1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Updates February 2011 Page 1

Family and Friends of the Regulars,

I apologize for the delay in sending out this latest edition of the newsletter. February has been a month of incredible highs,
punctuated by a tough blow, as we conducted a significant number of successful operations against the enemy
but also lost an incredible warrior and leader when SGT Robert “Bobby” Sisson Jr. passed away unexpectedly in his sleep
at the Saryah Kalache Combat Outpost on 21 February 2011. I’ve included Regular Messages #4
and #5, which talk in detail on some of the recent losses suffered by the Task Force and our extended Families.

We continue to make significant strides towards improving the overall security within Kandahar City but as most of you know,
the enemy gets a vote. The Taliban recently attacked the Provincial Police Headquarters compound in Kandahar City
and killed or injured several of our Afghan National Security Force Policemen and innocent civilians. Even though it was
a very tough day, I could not have been more proud of our partners, specifically COL Shirzad
(Kandahar Chief of Security), as they responded with phenomenal bravely in the attack. Without question, our partners
are better today than they were yesterday, which is better than they were a month ago, and due in large part to your Soldiers
professionalism and mentorship. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Afghan victims and their Families.

Since our last newsletter, the 10 Megawatt Bag-e-Pul Power Station generators were delivered and installed with the power station
expected to come on line and deliver electrical power to the western portion of Kandahar o/a 20 March 2011. This is a
significant step forward for the people of Kandahar in increasing their quality of life and creating economic
growth opportunities. We’ve also established a couple of new checkpoints in contested areas with many of our local neighbors
being very pleased with the noticeable increase in their security.

As you’ve already noticed, we’ve redesigned the newsletter along the lines of our new uniform. As of 01 March 2011,
the Task Force will transition to the Multi-cam uniforms and begin shipping our Army Combat Uniforms back to the states.
Alongside the change in uniforms, we’ve had a significant number of transitions within key leadership roles.
We’ve said “goodbye” to 1SG David Stoen (A CO), 1SG Charles Jones (D CO), CPT Ian Pitkin (A CO),
and a couple of platoon leaders and platoon sergeants as we set the leadership teams to finish this fight before redeployment.
It goes without saying that we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all of these outstanding warriors and their exceptional spouses
for their incredible dedication over the past 18+ months in service to the Soldiers and Families of 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry…
you will absolutely be missed. I’d also like to welcome 1SG Frank Mosher (A CO), 1SG Joseph Rothgeb (D CO),
CPT Ryan Calhoon (A CO), and their Families into the Regulars. Like the leaders who’ve gone before them, they will continue to
build on the legacy of the units they lead and carry them to ultimate victory against a very determined enemy.

We’ve also added a few more units to the Task Force and have taken operational control over two more sub-districts
in Kandahar City. We welcome the 170th MP CO, “Dragon Slayer,” commanded by CPT Andy Sergent and the 511th
MP CO, “Strike Fear,” commanded by CPT Ben Bridon to Task Force Regulars. We’ll include both units in next month’s
newsletter since both company commanders lead platoons normally assigned to the battalion.

I’d like to publically thank Matt Hutcherson and Dan Rogers of the Kandahar City District Stabilization Team (KCDST)
branch of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team for their service in support of the Task Force and the people
of Afghanistan. They’ve done a phenomenal job building governance capability and bringing much needed projects
and infrastructure to people of southern and western Kandahar City. Although they’ve moved on to follow-on
assignments within the US State Department, they can rest assured that their legacy of service and mentorship of local
governance officials will endure long after they have departed the deserts of central Asia.

Our Family Readiness Groups (FRG) and Rear-Detachment continue to do a phenomenal job supporting our Families.
We had an amazing turnout for the “Home Stretch” event led by our Rear-D command team and SFC Guna. We are
starting to lock in redeployment dates and will brief FRG leaders within the next month on the tentative timeline.
We’re also beginning to finalize our Task Force yearbook for publication by Deeds Publishing and hope to decide on
our post deployment ball format by April’s newsletter…and our goal is to make it better than the last one, which will be hard to top.

