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

Gator 6

Gator 7

I hope this letter finds everyone doing well. It has been a fairly quick month compared
to the others but just as tough to say the least. The good news is we currently have
Army engineers here at the COP completely rewiring everything to ensure all of our air conditioners
and electrical appliances work properly. Also of note, we recently added 5 additional computers
& three phones to the MWR center at the COP. Other than that, things have generally remained the same.

Tactically, our Soldiers have done a tremendous job at maintaining the stability created
over the last four months & keeping the pressure on the insurgents that stayed behind.
The majority of our operations at the beginning of the month were focused on clearing the
rest of the area of any remaining weapons caches and sanctuaries.
We found very little but not through any fault of our own as we searched nearly every
building in Aamel. We are beginning to realize the tremendous extent to which the insurgency
was hurt over the past four months. We are fairly confident that little of the enemy remains behind at this point.
The potential does exist for a future conflict if the criminals choose to return but
we are all fairly confident that they will be dealt with even quicker than the last time.

More importantly, we have continued to exploit the population in the absence of the majority
of enemy forces. As part of the business plan to develop the economic infrastructure of Aamel,
we have focused on trying to improve the shops in the area. The platoons rotated through a grueling cycle
of identifying nearly every shop they could find and doing the paperwork
to get money pushed their way to redesign the shops and those items stolen or damaged
during the sectarian violence. In total, we identified over 1000 shops for refurbishment
with the hope of paying out an excess of 3 million dollars. We can expect two significant results
from this endeavor. First, it should provide an immediate jump start to the economy
as there will be a lot more money being spent in the area. Secondly, we will see a general increase
in both the number of people shopping & number of people starting new businesses.
This is extremely critical as criminal activities are certainly tied to unemployment.

Lastly, I would like to again thank you for your support as we continue to push
to make this area safe and increase the quality of life. Honestly, we are at the point in the fight
where the things we are doing are not those that the typical infantryman particularly likes.
Non-lethal operations do not provide immediate rewards like finding a weapons cache
or detaining an insurgent so there is a common restlessness around the COP.
Nonetheless, it is extremely important to note that when the majority of our time is spent
on the economic & social development, security must be working out pretty well.

Everything we do is for the purpose of working towards what is often referred to as
“irreversible momentum”. This is when we reach the point that the enemy can no longer influence
the Iraqi Security Forces ability to secure the area and its economic infrastructure
and I do believe we are close. Although we are not there yet, we are seeing very positive indicators,
such as mass amounts of people in the markets that have not been seen since 2003.

Bear 6

Bear 7

This past month has been exciting as we are closing our sixth month in theater.
The company continues to work in the areas of Jamia, Adl, Iskhan and Washash
and have been having great success while operating out of both Camp Liberty and JSS Adl.
The company has detained quite a few high value individuals and Blue platoon
detained a Brigade High Value Target this month.

However, our greatest successes have been coming from our partnership with our six
Iraqi Army Companies from two Iraqi battalions, two Iraqi Police forces, two Sons of Iraq battalions
as well as the government of Iraq organizations to include four neighborhood councils.
I truly am starting to believe that we will hand off this fight to the capable hands of
the Iraqi Security Forces and a functioning Iraqi Government. Attacks are still at a very low level,
although still dangerous at times, but the Iraqi Security Forces are doing a great job
going after the insurgents and taking them off the street.

As you may know, Specialist Giddings and Staff Sergeant Steven Miller are both doing fine
back at Fort Hood, working for the former Bear XO – Captain Charlie Goodwin.
Captain Goodwin’s only challenge with these two is to keep them with enough work
to keep them busy during the day and then to get them to take it easy and just recover from their injuries.
Although we would rather have them here, we are just happy that they are doing well and back with their families.

We did have a little excitement out at the JSS the other day. We are slowly moving out to our JSS
and we have our security platoon sleeping there with the rest of the squadron.
Well they awoke the other day to a little fire inside the living areas. The quick reaction of first platoon
to grab fire extinguishers and notify the TOC was the difference as they kept the fire from getting worse
and actually extinguished it before there was any real damage. The fire started as a result
of an electrical problem, which since has been fixed and we’ve had the Brigade Electrical Engineers
come out to verify the contractors’ work so it is safe for the Bears.

