became apparent that we were indeed exe-cuting a Mass Casualty (MASCAL) plan while under fire. The three trauma beds were filled, casualties were being triaged, MEDEVAC re-quests were being sent up. It’s one thing for drill sergeants and AIT in-structors to tell you to be calm under pressure, (Continued on next page)

A Warm Welcome to the Cobra Family By Private First Class Brittny Escamilla, Charlie Company Medic

P A G E 4 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 1 8

Black Knights Repair Communications and Electronics Equipment

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—When considering and planning all mis-sions, security is the number one priority. There are many assets that facilitate security which require con-stant maintenance and services. Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) Ter-rence Sutherland, 948B, Electronic Systems Maintenance Technician Warrant Officer, manages the main-tenance of a number of security sys-tems. He also manages personnel, equipment, and facility assets for operation, repair, maintenance, and modification of radio, radar, and re-lated communications equipment and associated tools, test, and ac-cessory equipment. Mr. Sutherland also supervises the Counter Remote Electronic Warfare (CREW) Mainte-nance Program on FOB Walton. Mr. Sutherland works in the Com-munications and Electronic (C&E) Repair Section with Bravo Company, 204th Brigade Support Battalion in support of Combined Task Force (CTF) Warhorse including attached units. When it comes to repairs throughout the Area of Operations (AO), units open work requests for equipment that is in need of mainte-nance or repair. The C&E Shop’s primary mission is to provide quality electronic field maintenance on night vision devices, Harris radios, single-channel radios, mine detectors, and thermal sights. Mr. Sutherland coor-dinates the repair or services on the equipment in either the field mainte-nance facility or sends them to Kan-dahar Airfield (KAF). Depending on the type of problem and the capabili-

ties available, he can have the item fixed in the field maintenance facility in roughly 72 hours. If the items are in serious need of repair which the field maintenance facility does not have the capability for, the items are shipped to KAF and repairs are com-pleted within seven days. Once the items are repaired and ready to be returned back to the owning unit, the work order that was open is then closed and the items are prepared for shipment, or a date is coordinated for pick up.

The Black Knights’ Communica-tions and Electronics Section imple-mented a quality one-stop training program for CREW equipment which allows all Special Electronic Device and COMSEC/Radio Equipment Re-pairers of the Warhorse Brigade to train and maintain efficiency in shop operation and electronic repair. Mr.

By Specialist Natasha Gaskins, Bravo Company Public Affairs Representative

Sutherland, along with 204th BSB’s Electronic Warfare Officer NCO, SSG Laurence Patterson, and the Field Service Representative, Brent Webb ensures that vehicles are able to properly monitor all radio signals. ―Providing ways to control signals help prevent the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs),‖ says Chief Sutherland. Mr. Webb also provides the upgrades and installa-tions for the systems utilized by Mr. Sutherland and SSG Patterson. The electronic repair team spent more than 600 hours testing, servicing, and repairing over 300 CREW sys-tems, Night Vision Devices, FBCB2s, and radio/communication devices for the maneuver battalions in CTF Warhorse. The maintenance and repair of the diverse amount of equipment used by our Soldiers is very impor-tant, ensuring that the items used during missions are in serviceable condition contributes to the safety and security of the FOB and the Sol-diers during missions. Mr. Suther-land’s job is very important because it requires him to be self aware and an adaptive technical expert, com-bat leader, trainer and advisor. The C&E Shop provides centralized re-pair capabilities for any unit on the battlefield that does not have or-ganic electronic repair capabilities. Mr. Sutherland and his team are constantly learning everyday how to repair, maintain and troubleshoot communications and electronics exemplifying their, ―We can fix any-thing,‖ mentality.

Lieutenant Colonel Todd Bertulis

shakes CW3 Terrence Sutherland’s

hand as he awards him with a Deploy-

ment Coin to express his gratitude for

CW3 Sutherland’s hard work and dedi-

cation to the mission.

From Warm Welcome—it’s quite another to live it. That day soon came to an end and morning was upon us. I realized very quickly that I have been given the opportunity to learn from and watch professionals that day. I saw how everyone worked amongst each other in such cohe-sion, no hesitation or miscommunica-tions, just simply trust and confidence in each other. The other highlight of

that night was when it came down to getting to meet every one – again. I had managed to run into every mem-ber of our company at CNS at least once during that event; so all the hard work of getting to know them was al-ready accomplished. Even when all the work was done and it was time to reset the equipment and restock our supplies, this group of Soldiers soon

fell into their normal recovery routine and began to laugh and joke – an absolute necessity in recharging ourselves given the solemn nature of our task. I am so happy to be here and to work with such a phe-nomenal group of people. I know that as time goes on that they will continue to engage and welcome me into the Cobra Family.