I remain awed by the incredible bravery your Soldiers display on a daily basis coupled with their selfless sacrifices to
improve the lives of the Afghan people. I’d also like to thank our Families for their incredible sacrifices as well. It’s
never easy being away from the ones you love for this long…but all of you have done an amazing job and I can’t say
enough about how much I appreciate your support.

May God continue to bless Task Force ‘Regulars’, our Soldiers, and our Families.

Regulars, by God!

From the “Regulars” Command Sergeant Major

Greetings and salutations; your loved ones and Soldier have completed an immeasurable amount of assigned and implied tasks
and objectives. Most of the “Regulars” conducted combat patrols and or staff work that resulted in 16-18 hour days.
Given we have passed the six month mark, your continued support with boxes of goodies and emails/letters of encouragement
are truly needed and required at this critical point; the half-way mark. Additionally, I will remind your Soldier a fact many overlook,
families back home also need Skype time and emails/letters of appreciation and thank you! Two phenomenal First Sergeants
have left our formation and moved to other positions with the Brigade Combat Team (BCT). It has been a blissful honor
and pleasure for the “Regulars” Soldiers to have served with two exceptional senior Noncommissioned Officers;
from Dealer Company (1SG Jones, Charles) and Gator Company (1SG Stoen, David),
thank you and best wishes. Men and women both in general judge more by the sense of sight than by the
sense of touch, because everyone can see; but only a limited few know the loneliness, fears and yes, joyful
moments of a son, daughter, father or mother, deployed to a foreign land. Regulars and family members,
please remember dictum meum pactum when making a promise.

The Battalion has made it through the half way point in the deployment. By now most of us have adapted to the
operational tempo here in Kandahar. We will continue to improve our little COP ANCOP until the day we leave. All
four of our containerized showers are finally operational; I’m knocking on wood as I write that. We have had a lot of
issues getting the pumps and cheaper parts to work properly. Construction on our new hardstand gym is about
70% complete; we’re just awaiting it to be wired up for heat and lights. When it is finished we’ll finally have an
enclosed structure with some descent work out equipment. To combat our ever expanding population growth
we are building three new concrete structures to get us out of tents and into hard stand buildings. They are still
doing the ground prep work, but once built the bays will have four man enclosed rooms for Soldier living.

During the winter months fighting has slowed down a bit allowing us to concentrate on some training with our partners.
They are absolutely horrible drivers on the road. So we took the opportunity to bring them to COP ANCOP and
give them two weeks of drivers training. Week one concentrated on the HMMWV showing them what all the
controls do and how to navigate it through an obstacle course. Week two we taught them about the Ford Rangers
and how to manually shift the transmission.

Both weeks also gave blocks of instruction on how to drive in traffic. We hope this helps make safer drivers across
Kandahar City and avoid future potential accidents.

Taking a break from training we focused some efforts on providing for the people. Partnered with our 3-2 ANCOP
Kandack, Hammer has started to invest time and money into the local schools. The kids are the future so we are
taking steps to make their schools a better place to get an education. We provided pens, pencils, notebooks to the
students. To the class rooms we did some cosmetic work fixing windows to keep the cold out and reupholstered the
desks and chairs to keep kids from sitting on the floors.

We didn’t neglect the poor families in the community and scheduled a Humanitarian Aid mission providing blankets
and food to the poor people in the community. Partnered with the ANCOP representing the government we just
want to show them we care about their well being.

Thanks to all the families who showed up to McDonalds to support the FRG meeting this past month. Your support
and communication back and forth make a world of difference to us. The whole company gives a big thanks and
HOOAH to Seth Carpenter and Boy Scout Troop 313 from Pelican Rapids Minnesota. He collected up four boxes of
military neck gators to keep us warm on our combat patrols. The gunners are thrilled to have them seeing they
are stuck outside the MRAPs driving down the cold highways here.

Next month CPT Pitkin and I will begin our transition as he
begins his transition to be the next Hammer 6. He’s not as
good looking as I am but he’ll do just fine.

- Hammer 6

From the Top

I want to start out by recognizing Soldiers here on ANCOP that make everyone’s lives brighter.

