1st Battalion 22nd InfantryCo E FRG Newsletter Oct 2008

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

OCTOBER 2008
7th Edition

Hello All,

The end of October will be the Killers’ final days here at JSS Jihad. As they say, all good things must come to an end.
We are passing the torch and our luxurious accommodations to Charlie Company. 1SG Sparger and SSG Wells
have been hard at work preparing the grounds for the new occupants. It is my intent to leave them a clean and
functional JSS. I want to hear their Soldiers say, “thank god the Engineers were here.”

The Killers are going to shift focus from patrolling Muhallas to patrolling the roads. We are going to go back to the familiar mission
of Route Clearance out of FOB Falcon. The good news is the company will re-assimmilate the Dog Pound Platoon
to make us whole again.

Just because we are shifting to a new mission doesn’t mean we slowed down in our AO. We were still very busy this month.
We have three generator projects going on right now in three muhallas. We have been keeping busy
monitoring the progress of the construction . I’ve been sending out both platoons weekly to take a look at the
concrete work that will house the large generators. Once complete, the generators will power over 20,0000 homes.
The residents are very excited because this means more hours of power for them.

We have also been monitoring the completion of restoring the Wharlan School in M877. It was gutted and
rebuilt for the students. We hoped to have it done before school started, but were not so lucky. The contractors were
accommodating and worked around the kids. With the completion of these four projects it is just one more step to
bringing normalcy to Jihad.

On 17 October the Killers sponsored a big contest at the local NAC Hall. We put information out
through the local leaders that we were having a Banner Contest promoting the creation of signs
stating the people will turn in criminals to receive rewards for getting bad guys off the street. The idea
is to make it so hard for the bad guys to do bad things, they leave the area all together or they get caught.

The event was bigger than I had thought it would be. The NAC Chairwoman arranged for the local all-girls school
to put on a recital for us.. In attendance was myself, General Baha of the 5-2 NP BDE, COL Ali of the Iraqi Army BN,
Sid Wasil of the NAC, and Abu Ali the local SOI leader. The event opened with a girl singing a prayer from the Koran.
Then a group of girls stood up and sang songs of peace and how beautiful Iraq is. One girl read a poem
about her parents being killed by terrorists, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. The recital ended with a play.
Two religions were having a gun battle. In the middle of the fight, a terrorist snuck up and planted an IED. The two groups
stopped fighting and called the IA together. Two girls representing the IA rushed on the scene, hand cuffed the
bad guy, and hauled him away.

After the play General Baha and I judged the banners. Thanks to Charlie Company donating their money to me
we were able to hand out two sets of prizes for young adults, and little kids. First prize was $250, second was $175,
and third prize was $100. As I was handing out prize money, Black Sheep was busy handing out soccer balls,
soccer jerseys, and beanie babbies. The event was a huge success.

The Killers have seen a lot of media over the past two months. Last month we had Stars and Stripes and this
month MSNBC sent a camera crew to interview us.. MSNBC was very interested in the SOI transition to
government control. They got lucky and visited us on an SOI payday. They had the opportunity to interview myself,
1LT Staker, Sheik Jabar, and an SOI. Their piece was part of a larger story on the subject but that didn’t stop them from
getting over three hours of filming.

If you remember last month I challenged each platoon to conduct traffic control points (TCPs) to catch bad guys.
We didn’t catch anyone transporting weapons but we sure made them think twice about coming through Killer
territory. I think the platoons tied as far as the contest goes. The other positive is the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police
received a lot of hands on training from the platoons.

With our transition to Route Clearance we must say good bye to the Black Sheep Platoon. They will rejoin Charlie Company
and continuue to patrol Jihad. As far as Tankers go, these guys were among the best. It has been a pleasure
and honor to serve with them and we wish them the best of luck in their future missions. I think as they leave us, they
have a better understanding of what it means to wear the castle on your collar.

Until next moonth…ESSAYONSS!!!

-KILLLER 6

Greetings from the Jihadist,

Another busy month is coming to its end. In addition to patrols and the normal tasks, both line platoons took a day
to do refresher training at FOB Falcon. This training allowed them to enjoy the vehicle-roll-over trainer, shoot
their weapons, play in a simulator, and hear some words of wisdom from the Command Sergeant Major. Sapper and
Black Sheep had a chance to refresh and hone perishable individual skills and collective tasks, which will pay dividends on missions.