I want to congratulate the following Soldiers on their promotions:
Private Blake Cramer to Private Second Class
Private Edgar Gonzalez to Private Second Class
Private Leon Perry to Private Second Class
Private Kevin Skvarna to Private Second Class
Private Levi Steeley to Private Second Class
Private Arthur Haun to Private First Class
Private Patrick Lynch to Private First Class
Private Raymond Marsteller to Private First Class
Private Phillip Maxwell to Private First Class
Private Kevin Miller to Private First Class
Private Jas Rivara to Private First Class
Private First Class Daniel Hanlon to Specialist
Private First Class Benjamin Harmon to Specialist
Private First Class Derek Martenson to Specialist
Private First Class Josh Patterson to Specialist
Private First Class Richard Peet to Specialist
Private First Class Nicholas Timms to Specialist
Specialist Davong Xiong to Sergeant

You may have heard that there was a new DD Form 93 Record of Emergency Data
put out by the Army and that Soldiers must complete this by January 2008. This is correct,
there were some changes to the form and since those changes were published
we have had each Bear come through and fix their DD Form 93. The few that are on leave now
will update their information the day they get back from leave. So families should not worry,
if something happens, your loved one’s desires will be executed correctly.

I know Melissa is doing a great job trying to keep everyone informed and it is tough
as we are starting to get close to the middle of the deployment. Many spouses are visiting family
and loved ones for the summer on top of taking care of the house, the cars, the kids,
the bills, etc., so it is hard to volunteer for anything extra. So Melissa and I decided to
take a little break from activities like fund
raisers. Having said that I know there are
plenty of wives always looking to do things
and fun events planned so please stay in
touch with Melissa until we can get the support
for other events.
I would again like to close by saying that
1SG and I could not be more proud of the
Bears. They continue to amaze me with all
they accomplish in a day and I look forward to
the rest of the deployment as I know they will
continue to shine. Please continue to keep
all of the Bears in your thoughts and prayers.
—Captain Ed Kennedy (Bear 6)

Snake 6

Snake 7

August is coming to an end and the cooler temperatures can’t get here soon enough.
The Soldiers are continuing to work tirelessly. Our focus on daily missions
ranges from helping the Iraqi local nationals through Civil Military Operations and putting pressure
on the bad guys to stay out of our area. The Soldiers of Copperhead are doing an outstanding job.
Four Soldiers were promoted this month, with many more to come.

A big part of our Civil Military Operations deals with awarding what we call “micro-grants”.
These micro-grants are small amounts of money awarded to deserving, small business owners.
The money is awarded to these local nationals to help improve their businesses
thus providing an increase in economic growth. We’ve been able to award over a
half-million dollars in microgrants. This money will benefit the people who need it most.
Along with micro-grants, collecting weapons and taking them off the streets is another important part
of our daily mission. Over the past few months the platoons have been able to collect
over 500 weapons. These weapons will no longer stand the chance of falling into the wrong hands.
Many will soon be destroyed and others will be issued to the Iraqi Army.

It was another big month for promotions.
Four commendable Soldiers were promoted: SGT Rust, SPC Perry, PFC Amelsberg, and PFC Olivarez.
They have been entrusted to take increasing duties and responsibilities. Promotions are an important part
of leadership development and givens Soldiers something to strive for. Brigade coins
were also awarded to SGT Rust, PFC Amelsberg, and SGT Camarillorazo for all their hard work and
dedication to the Company’s mission.

A special thanks to the FRG. We received the George Foreman grill, microwave
and DVD Player in the mail. They have been put into good use already. The Foreman and microwave
have been put to the test with plenty of frozen pizzas and eggrolls. We were also in
desperate need for the DVD player. Thank you from the Soldiers of Copperhead.

Overall, we are doing well. For the Soldiers that have not yet gone on midtour leave,
there much needed vacation cannot come sooner. And for those who have gone already,
they’ve arrived back with a refreshed mind-set.
Thank you for all your support and prayers.
We will all be home before you know it.
-Snake 6
Copperhead