1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Updates 2009 Page 3

Dealer 6

Dealer 7

Friends and family of Team Dealer, as I write this we are beginning our transition to 1-35 Armor
from the 1st Armored Division. They are new to our area but certainly not new to Iraq as they have been in country
for about ten months. I know we're all excited to have them here and we're working hard to do a good handover
with them. Your Soldiers have continued to sprint to the finish line and are staying very busy
but they are always aware of the support they get from home.

Although February is the shortest month of the year, it has definitely been the busiest for us.
We have been conducting security operations in support of the Shiite holiday Arba'een.
It is a rather interesting celebration of which I'm sure your Soldier will be happy to share stories.
Since it is a Shiite holiday, it provides an opportunity for Sunnis to conduct sectarian attacks on the large
number of people making the pilgrimage south. I am happy to say that thanks to the efforts
of our Soldiers and our Iraqi Security Force partners, it was a safe celebration in our area.

There also hasn't been a shortage of special events in February. We started off with a very exciting Super Bowl
which always brings around the friendly competitive spirit. All of our Soldiers had the opportunity to watch the game
and it was a welcome break from missions.

We had several of our fine Soldiers make another commitment to stay Army. We are extremely proud
of their service and the decision to continue to serve our great nation:

This month has brought the combination of security operations in our area as well as a steady stream
of tasks that must be completed to get us home. It seems there is a new form to fill out every day.
As we come to end of our rotation over here, we conducted our End of Tour award ceremony on the 21st.
Soldiers received these awards for their service during this deployment. A medal is an extremely small token
of the monumental tasks and achievements by our company. The company was also awarded the
Combat Action Badge streamer that signifies at least 60% of the company was awarded the Combat Action Badge
for being directly engaged with the enemy. It is an example of the level of experience that this company shares.

In closing, I want to thank you for all of your continued support and prayers.
We couldn't do it without you. God bless you and our fine Soldiers-see you soon!

Killer 6

Killer 7

Killer company continues the Route Clearance mission on the roads of Rashid.
It was a busy month for the Killers. The National Elections were held at the end of January.
In order to meet the continued presence on the roads the company outfitted its headquarters section
with extra equipment and personal to run additional Clearance patrols daily. Dogpound platoon was retasked
as the BDE Quick Reaction Force in order to allow COL Martin to flex them anywhere within the AO
to control emergency situations. The 1SG and I had three days to run them through rehearsals on situations
we anticipated they would encounter to help prepare them. The good news is the elections were peaceful
and their services were not required.

As soon as we recovered from elections the Abar'een pilgrimage was upon us. The primary route
the pedestrians used was through the heart of the Raider AO. We continued our increased patrols daily.
Our National Police Route Clearance team has taken the lead and was leading us through the traffic
of the pilgrimage. It is nice to see them so motivated to prove they are ready to run the missions.

The Killers have begun to hand over and train up the unit taking over the route clearance mission in Rashid.
The incoming unit is responsible for twice the battle space we had to cover. Luckily they have been
very well prepared for it having been running operations in a different part of Baghdad. As we do our right-seat
and left-seat rides they are slowly pushing us out of the way. This gives us more time to prepare our equipment
for turn in. Good luck in Rashid C/40th EN BN.

Congratulations go out to SGT Tmak. He received a battlefield promotion from SPC to SGT this month.
To me this means his peers, the NCOs, and senior leadership recognize him as standing out above all others
as a future leader in the Army. The company also received our end of tour awards from LTC Elledge this month.
We had not seen him in a while but he relayed how much he appreciated the Killers being flexible and tackling
numerous missions during this deployment from raids in Jihad with the BN to Route Clearance for the BDE.
PFC Taylor, our commo guru, achieved the rank of SPC this month and PV2 Lilly made PFC.

The Army also got lucky this month. The Killers reenlisted three quality Soldiers back into the ranks.
SGT Peterson decided to stay Army and will hopefully move with the unit to FT Carson. SPC Knell reenlisted
to stabilize at FT Hood; whatever unit he is assigned to will be very lucky. Our last enlistment of the month
is another high speed NCO, SGT Harvin. He will also move with the unit to FT Carson and start the refit
with all the new Soldiers we will inherit.

At the end of the month the Soldiers who make up Third platoon Devils will go back to their parent units in 4SB.
I was worried about them when they were first assigned to the company. I quickly found out they are professional,
highly motivated, and ready to execute any task I throw at them. They were a pleasure to command
and I wish I could keep them.

By the end of deployment the Killers will have cleared over 17,000km of roads and conducted over 240 hours
of general engineering work. Combined with the raids, SOIs, microgrants, and IA in Jihad,
we will have had a very dynamic deployment.

