1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Update 3-15-06 Page 3

The Death Dealers have been busy keeping the enemy on their toes. The enemy has to sleep with one eye open
to make sure one of our Soldiers isn’t coming through his window at night or digging up his cache while he is at work.
The Soldiers of this company have been doing an outstanding job.

I would like to welcome some new soldiers that have arrived in theater.
PFC Young, PVT Angulo, PVT Davis, PVT Davong, and PVT Zimniak – all from 3^rd Platoon of B Company
arrived with SPC Ashworth who was reunited with us. PFC Rumsey, PVT Adams, and PVT Kirksey
are recent additions to the Dealers and are just completing their integration training
and preparing to execute missions with the Company.

I would also like to congratulate the Garrisson, Cantell, and Nunez families who all recently had births.
The Dealer family continues to grow and gives new hope to our Soldiers here that they can see miracles.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the other Dealers’ spouses who are expecting in the near future.

The Death Dealers have been very fortunate the past few months. A few of our Soldiers have been slightly wounded
since we started combat operations but have been able to return to duty with their brothers.
These Soldiers have demonstrated great sacrifice and will be awarded Purple Hearts for their actions.
Over 80% of the company has already earned Combat Action Badges, Combat Infantryman Badges,
or Combat Medical Badges in the past two months and I am looking forward to holding an awards ceremony
in the future to honor our Soldiers’ dedication and hard work.

Environmental Leave – along with other forms of in-theater passes – has begun for the company
and many Soldiers are using the opportunity to go home and see their families.
We will continue to send Soldiers as we get slots for these programs. I would like to thank Michele Ramon
for her hard work the past few months keeping everyone informed as to what the company is doing.
She is doing and outstanding job and makes things so much easier for the company to execute its mission
knowing our families are being taken care of.

It has been three months now and our Soldiers continue their great work to get the mission accomplished.
The 4^th Infantry Division Commanding General and the Assistant Division Commander for Maneuver
have both met with the leadership in 1-75 CAV and have spoken highly of our Soldiers’ continuing role and success
in our mission. We continue to secure a Main Supply Route (MSR) that now covers nearly 40 kilometers
as we continue to work alongside our Iraqi Army partners.
Our goal is to train them well enough to eventually take over our Area of Operations.

Our Soldiers’ hard work was recognized during a Squadron Awards Ceremony at the beginning of this month
with 18 of our Soldiers being presented the Combat Action Badge (CAB) while our senior medic,
SGT Guillermo Esparza, was awarded the Combat Medical Badge (CMB).

At times, the days seem a little long because of the resource constraints that challenge the Iraqi Army’s abilities
to conduct operations on their own; however, as each day passes and more combined missions are completed,
we see marked improvements in both their headquarters, their supply systems, and their overall capability to plan,
resource and complete missions on their own.

During this period, we have had to deal with a change of leadership in 1^st Platoon.
1LT Gregory Elko joined us as part of Bravo Company, 299^th Engineer Battalion and has led his platoon
through Bradley transition; training and multiple gunneries; the casing of the 299^th Engineer Battalion Colors;
the platoon’s deployment and training at both the Joint Readiness Training Center and the National Training Center;
and his platoon’s deployment to and employment in Iraq. I have personally seen his confidence and maturity as a leader
grow over time, which has resulted in the continued success his platoon has achieved.
He will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge as the Company Executive Officer for B Company in the future.
1LT Elko has done great things for this company and we wish him well in his new position.

We welcome 2LT James Hall as the newest member of our team. James is a Mechanical Engineering graduate
from the United States Military Academy and hails from Estanica, New Mexico. Since his arrival,
he has been extremely busy learning the Bradley fighting vehicle, interacting with two Iraqi Army companies,
and taking over the responsibilities as the Platoon Leader for SAPPER Platoon.

In closing, I would like to highlight the reenlistments of SGT Ray Andrade, SPC Hilary Hosia, and SPC Nathaniel Kaelin
and thank them for renewing their commitments to continue to serve their country despite the challenges they face every day.
I am excited that we have great Soldiers like them who continue to lead and take care of our Soldiers in combat.
As a commander, it continues to be a rewarding experience working day in and out with these outstanding Soldiers
to get the mission accomplished.

The last month was an extremely busy and productive month for the Eliminators. We continue to make improvements to our new home daily. The Maintenance Platoon moved into barracks which are closer to the motorpools. Headquarters Platoon and the Supply and Transportation Platoon were able to spread out a little in our original buildings. Led by the initiative of SSG Overturf, all walls have been painted and Soldiers are taking pride in the improvements made.

The Eliminators are doing amazing things. Our Headquarters Platoon has spent the majority of its time improving living conditions for the company, transporting food and water to B Company at a forward patrol base, maintaining command and control, and administratively taking care of our Soldiers. Our Maintenance Platoon is constantly building combat power. The equipment we signed for from outgoing units was not quite up to the Regulars standard but, thanks to our mechanics, we have put it back in operation. The Supply and Transportation Platoon is doing everything they can to ensure the Task Force receives all of the fuel and construction materials they need. Having a company outside of the FOB requires our Soldiers to really think ahead on planning and preparation. They are always willing to take the initiative and give our combat arms Soldiers everything they need.

During the last thirty days, our Soldiers have had the opportunity
to work with the Iraqi Army. It was a company effort to reconstruct
a Traffic Control Point for the Iraqi Army in our Area of Operations.
Although not an easy task, our Soldiers truly enjoyed helping our Iraqi counterparts
while understanding the importance of training these Soldiers
to eventually take the reins from American Soldiers.
The Supply and Transportation platoon recently spent countless hours
emplacing barriers around a Mosque in our area
in order to protect it from Anti-Iraqi Forces.

Congratulations to SPC John Riley and his wife Cynthia on the birth of Matthew Conner Riley–
born February 25, 2006 at 7:49 a.m. He weighed 9 lbs, 8.6oz and was 21 in long.

We have had the opportunity to promote several Soldiers
in the last month.The following Soldiers were promoted
with an effective date of March 1, 2006:

SSG Damon Howard to SFC
SPC Ramon Escareno to SGT
PFC Brandon Asbury to SPC
PFC Michael Dorough to SPC
PFC David Ebersole to SPC
PFC Ryan Kiser to SPC
PFC Kenneth Tucker to SPC
PV2 Allegra Busier to PFC
PV2 Candy Cook to PFC
PV2 Jonathan Fender to PFC
PV2 Mario Fleites to PFC
PV2 John Green to PFC
PV2 Randolph Lee to PFC
PV2 Willie Rogers to PFC