1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Unit Update June 2008 Page 2

Gator 6

Gator 7

I hope this note finds everyone back home well and in good spirits.
Our Soldiers continues to push a tremendous pace as we work our way through the summer months
here in Baghdad. Their hard work, however, is clearly evident as we have seen a substantial
positive change in our Area of Operations (AO) over the past month.

We have just recently begun realizing the effects of our operations in May & early June
as we have severely disrupted the enemy inside of Hay Aamel & throughout the Battalion AO.
Too this point, we have detained a substantial number of insurgents & forced the surrender
of just as many, leaving only a handful of active fighters at the present time.
The lucky few insurgents who escaped our grasp have either fled our battlespace
or fled the country for an unknown period of time.

During this lull, we have continued to hurt the enemy even in his absence
through the destruction of their weapons caches. We have found over 10 caches
over the last month & received another 8 that were turned over
by either the surrendering insurgents or local security forces. A particular area of focus
during this phase continues to be exploiting the population.
This area has been a very lethal & kinetic environment for the last two years and has been,
perhaps, the focal point for insurgent activity & sectarian violence in Western Baghdad.

One major issue we have seen is that the people have consistently seen, over time,
US forces being extremely aggressive as they do not always understand that our actions
are directly tied to the security level. In periods of high enemy activity of the last couple
of years, US forces have been forced to mitigate tactical risk through aggressive action,
which often correlates into the population perceiving us in a negative light.
With the recent security gains, we have found ourselves working new, more population focused tasks
while still executing in a tactically sound manner.

One example is leaving our trucks behind and moving through the streets much more often on foot.
This enables the people to see more of the human side of our Soldiers,
allowing them to feel more comfortable and less intimidated by our presence.
This effort is extremely important as it is essentially our chance to “show” ourselves to the people
and demonstrate that we are truly working for them, as opposed to the insurgents.
This will continue to be a priority as we maintain the current level of stability
and will have positive second and third order in shaping the battlefield
for the remainder of our deployment.

Also of note, we relinquished control of Hay Bayaa to D Company, 4th Battalion,
64th Armor Regiment two weeks ago. Their company has been at-tached to 1st Brigade
to ensure maximum presence across the Battalion AO so that we do not have to fight
to retake any area currently owned by our forces. With the loss of Bayaa,
we also lost our attached platoon as they were reassigned to the newly attached company.
3rd Platoon did an outstanding job and has much to be proud of.
They will continue to dominate the enemy in any area to which they are assigned.
We did receive a replacement platoon from 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment,
10th Mountain Division (Light). They are well trained with outstanding leadership
and are a great addition to the team.

Lastly, I would like to again thank you for your continued support
as we continue to push daily toward lasting security. Our Soldiers lead the way
in all aspects of operations and have much to be proud of this point.
Although security has improved drastically over the last month,
be assured that the leadership at all levels clearly understands that this AO can still be extremely lethal.
We will not get complacent & are fully committed to protecting the force
as our number one priority in all that we do.

Bear 6

Bear 7

So after about five weeks working out of JSS Hurriyah II,
we have returned to 1-64 Armor, the Desert Rogues, out of Camp Liberty.
We have already completed a brief refit and now are right back into transitioning
into our new AO with our new headquarters, 4-10 CAV.
Time is going fast as we are already getting close to finishing our fourth month
of our fifteen month deployment.

So the first thing, what were we doing up at JSS Hurriyah II? Well we were part
of a much larger operation that involved insurgents in Sadr City, although we were not there,
we were in Shulla in support of 1-502 IN keeping the insurgents in Shulla
and not letting them affect the fight in Sadr City.
This mission took a little longer than was expected and the Bears did a phenomenal job in
some really tough conditions. Temperatures were regularly rising well over 110
and the temperatures in the turret… well we’ll just leave that at really hot!
Ice was a necessity to keep the water cool enough to drink.

One of the routes we were tasked to secure was treacherous at times, skinny at some points,
sharp turns at other points and at night there were times when it seemed to just disappear.
The JSS we were staying at really wasn’t designed to hold all of us as far
as quality of life conditions, so we were sleeping on cots behind the Bradleys
or in open bays that were not air-conditioned, it was tough to sleep, even at night.
It was even more of a challenge to sleep during the day, you’d often find yourself in a pool of sweat
when you woke up. I apologize for being graphic, and I’m sure you’ll hear the stories
when the guys return, if you haven’t already, but the best part of all that,
is that it is in the past as we have returned from that mission and we are very much enjoying
our a/c and beds living in the tents of Camp Liberty as we transition to our JSS.

While in Shulla the company accomplished so much.
In five weeks the company managed to clear four EFPs and one
deep buried IED safely with no casualties or damage and then keep that route free
from all enemy activity for __ days. We gathered up numerous caches
containing multiple 60mm, 120mm and 130mm mortars,
RPG Launchers and warheads, Hand Grenades and mortar fuzes,
even a 14.7mm Anti-Aircraft Gun. In fact the Bears were doing so well,
building the informant network, finding caches and building a relationship
with the local nationals that we were receiving praise from everyone
including LTC McLamb, the 1-502 IN BN CDR,
COL Hickman the 2/101 AA Brigade Commander,
MG Hammond the MND-B and 4ID(M) Commanding General
and LTG Austin, MNC-I Commanding General.