Congratulations this month go to SGT Self, SPC Robinson, SPC Miller and SPC Tinsley for Re-Enlisting
and to PFC Ballard, SPC Soto, SPC Tinsley, SGT Hoover and SGT Stithem for being promoted. I would also like to
congratulate SFC Suttton for being selected for Master Sergeant; he is going to make a great 1SG in the near future.

I addressed the rumor mill last month on the future of the company. I am certain by now your Soldiers have already
informed you of their PCS availability or their required movement to FT Carson. As it stands, most of us will be moving
north with the unit. The easiest way not to move, if you’re on the list, is to immediately re-enlist for choice of duty
station, if it is available.

Please continue to provide outstanding support to your loved ones. They appreciate and need your devotion. I would also
like to wish Black Sheep well as they move from our team back to their parent company, and we look forward to seeing Dog Pound.
God Bless!

Let me start this news letter talking about Killer 6’s crew. SPC Kongvongsay is the most motivated Soldier you will ever meet.
He always wants to know “WHY??” WHY are we going out? WHY are we doing this?
WHY am I in the Army?” So on and so forth and goes forever and gets funnier every day. Don’t get me wrong he’s the
type of Soldier that gets the job done. As Kong always says “STAY ARMY”.
He replaced SGT Lylee as Killer 6’s Gunner, so that SGT Lyle can go on R&R leave to enjoy and spend quality
time lost on the jeep trail with his other half, Mrs. Lyle. SPC Dill still remains Killer 6’s Driver. I’m surprised he has
not been fired yet, because he talks so much (JUST KIDDING Mrs. Dilll). SPC Dill and SPC Kongvongsay are doing a
great job as the crew for CPT Garling making sure he gets to his destination safely. When they are out on patrol,
meeting with the local national leaders, giving out soccer balls and toys to kids, giving out prize money for a poster
making contest about a Free Iraq they keep Killer 6 secure. I made a poster too, but I’ll let the children of Iraq win the
prize money this year.. Enough about Killer 6’s crew they’ll be just fine.

----

Now you will get to know who the real heroes of JSS Jihad are: SPC Jones, SPC Rupp aand PFC Ballard (who by
the way just got promoted to PFC). “CONGRATULATIONS”! The real Sappers of E Company are in the one
and only “HEADQUARTERS” Platoon. You’re not a Sapper if you are not escorting the infamous “CRAPPER
Truck” (The most terriifying detail here in the JSS). I think it’s because of the flowery aroma it produces. PFC Ballard
has mastered this detail here at the JSS. I think he’s got bad luck, because every time I see him he’s escorting the
CRAPPER Truck. I explained to him, “With great promotions comes great responsibilities” just like Uncle Ben told
SPIDERMAN in the movie (LOL). As always there is guard duty, escorting local national workers around the JSS
and every detail you can think of. In short WE are the ones that keeps the JSS up and running. If it wasn’t for
HEADQUARTERS the Line Platoons would start hating life here at the JSS and in Iraq. Oh! By the way, before I
forget, PFC Ballard and SGT Strahan (our medic) are attached to Sapper Platoon for the mean time. It’s like I
always say, “Time to earn your Bonus and College money from the Army”. The truth is, Sapper Platoon just needed
Super Heroes from Headquarters and I am over qualified for it (LOL).

SPC Jones is still Killer 7’s Driver for now. 1SG Sparger said he will trade him for SPC Lilly when we get to Falcon
(Just kidding…Don’t get your hopes up Lilly). SPC Jones also just got back from a SEE Truck mission to help Alpha
Company’s COP for some improvements were he performed great with SGT Franklin’s mechanic support.

Now some news about the TOC-roaches of the Company. These are the people behind the curtain that don’t get
recognized. Let’s start with the night shift led by SSG Brown, the night Battle NCO. He just got back from R&R leave
and nothing changed.. He’s still the old SSG “GOB” Brown that everybody learns to love. SPC Rupp, Killer 3’s
Driver, is about to be fired. He is replacing SPC Fithian as night shift TOC-roach. Not because SPC Fithian
sucks (Well sometimes…JUST KIDDING), he’s off to see Mrs. Fithian and Family on R&R leave. SPC Fithian
is SSG Brown’s right hand man who has never seen sunlight and is tu ning pale as the days pass by. We keep telling
him to say Hi to “Mr. Sun” every once in a while so that when Mrs. Fithian sees him on R&R she won’t be frighten and
yell, “It’s CASPER The Friendly Ghost”!