Eliminator 6

Eliminator 7

During the process of writing this letter, I quickly realized that we are in the final days of this deployment.
We continue to face challenges and difficult moments on a daily basis, but our Soldiers continue to come together
as a team to get through it all. We have made enormous accomplishments over the last 11 months
supporting Task Force Regulars. More than ever, the strength of our unit, our Soldiers, and our ability to operate
as a team has carried us over the challenges we have faced and will continue to face on the home front.

I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has shown such generous
and overwhelming support to me and more importantly my Soldiers. My troops have received packages
from all over the country expressing thanks and support. Your support is greatly appreciated and helps brings smiles
to the faces of the Soldiers here. More importantly, I would like to thank Providence Extended Care Center
in Anchorage, Alaska for the many blessings in the form of packages, letters, and donations. Thank you all.
And a special thank you to my family for staying strong and dealing with my absence during my 3rd tour of duty
here in Iraq. Your strength and support mean the world to me and make each day easier. God bless you all.

This will be the last FRG news letter that you will receive from us here in beautiful, sunny, alluring Baghdad!
We are counting down the days until we come home to you all. A few Soldiers have already made their way home.
They are getting things back in order at FT Hood to make things easier for the majority of us that will arrive in March.
Our counter parts have arrived and we have been helping them adjust to their new area. We are confident
we have set them up for success by all of the hard work we have done here the past year.

We are still busy as ever here in our Area of Operations. (AO)We are running barrier missions throughout our AO.
These are generally 10-12 hour missions. The purpose of these particular missions is to protect certain Coalition Forces
and Iraqi assets. They also protect U.S. convoys that frequently travel on the many routes here. As long and
tedious as the missions may seem, they are necessary for a better and safer Iraq. Needless to say, we have enjoyed
our time here and everyone back home must know that each Soldier has made an enormous impact during OIF 07-09.
We'll see ya'll soon…just do us a favor and get the cooler stocked with ice cold beverages.

With almost twelve months behind us, the time is near for us to start making those necessary steps to redeploy.
One of the photos below shows SSG Rivera carrying bubble wrap to his field feeding section in preparation
to load his container for shipment to Fort Carson. This is a moment that every Soldier knows represents a time
of redeploying back to their families.

Some of the Soldiers of Headquarters Platoon are ecstatic about returning home to their families and love ones.
The attitudes are flaring, the fuses are getting shorter, but nothing can stop these Soldiers from being all smiles
as they patiently wait for the packing material for the container that will be shipped to Fort Carson.
We have worked long hard hours and complaining was never an option. We knew what needed to be done
in order to get the job done and we did it. The time has come for us to start packing up our equipment
and preparing it for our new duty station for our Division. “The happiest moment being in Iraq” is an understatement;
we are all very ready to be with our families. It has been a long tiresome year.

For Distro Platoon, we're another month down and starting to get very close to redeployment.
We decided to send SSG Norton back to Texas early as part of Task Force Regulars Advance Party.
As expected, SSG Norton has proven to be an invaluable asset to the platoon and made all of our jobs much easier.
He is both loved and respected by his peers, leaders, and most importantly, his Soldiers.
Thank you for your service, we will see ol' Randy in a few short weeks.

Given the great wealth of tasks that need to be accomplished prior to coming home, we've had our plates full recently.
We are still responsible for supporting TF Regulars logistically, in addition to bringing back the equipment
each line company has been using for the past year, preparing our vehicles for turn-in to a new unit,
and packing our personal belongings to go home. As you can all imagine, there have been some long days and nights
but our leadership, mainly SFC Garcia with the help of his fine NCOs have made the job go much smoother
than I could ever hope to. All of our NCOs have made our job this entire deployment far easier than it could have been.
From an officer standpoint, it is impossible to accomplish the myriad of tasks without junior leadership.
It gives me the flexibility to plan our future operations to the best of my ability. Our NCOs have been impressive
throughout the deployment to say the least and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. Their leadership
and guidance, professionalism, and enforcement of standards have assured that all of our Soldiers
are coming home to see their families.

I cannot begin to thank our Soldiers for the hard work that they have done over the past twelve months.
They have all served honorably and have utilized their talents to help us accomplish our mission.
Many of our guys and girls have reenlisted throughout the deployment and will continue their service
for another several years. Please take the time to thank them and recognize their efforts. There are also a few
that will transition out of the Army within the next couple of months. Whether they will immediately join the workforce
or go to school, I'm sure that they will continue along their path of excellence. They have all made certain sacrifices
which will undoubtedly prove to pay huge dividends in the future.

Last month’s riddle:
What goes around the world, but stays in a corner?
Answer: A Stamp

Leadership Quote of the Month:
“A good leader is not the person who does things right, but the person who finds the right things to do.”
– Anthony T. Dadovano

As always, please continue to pray for us and show your support.
Can't wait to see the many smiling faces on Cameron Field.