1st Battalion 22nd Infantry BDE Command Visits Soldiers

Raider Brigade Command Visits Soldiers at Combat Outposts and Joint Security Stations During Christmas in Rashid

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Story by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
Posted on 12.25.2008 at 07:50PM

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Col. Ted Martin, commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Bobb,
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, traveled to combat outposts and joint security stations
on Christmas Day in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad to show their appreciation for the Soldiers who continue to serve during the holiday season.

Col. Ted Martin, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad,
wishes a Merry Christmas to Spc. Justin Fenn, wheeled-vehicle mechanic from Myrtle Point, Ore.,
assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., Dec. 25 at a joint security station
in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. Martin and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Bobb, the 1st "Raider" Brigade's senior enlisted leader,
traveled to combat outposts and joint security stations on Christmas Day in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad
to show their appreciation for the Soldiers who continue to serve during the holiday season.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

“I’d like to wish all the ‘Raider’ Brigade Soldiers out there and their families back home a merry Christmas and a happy New Year,”
said Martin, a native of Jacksonville Beach, Fla. “God bless you all.”

Checking on morale and wishing their troops, a “merry Christmas,” the 1st BCT’s command group toured the familiar COPs and JSSs
where “Raider” Brigade Soldiers and Rashid district’s Iraqi security forces worked together for more than nine months.

Observing the holidays is important to the Soldiers, even in a combat zone, because being together with family is an American tradition,
said 1st Sgt. Kenneth Hignight, Company D, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div.
Leaders try to maintain the unit’s morale during Christmas by providing the Soldiers time to call home, enjoy a special meal
and the camaraderie of being together in a combat zone, explained Hignight, a native of Rock Island, Ill.
Another important tradition during the holiday season is a visit from leaders and commanders to show that they care about their Soldiers,
he explained. “It means that they care enough to take the time out of their schedules to just come out and say hello.
[It’s] not talk about operations, not talk about tactics; but to just come out, see how the Soldiers are doing and say, ‘Merry Christmas.’”

Pfc. Shelly Anne Finnegan, a food service specialist from Pawling, N.Y.,
assigned to Forward Support Company E, 4th Support Battalion,
attached to the 1st Bn., 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad sets out eggnog,
cider and candy canes in preparation for Christmas dinner at a
joint security station located in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.
Soldiers of the 1st "Raider" Brigade deployed to combat outposts,
JSSs and Forward Operating Base Falcon, took time from their busy
work schedules to celebrate the Holidays, enjoy a meal with their
comrades and call home to family and friends.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

Another part of the holiday tradition, units normally put on the holiday decorations, adorning plastic trees with garlands and lights,
and prepare a special meal for the Soldiers to provide everyone a change of scenery from their everyday missions,
said 1st Lt. John Klein, executive officer, Co. A, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt. “We have a special lunch or dinner prepared for the guys,
something a little different, a little nicer than usual,” said Klein, a native of Edmonds, Wash. The unit stays busy with its mission,
so modifying patrol schedules to allow Soldiers more time during the holidays is not always an option, he added.
“The platoons have gift exchanges, and do things on their own; I think it’s important just because it’s something different,” explained Klein.

Food Service Specialists responsible for operating mobile kitchen trailers at COPs and JSSs prepare roasted turkey, prime rib,
savory fresh stuffing, mashed potatoes, buttered green beans, dinner rolls, turkey gravy, assorted holiday deserts, salads, eggnog and a cider bar
for the Soldiers Christmas meal, said Pfc. Danielle Sedano, a food service specialist, assigned to Forward Support Company D,
4th Support Bn., attached to Troop B, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.
“The Christmas meal is important to the Soldiers, who are far away from home and family,” said Sedano, who hails from Grand Haven, Mich.
“We try to keep everyone happy and keep the morale up; and the decorations are also a nice way to celebrate.”

Sedano and co-worker Pfc. Constance Pearson said they work through the night and into the next day with preparations for the Christmas meal,
and during the time in-between decorate the COP’s chow hall, hanging streamers and balloons and Christmas decorations
to help keep the Soldiers spirits high. “I think it helps keep the Soldiers motivated, helps to keep them going on,
and like helps them think about one step closer to finally going home,” said Pearson, a food service specialist assigned to FSC D,
4th Supt. Bn., attached to 7th Sqdn., 10th Cav. Regt. “Observing special occasions together means we can finally celebrate
with our comrades here and celebrate all the hard work we’re doing out here; and it gives us some time to relax and think about being home,”
said Pearson, who calls Long Beach, Calif. home.

Capt. Michael Garling, a native of Albany, N.Y., and commander of Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
attached to 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad,
serves food to Sgt. 1st Class Richard Casteel, a human resource specialist from Texarkana, Texas, assigned to
Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B,
during Christmas Day festivities at the Raider Cafe Dining Facility Dec. 25 at Forward Operating Base Falcon
in southern Baghdad's Rashid district. Leaders served turkey and dressing, honey-glazed ham and sweet potatoes
along with other holiday favorites to Soldiers for the lunchtime meal.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

Everyday is the busiest day of the year for the cooks forward deployed to support the combat units, agreed Pearson and Sedano;
Christmas is just a little busier, they explained. “We work a little bit harder always trying to … make sure everything’s right,
but the [dining facility] section back at Forward Operating Base Falcon, they help us out too,” Pearson said.
“They are the ones who are catering in our lunch for us today, so we can prepare for dinner.”

Whether serving on COPs, JSSs or FOBs, Raider Soldiers made the time despite their ongoing missions to join together on Christmas Day,
enjoy a meal and remember the reasons why they serve, said Bobb, who hails from the Isles of Trinidad, West Indies.

“This is not a typical Christmas,” Bobb said. “This is what we do. I think we ought to remember the holidays as they come and go,
but there are those special times when I think we ought to thank God that we are all still alive, and pray for the families,
the sons and daughters, the husbands and wives here and back home, whose lives are forever changed and will never be the same,
and pray for the wounded Soldiers still recovering.”

Sgt. 1st Class Maceia Roscoe, who hails from Chicago assigned to Forward Support Company D, 7th Squadron,
10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad,
talks with Santa Claus and his elf Dec. 25 during Christmas Day festivities at the Raider Cafe Dining Facility Dec. 25
at Forward Operating Base Falcon in southern Baghdad's Rashid district. Sgt. 1st Class Patrick McMahon, a food service
specialist from Los Angeles, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Support Battalion, 1st BCT,
4th Inf. Div., MND-B, dressed as Jolly Old St. Nick and Sgt. 1st Class Angela Skillern, a food service specialist from Lawton, Okla.,
assigned to Forward Support Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B,
donned the elf outfit to talk to Soldiers during the meal. The Soldiers enjoyed turkey and dressing, honey-glazed ham
and sweet potatoes along with other holiday favorites for the lunchtime meal.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs