1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Iraq November 2006 Page 3

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Unit Updates
2006

D Company, E Company, E Company (4th SPT BN)

November 15, 2006

D COMPANY – DEATH DEALER

Hello once again to all of the families and supporters of D Company and 1-22 Infantry Regiment on the home front.
The final month is here and Team Dealer is busy preparing all necessary equipment for redeployment.
All of our Soldiers are looking forward to returning home to their loved ones.
The excitement comes with hard work as there are many things we need to do to set our replacements up for success.
We also have to stay focused on the mission until our transfer of authority to avoid becoming complacent

We have been working constantly on developing our area of operations
in order to identify the enemy’s courses of action for the area, disrupt his movement and operations,
develop a rapport with the locals, and assess the area for future civil military projects.
Since we now operate in an area recently added to the battalion’s area of operations,
we wanted to develop it enough to have something tangible to give to our replacements.
The Soldiers of Team Delta have been working hard to get to know the locals
and find where the enemy is hiding in our area and the population has thanked me on numerous occasions
for the security our Soldiers have brought to them.

Team Dealer has also conducted numerous missions with our Iraqi Army counterparts in Abu Ghraib
to disrupt the enemy’s activities in the city. We participated in a battalion operation
to clear enemy activity out of the town of Khan Dari with Team Copperhead and the Iraqi Army –
resulting in no friendly casualties and the citizens of Khan Dari pleased with how the operation was handled.
Everyone in the company was directly of indirectly involved in the operation.

With redeployment comes a lot of hard work to inspect and pack all of our equipment
and to maintain the equipment that we will sign over to our replacements.
We have also begun our redeployment training to prepare ourselves to return to home and normal activities.
Redeployment can be stressful and enjoyable at the same time; classes will be available for our Soldiers
and our families who are encouraged to participate.

I would like to take this time to thank all of the Soldiers who have served with Team Dealer
during this deployment – the company and battalion would not be as successful without them.
Each Soldier would not have been successful without the support from home, too.
I hope each of you is as proud of your Soldier as I am to have served with them
during such a decisive period of Iraq’s future. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you when we get home.

—Captain Jared Rudacille (Dealer 6)

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E COMPANY – KILLER

From the Commander…

Dear Friends and Family,

The days of intense heat are now behind us and a recent nip in the air means that fall has indeed come to Baghdad.
Along with the more seasonal temperatures and the usual busy mission schedule, the Killers have been busy
preparing their equipment for redeployment. Before too long, we will be coming home!

The past month has been a very busy and tough one, but throughout the many challenges,
the Killers have continued to perform exceptionally in every assigned mission. Both First and Second Platoons
have been at the top of their games – finding more IEDs than any similar force in all of Baghdad.
Every time the Killers find an IED they potentially save a life, meaning that the Killers have potentially saved the lives
of hundreds of coalition Soldiers and Iraqi civilians throughout our tour. Each and every Soldier
should be exceptionally proud of his contributions to the great mission over the past few months in particular.

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I recently had the pleasure to reenlist Staff Sergeant Omar Perez. I would like to thank him
for allowing me that honor, and thank all of the Killers who reenlisted over the past year to continue to serve
their fellow Americans during tumultuous times. Reenlisting in a combat zone bears with it additional responsibilities
and the Killers met this challenge as they have met every other challenge – head-on and with unbelievable effort.

As we near the end of the deployment, I must thank you all for your love and support from home.
Thank you for the dozens of care packages, the opening of which always turned into a small event
as the troops passed out candy, gum and other goodies to their mates. The arrival of boxes and letters
boosted morale more than I can say, and knowing that regardless of whether times were easy or difficult,
having your love and support made the difference when that difference was needed.

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As we make our final preparations for the redeployment home, I would like to thank you again
for the honor and the privilege to command your loved ones in this fight. It has truly been
one of the pleasures of my life, and I look forward to continued good times with the Killers back in the Lone Star State.

—Captain Sam Olan (Killer 6)

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From the First Sergeant…

Friends and Family,

The past month has been another great one for the Killers. Along with the execution of missions
all over Western and Central Baghdad, the Killers have been working very hard to prepare the company
for redeployment. All of the Soldiers are looking forward to coming home after a year
in which they have accomplished so much for the people of Iraq.

We conducted several promotion and reenlistment ceremonies in the past month.
Specialist Willard Peterson was recently promoted to Sergeant – becoming the company’s
newest noncommissioned officer. Sergeant Omar Perez was promoted to Staff Sergeant and also reenlisted
to complete his career in the Army. Congratulations to both outstanding Noncommissioned Officers.