Enough about night shift, all they do is watch movies and cable TV while eating popcorn with the SOG (Sergeant of the
Guard anyway). OK, I’’ll give them credit. They do conduct night operations, LOGPAC, turn in mail and laundry for
everybody inn the JSS, and monitor the radios to make sure that Green and Sapper Platoon have every asset they
need to come back safe to JSS. I was the night shift Battle NCO when SSG Brown left for R&R. That’s how I know
and understand the importance of their job.. Well while SPC Fithian is turning pale SSG. Parker’s turning RED from
being mad at everything (don’t tell anybody I think he hates the WORLD…LOL). Even though he is
grumpy at times, he always makes sure the platoon is straight and squared away as compared to Green and Sapper Platoon (LOL).

This brings us to the day shift. This is where all the action is. We have PFC Taylor as our radio guy and my runner.
He monitors the radios and relays all thee information Green and Sapper Platoons need to be successful. PFC Taylor is
going bald on the head. I wonder if it’s because SSG Parker’s on his case 24/7 like a hawk on its prey (LOL). I think I’ll
send him with Sapper tomorrow for Freedom Rest to relax and hopefully he will grow his hair back. Me, I just
bounce around headquarters slotted anywhere they can put me. For example, I painted a big red Engineer
Castle in the gym, constructed a castle out of 50,000 sand bags to let everyone know who runs JSS Jihad, and now I’m
writing the FRG News Letter. I think 1SG Sparger and SSG Parker are in cahoots.

Well that’s all for now from JSS Jihad Iraq. This is SGT Johnson saying Good Bye for now and hopefully the last time
I’ll be writing for FRG News Lettter. Don’t’ worry you will enjoy SGT Lyle’s take on life in the Company in next
month’s FRG News Letter.

My name is SGT Michael Peugh. I am the “A” team leader in Sapper Platoon 2nd squad. I have been a part of 1st
platoon since I arrived at Ft Hood in early 2005. This month I was charged with the mission to write the FRG news
letter. So, bare with me I am not one the most graceful and elegant writers you have ever come across.

As the month of October is coming to an end, many Soldiers here in Sapper Platoon are looking forward to our move
to FOB Falcon, “The Land of Bob” as most of us like to call it. We call it that because of the more garrison like
atmosphere. Where there is the promise of plenty more rules to follow, special order omelets in the morning
and stir fry for dinner in the evening. Rumors have it that we will be living in two man chews, but as with everything
in the Army we never really know until it happens.

Tinsley and Soto-Gomez were promoted this month from Private First Class to Specialist. Both Soldiers have been
doing an outstanding job as HMMWV drivers and represented the company most professionally detached from us
with the NPTT team. Specialist Tinsley also reenlisted to become a Chinook crew mechanic this month. SGT Self in
the beginning of the month received an Army Achievement Medal for the great job he did while serving with the NPTT
team. The NPPT was very impressed with SGT Self’s Knowledge on the battle field and his professionalism with the team.

Here on the JSS 1SG continues to make improvements like always. He finally recruited some Soldiers from
another FOB to come help with guard. It has been an awesome change. For the better. Getting more than 3-4 hours
of sleep has been nice! We spent a few days at Falcon to engage in some hardcore training called “Raider Bayonet”!
This was an intense day of zeroing and qualifying with our weapons. We also were put through a
HEAT (HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer) simuulator. A HMMWV crew is rolled several times and is forced to find
their way out while upside down. It was in a controlled environnment don’t worry mom! After our time on the range we
moved into a battlefield video game simulator. There we ran through several reflects of fire drills and some real life
situation, “shoot or don’t shoot”.

Out in sector there have as been a lot going on as we get ready to say goodbye to the Jihad AO. We have
been determined from the day we arrived to leave Jihad in better condition than we found it. Here in recent months
we have noticed a lot of the projects that we spent countless hours trying and retrying to get approved have been approved
and are all starting to finally take shape. There are 4 new generators going up in our muhallas. So the people
can actually have power for more than a few hours a day. Streets have started being paved.. Trash is being picked up,
though sometimes it feels like its being put back down just as fast. We also, spent a few days enrolling some of the
Sons and Daughters of Iraq (these are locals that have taken a stand in their neighborhoods against criminals, kind of
like neighborhood watch) into a school program where they learn a trade. This way they have some kind of skill to get a
job instead of working for the bad guys.

