1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Newsletter Jan 2010 Page 2

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

1st Battalion Newsletter

January 2010

Company A, Company B, Company C

Members of the A Company Family,

I am humbled and honored to be chosen to serve with your Soldiers in the coming months.
Our regiment has a clear mission of paramount importance – to deploy anywhere in the world in order
to respond to a crisis endangering the lives of American citizens or threatening United States interests.
Today we are training at Fort Carson so that we are ready for future missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
While training hones our warfighting skills, our Families are what keep us going.
That is what makes the Family Readiness Group such an essential institution.

My wife, Erica, and I look forward to working with you through the Family Readiness Group (FRG).
The primary goal of the FRG is to provide an avenue of mutual support and assistance and a network of communications
among Family members, the chain of command, and the community. Membership in the FRG is strictly voluntary
and open to all Soldiers, Family members, and volunteers.

Be proud of your Soldier and the commitment he has made to our country. If, at any time, you have any questions
relating to the FRG, please feel free to contact our FRG Leader and our FRG POCs.
We look forward to hearing from you!

IAN C. PITKIN
CPT, IN
Commanding

I would like to welcome everyone back off of block leave. I appreciate everyone doing the right thing during block leave
and our company had no issues. I commend all of the leadership within the Company. We have a lot of training coming up
in the months of January and February in preparation for our up and coming Raider Blitz and JRTC training.

We conducted some live fire exercises closing out the month of January. This tested our squads and the squad leaders
in their ability to shoot, move, and communicate. The live fires were a motivator for the company and also allow
the Soldiers to become more confident in their leadership and fellow comrades to their left and right.
All of this will bring us to the scheduled 22 mile road march in the first part of March,
which everyone is looking forward to accomplishing.

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Hello Blackhawk family,

First Sergeant and I hope you had a restful and enjoyable Holiday Season. Our Christmas Dinner was a success.
The food was great, as was the turnout. Thanks to everyone who came together to help decorate, plan, and execute the dinner.
Also, the Blackhawks give a huge thanks to Santa Claus for visiting the children.

B Company received many new Soldiers since our last newsletter. The First Sergeant and I are very glad
to see so many eager and fit Soldiers. These new men bring our total strength up to 160. New Soldiers are:

1ST PLT:
PFC BAKER, RICKY;
PV2 BARBUTO, VINCENT;
PV2 DAMO, JERIN;
PVT DEFFENBAUGH, RYAN;
PFC MIDDLETON, JEFFREY;
PFC SATCHELL, CORY;
PV2 WILLIS, JOSH

2nd:
PV2 HAKEN, LUDWIG;
PV2 HOUSEHOLDER, ERIC;
PFC JAMES, DEWAYNE;
PVT MENDOZA, RAUL;
PFC MOLINA, AARON;
PFC NAVARVO, RONILO;
PV2 NGO, PETER

3rd:
PV2 DALLMANN, JESS;
PFC HUNT, DAVID;
PV2 MICHALKE, JUSTIN;
PVT ROBERTS, JEREMY;
PFC JUAREZ, LUIS;
PV2 TAN, FRANK

HQ PLT:
PVT BOSSERDET, ZACHARY;
SPC FARRIS, JAIROD;
PVT HAUENSTEIN, ALEXANDER;
SPC HARDY, CHARLES;
PFC KUJATH, CALVIN;
SPC MCCRAY, JONATHAN;
PVT MOURING, DURAY;
PVT REED, SHANE;
PV2 TRIPP, WILLIAM;
PFC WICKKISER, CHRISTOPHER

B Company sent 3 squads to D Company on the 19th of January. The reason for this is because
as a Tank Company they are inherently half our size and they must assume the same sized area of responsibility
on the upcoming deployment. Our Soldiers will bring them up to a strength level that is sustainable in Afghanistan.
We eagerly await their return as soon as possible. Good Luck, and you will always be a Blackhawk!