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We have been working closely with two units from Germany – the 40^th Engineer Battalion,
1^st Armored Division and, more recently, the 9^th Engineer Battalion, 1^st Infantry Division.
The latter unit will be taking over part of our mission and they have shown an eagerness and intense effort
in the assumption of the IED hunting responsibility. As we welcome the troopers from 2^nd Squadron,
5^th Cavalry Regiment, 1^st Cavalry Division, the Soldiers of E Company continue to perform very well
in their missions and daily activities. I am very proud of them all.

It has been a great pleasure to serve the Soldiers and you as your First Sergeant this past year.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your love, support and for the steady stream of packages
and letters from home. The troops benefited greatly from your care and support and they are greatly looking forward
to seeing you soon. If I can be of any help in these final days, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Get ready, we’ll be home soon!

—First Sergeant Willie Hogan (Killer 7)

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E COMPANY/4^TH SUPPORT BATTALION – ELIMINATOR

Our Soldiers have been incredibly busy over the past eleven months and without a whole lot of thought…redeployment is upon us. We look forward to being reunited with our friends and family and are counting the days to our departure. We all feel incredibly fortunate to know that we will spend the Christmas holidays with our loved ones.

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Congratulations and thank you to the following Soldiers
for continuing their commitment to defending our great nation and reenlisting:

· Sergeant Damon Ferguson

· Specialist Lucas Credeur

· Specialist Andrew Dickey

· - Specialist Brandon King

· -------Specialist Gregory Metcalfe

The following Soldiers were promoted during the last month:

Private First Class Randolph Lee to Specialist
Private First Class Alexander Peters to Specialist
Private Second Class Ryan Fizia to Private First Class
Private Joshua Majestic to Private Second Class

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This past month, we celebrated the following birthdays as a company:

Sergeant Edward Churchill
Sergeant Kevin Fellers
Sergeant Mark Sanchez
Sergeant Theophilus Sipley
Sergeant Corey Smith
Sergeant Franklin Sullivan
Sergeant Christopher Trejo
Specialist Dean Barney
Specialist James Etheridge
Specialist Shea Moyer
Private First Class Alexandria Gries
Private First Class Travis Hale
Private First Class Michael Martinez

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As I reflect on the many accomplishments of our Soldiers, I can not come up with the adequate words
to explain the immense pride that I have for simply being associated with these American heroes.
I could not possibly list all accomplishments, but to give you an idea, our Soldiers have:

Simultaneously operated two field feeding sites providing, three meals a day at two forward locations
Developed a method to provide water to forward locations by designing a fabricated water truck
Conducted aerial resupply missions of food and water during combat operations
Purified over 1 million gallons of water through Reverse Osmosis Purification Units at Patrol Base Courage
Delivered over 400,000 gallons of fuel to five forward locations
Provided over 600,000 gallons of fuel at retail fuel points on FOB Falcon and Camp Liberty
Provided over 200,000 gallons of fuel to the Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police, and the Abu Ghraib Hospital
Established and managed all Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricant products for the task force
Provided Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricant products to the Iraqi Army at the Abu Ghraib Internment Facility
Emplaced over 200 blocking positions around Baghdad to disrupt insurgent freedom of movement
Assisted in force protection for both U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces along several routes
Established Traffic Control Points and living areas for the Iraqi Security Forces
Completed over 65 assessments of destroyed vehicles that allowed for the quick replacement of battle damaged/destroyed vehicles
Maintained a 95% company Operational Readiness rate of vehicles throughout deployment
Conducted over 50 recovery missions in a combat environment
Provided female Soldiers to maneuver units to search female detainees during raids
Conducted over 200 logistics resupply missions to forward locations
Provided uparmored HMMWV maintenance training to the Iraqi Army twice a week
Taught a 40-hour driver’s training course to the Iraqi Army Soldiers
Provided field feeding training to the Iraqi Army Soldiers
Escorted Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams to several IED sites, allowing the task force to better distribute combat power
Provided security for route sanitation and crater repair missions along key routes in our area
Established overwatch at a National Police checkpoint which led to the detention of policemen guilty of extorting money from the local nationals
Established a Detainee Holding Area during a critical combat operation

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Although many of these tasks are outside the realm of a typical support company,
our Soldiers have always outperformed all standards set. Their professionalism
and willingness to support this task force is something they can be proud of for the rest of their lives.
I am thankful for the opportunity to serve along side these amazing warriors and have cherished every minute of it.
Our Soldiers can leave Iraq knowing that they aided in making Iraq a better place.
There were few easy days, but our Soldiers attitudes and values allowed us to continue on.

—Captain Jennifer McDonough (Eliminator 6)

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