MG Hammond was proud to coin SPC Russell Werneking for doing so well
and LTG Austin visited the Bears and recognized PFC Cesar Morales, SPC John Walker
and PFC Benjamin Harman for their exceptional performances.
You should also have received the update I sent out, that on 1 June SSG Steven Miller’s Bradley
was hit by an IED. I was traveling with 1LT Jeff Clarkson, SGT Jason Gibson
and SSG Miller’s crews that day and I must say that all the members of the patrol
performed exceptionally well, executing exactly as rehearsed. As a result of that incident
as well as several other incidents during the mission in Shulla
several Bears will be receiving their Combat Infantrymen’s Badge
and PV2 Joseph Tabb will be awarded the purple heart. PV2 Tabb continues to receive treatment
for a few lacerations and some hearing loss, but we hope for a speedy recovery.

I want to congratulate PVT Ian Tierny on getting promoted to Private Second Class.
I would also like to congratulate PFC Bradley Boyette, SPC Teddy Angulo, SPC Steven Giddings,
SPC Steven Langlitz and Sergeant Harry Cortes on their decisions to continue their enlistment in the Army.
I commend them for their continued service in the Army. We thank them and their families
for their continued commitment and sacrifice.

Melissa is still in charge of the FRG back there and doing a great job from where I sit.
Jacey, my girlfriend, was assisting her as coleader and treasurer, however,
she just got a job working on Fort Hood as a Family Readiness Support Assistant with 3rd ACR.
Although she’s not going anywhere or getting away from the Bears by any means,
as a result of this position she can no longer hold a position in the FRG.
I want to thank Wendi Gideon for quickly stepping up and filling the roles of Treasurer and Co-Leader.
I appreciate everybody’s efforts to make the FRG successful and people like Jacey and Wendi
helping out when they can, as well as so many other wives and family members
that I have not yet mentioned are what truly make our FRG special.

We have also added a few members to the Bear family. On 23 June SPC John Witt
and his wife Heather had a baby boy they named Austin and on 26 June SPC Teddy Angulo
and his wife Danielle also had a boy they named Tristian. Both proud fathers
have talked to their wives and can not wait to get home on leave to see their sons.
Congratulations to both families.

I would again like to close by saying that I could not be prouder of the men of Bear Company,
every chance I get, every officer that outranks me or civilian that emails me
that asks how things are going, I tell them a few of the great accomplishments of the Bears.
Please continue to keep all of the Bears in your thoughts and prayers.

Snake 6

Snake 7

The time is really moving quickly here at COP 881. Our expansion project is finally completed.
We’ve received a total of 20 new armored trailers, a mobile kitchen trailer
and a shooting range that is still under construction. The Soldiers seem to enjoy their new homes.
It definitely beats sleeping in a tent. The new armored trailers allow for more overall protection and comfort.
With new beds and mattresses, hopefully the backaches will be less frequent as well.

It’s starting to get hot. With temperatures reaching up to 115 degrees already,
many of us are really looking forward to the summer months.
These temperatures will probably seem cool once August rolls around.
Everyone is still working hard though, almost as if the heat doesn’t even matter.
The platoons continue to keep our area secure and the local nationals safe.
There’s been an increase of civilmilitary projects such as school remodeling, sewage cleanup,
and providing new generators. We are also working hard on a project that will employ
several hundred Iraqis and clean up the entire area, providing jobs to many
and creating a safer and cleaner living space.
These projects will help the overall way of life for locals and increase their trust in us.
The trust that’s earned is an important part of the puzzle in the war.
It’s another step taken to help the government function on its own.

We continue to keep pressure on the enemy and have several suc-cesses in the past month.
Based on information from a local national, 3rd platoon found a large cache
with over 50 grenades, 30 mortar rounds, and a large amount of machine gun ammunition.
Our green platoon (3rd platoon A Company attachment) recovered several
illegal weapons caches and 2nd platoon conducted a raid in attempt to capture
one of our biggest criminals. Overall, we are staying active and ensuring that the area remains safe.

The relationship that’s been built with the platoons and the local nationals is growing.
When SGT Lobdell is walking through one particular neighborhood, the kids chant out “Kyle,
Kyle” and have a special dance for him. And for some reason, the locals think
that SPC Sam is actually “General Sam”. Apparently, he is the man in charge.
SSG Olson has become a favorite of the Iraqi Army Soldiers,
and most Soldiers enjoy their fair share of the local tea, called chai, while on patrol.

Mid-tour leave has started. Each Soldier will have time off to relax
with family and friends back home or wherever they choose. Many of you
might already be spending time with you loved ones as you read this.
We are trying our best to give Soldiers as close to their desired dates as possible.
Our biggest challenge is exactly that. It’s important that we all remain flexible
and understanding. It is C Company’s upmost priority to get every Soldier time for mid-tour leave.

Promotions are coming up soon. On the 1st of July PFC Soltys,PFC Casey,
and PFC Groth will all be promoted to Specialist. CPL Blank and CPL Monohan
will both be promoted to Sergeant. SSG Rigge was recently promoted on the 1st of June.
Congratulations to them all. They have worked hard and are all very deserving
of their new promotions. With rank comes added duties and responsibilities and these men are ready.

We would like to thank everyone for all of their support. We appreciate all the care packages sent our way.
Soldiers particularly enjoy all the letters from the kids at the elementary and middle schools.
It’s pretty common to see a stack of crayon written thank you notes at the MWR
with a Soldier thumbing through each letter with a smile on his face. All the homemade snacks
and candy are eaten within what seems to be minutes once they are cracked open.
We all miss you and can’t wait to be home.