The local population is gaining confidence in the Iraq security forces more and more everyday, which is a
great thing because that is our ticket outta here! The Iraqi Army has made leaps and bounds since my last
deployment. Jihad has come a long way since we have been here. When we first got on station is was really
unclear what to think of it. After a few short months we were cleaning up all the bad guys and getting their weapons
off the street. Things have calmed down a lot since then. Those things are still out there but not nearly as much and the
Iraq Police and Army are more and more taking the lead. So we will continue to fight just as hard as the first
day we got here all the way up until the last min we leave.

That’s about it for us out there at the JSS. Hope it wasn’t too painful to read.
We will see you soon,, but not soon enough.

Yet another exciting month in the Blacksheep Platoon has come and gone. In the last 30 days we have seen
a vast improvement in the economy and, our brothers in arms, the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police. A good portion of our
time has been spent overseeing numerous community improvement projects, as we are in a more reconstructive phase in our operations.
Our relations with the people and the Iraqi Army continue to grow stronger as we continue to work together more
often. This growing relationship has resulted in lots of tips which have led us to more weapons caches and insurgent
arrests. Hopefully we can continue to strengthen the bond we are building with Iraqi citizens so our operations will
remain running smoothly.

The Black Sheep are pleased to announce we have had a few deserving Soldiers receive promotions this month.
CPL Stithem and CPL Hoover both were promoted to the rank of SGT. It is always a pleasure to see Soldiers get
promoted, especially when you have the ability to see them progress as Soldiers and leaders. We have numerous other
Soldiers that are ready and waiting for promotions but must wait for their time to come.

The Black Sheep finally got a much needed break a few weeks ago, and I can say it was definitely fun. We got to
spend almost a whole day at the International Zone at a place called Freedom Rest. While there we were
able to swim, play volleyball, and basketball as a platooon which I might add turned out to be quite funny. We
had a chicken fighting tournament in the pool, which out of 16 contenders Sgt Aguuilar and SGT Storrer completely
dominated all the competition. There were many other activities, such as a ping pong and pool table, also a movie
room, and places to just plain relax.

Also our new mascot ALF (the cat eating alien from the TV show) got much needed rest as well. ALF has been a
welcome addition into Green Platoon; we have started a photo album called ALF across Iraq. ALF is also a big hit
with all the foreign nationals; they all can’t wait for a photo op with him.

Now for the not so cool news SSG (P) Mobley, SGT Hoover, and PFC Strachan will soon be leaving the Black
Sheep. SSG Mobley will be getting promoted soon and is moving on to being in control of his own platoon. He
will still be in our company, but we will no longer have the pleasure of serving with him. SGT Hoover is heading off to
help train Iraqi National Police, we are sad he is leaving but it is a great opportunity for him and his career. PFC
Strachan has been requested to be the driver for our new organic commander, CPT Watkins which again is sad to see,
but it will also be great for his career. Also not so cool news, 1LT Behler seems to think the 0-6 Cincinnati
Bengals are going to turn it into a winning season team.. The whole Platoon has tried to convince him
otherwise but to no accord he faithfully sticks by them…hahahaha!

I, 1LT Jason M. Behler, would like to take this time to say Goodbye to our Killer Company family. I say this
because come next month The Blacksheep will be back with our organic Company, Copperhead. We appreciate
everything Echo Company has done for us such as providing: guidance, brotherhood, stories, friendships,
memories…such as “Killer Turle”, rivalries, a home away from home, but above all allowing the Blacksheep
Platoon to be part of a Company that succeeds. We especially thank CPT Garling and 1SG Sparger for having
solid trust and confidence in the Blacksheep, and knew we could accomplish every mission, task, and
event that was thrown at us. While with the Killers we no longer felt like black sheep at all! It was an Honor and a
privilege to be a part of a great Company of men.

We thank you Killers for everything and ask that you Engineers only remember those “fat, lazzy tankers”, as 1LT Staker
(Killler 2) would say, in the future. We wish you luck and safety on the remainder of the Deployment.

God Bless!

**********************

BACK