1st:
SSG Christofferson, SGT Beal, SGT Montemayor, SPC Langlitz, PFC Grigg,
PV2 Leal, PV2 Smith, SPC Cortez, PV2 Nelson

2nd:
SSG Avery, SGT Bulger, SGT Vargas, PFC Royer, PFC Langley, PFC Hudson,
PFC Carter, PVT Cortez, PV2 Palomeque

3rd:
SSG Simon, SGT Cardenas, PV2 Gates, PVT Graham, SPC Smith, SGT Goodman,
SPC Tierney, SPC Fisher, SPC Anastasia

The Blackhawks got right back to business this past week with several productive training days at the range.
We brushed up on our marksmanship and taught our Soldiers how to establish an ambush position.
Wednesday we worked on squads and platoons reacting to enemy contact in 3 different types of environments.
It’s really great to see the experienced Blackhawk Soldiers helping and mentoring the new guys along.
1SG and I feel very fortunate to have such great young leaders. We are really starting to see the benefits of our training
but it will require many more repetitions to be proficient enough to face the enemy on his ground.

B Company will maintain the historical pattern of preparation on Monday, training on Tuesday and Wednesday,
and then repairing and cleaning equipment on Thursday with an early release. The intent for Fridays is to retrain skills
as necessary and train non lethal values and skills such as family advocacy and financial readiness. We will control
our own schedule until the third week of February when we execute Brigade’s mandatory training called “Raider Blitz.”
Right now this event requires us to be in the field for the majority of each week until the second week of March
when we begin preparing for JRTC in Louisiana. After that there will be less field training and more administrative preparation
to deploy to Louisiana for the month of April.

Promotions: Great Job!
1st: SGT Rossi
3rd: PV2 Graham, PV2 Muscrove

Congratulations to PFC Langley and Shanequa Williams who got married since the last Newsletter.
We all wish you and your family the best of luck! Also, we wish to congratulate SFC and Mrs. Niles,
and SGT and Mrs. Bulger who gave birth to boys recently. Thanks for the great work and don’t hesitate to let us know
if there’s anything you need!

Thanks for all your continued support to B CO, the Regular battalion and most of all, for your Soldier.
Sincerely,
Bradley D. Rudy
CPT, IN
“FEAR NO MAN”

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Hello Copperhead Family!

I am pleased and honored to be the Commander of as many phenomenal Soldiers as we have here in Charlie Company.
After an easy Change of Command, our Soldiers are eager and ready to build upon the platform of success
already laid down by CPT Watkins. I look forward to meeting each and every one of you
as we build our strength towards our upcoming deployment.

I have the utmost confidence in our ability to succeed and win in every one of our upcoming endeavors
here at home and once we deploy. If any of you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask;
my open-door policy is not limited to only our Soldiers, but our Families as well.

We have a lot to accomplish before we deploy this summer. The road to deployment will not be easy,
even stressful at times, but I know together we will overcome all of the challenges and build a strong team
here at home and overseas.

Again, it is my pleasure to be serving our Country alongside you and I see no limit as to
what we can accomplish together!

-Isaac J. Hedtke, Snake6

by 1st Lieutenant Cary J. Fitzpatrick, Executive Officer

In order to best prepare our Unit for our upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, we are very happy
to welcome our new Copperhead Infantry Soldiers. In the second week of January, twenty-six amazing Soldiers
transitioned from Alpha Company (Gators) to join our ranks here in Charlie Company.

The new additions have been seamless. Each platoon has gained an additional squad of Soldiers,
each of whom greatly contributes to our Company’s Mission. The mixture of our new Brothers’ knowledge
of Infantry tactics and our attitude and esteemed level of professionalism makes for not only a tight-knit group of Soldiers
here in Garrison, but for a lethal force that will be prepared for any mission we undertake in Afghanistan.

by Staff Sergeant Thomas Wisman, Squad Leader, 3rd Platoon

From January 26th to 27th, Charlie Company Soldiers executed a Squad Live Fire Range on Fort Carson.
The Company fired both day and night fire iterations over terrain that was described by one Soldier as “a real smoker!”
The exercise was a true learning experience; we were able to build a better command post and each Soldier
learned through doing what it takes to communicate and fire live rounds as a Squad. As a Squad Leader,
I was very impressed with the Company’s ability to execute the mission as well as our ability to build upon each
of our experience. We were able to take what we learned and help each other become more effective as a unit.

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