SGT Fisher, a great American working in the S6 shop, ensures that the systems we have in place for daily functions
to work properly. SPC Matthews performs daily guard duty in the towers here on ANCOP. The patience and daily
routine gets old. He not only pulls 12 hour guard shifts but ensures the daily functions on COP ANCOP, like escorting
the trash truck, potty truck, and the water truck, are conducted safely throughout ANCOP making life bearable for
all of us. These two Soldiers, along with our MWR NCOIC SSG Duszynski, worked to get the Soldiers here on ANCOP
the Super Bowl game by installing AFN. Oh, as the 1SG to have the AFN for the Soldiers will put a smile on my face.

Deployments are long and sometimes seem drawn out.

Some say we have about 25 weeks. Others say about 190 days. I fully understand the Soldiers thinking. It seems
shorter to the Soldier to say double digits instead of triple. Hey, the weeks thing does sound better!

R&R is continuing to be pushed and running smoothly. We have a completed roster all the way through May and it is
making a difference. Leave is giving all the Soldiers a much needed break. I see the results as they return…
REFRESHED!!

I hope all of you are thinking of what is going to be your next duty down the road. Listen, 6 months moves faster
than you think. All Soldiers should be asking themselves where to next? Are you going to stay at Ft Carson? Moving
on to another Post? Thinking of getting out start College or a new job? These thoughts should be on your mind.

Now talking about education, 1 June 2011 the new Centralized Promotion system will take effect. Meaning, promotions
will be based more on the individual Soldier from training, schooling, and awards. In saying this you as the
individual Soldier will have to look into your records more than before to take care of yourself.

Correspondence courses play a huge roll in assisting Soldiers to get promoted. Nothing beats the long hours of
sitting in front of a computer to accomplish these courses. I have seen the payoff of three Soldiers from HHC who
were recently promoted over here by getting after it to get promoted.

Realize you are in charge of your career! When I talk to the Soldiers here I try to have them form or produce a career
plan. Make goals and shoot for them! For instance, you come in as a Private challenge yourself to reach the rank of
Sergeant in three years. The first three years will make you or break you to decide if the Army is what you want to do.

You have to sit down and take a deep look inside yourself and make a decision to either tuff it out and “Be All You
Can Be” or look and say hey, I can do something different with my life.

We make daily choices that we hope are the right ones. I hope all of you do look at where you are and where you
want to go. All of you realize friends back in the States work an 8-4 job and do the same thing daily. You know our
job is 24/7 none stop. You are special and we all have our little piece of the pie. You are “Army Strong” and this is
what we actually get paid to do, standing tall and looking good is a phrase that seems to be lost today. You as an
individual Soldier can bring that back. By being where you want to be. Make the challenges others won’t. Take
charge of your life and career. Be focused and committed to seeing all that you do to the end. To close I want to say,
keep this train moving safely to our final place. Home! Look at where you are right now. Keep your loved ones
informed. Take care of those around you. Talk to your Soldiers and assist them as leaders to make difficult choices
for their careers.

Until next month Hammer 7 out!

Raider 6 and boys atop Ghecko Mountain -
a Friday tradition

Battle buddies, SGT Rojas and SPC Smith,
pose before heading out on a mission

Scouts “Saber”

The Scouts have reached the halfway mark of the deployment and stand ready and waiting for the onset of the
spring and the chance to build upon the gains made by the brigade in the first half of the deployment. January has
been a month of personal development within the platoon as SGT Haywood passed the Staff Sergeant board and SGT
Thompson and Jett prepared for the board. The three SGT’s have stepped up their game to fill the shoes of sections sergeants
and have performed admirably in their new positions. They have proven their ability to wear a bottom
rocker and lead men in combat.

Within the lower enlisted ranks, the Scouts continued to develop themselves with a soldier of the month board held
by the NCO’s of the platoon. Several of the privates acquitted themselves well during the board and showed tremendous
potential for future advancement in the Army. PFC Kirby and SPC Todd made a big impression and illuminated
the continuing dedication to excellence held by members of the platoon.

During the winter lull, the Scouts have begun working with Afghan National Army partners in personal security operations.
When not conducting combined patrols to secure the movement of Raider 6 around the AO, the platoon has
begun training their Afghan counterparts on small unit tactics, marksmanship, and communication skills. The training
culminated in a successful platoon live fire with the Afghan Army. The Afghans even got a chance to through an
American grenade, which proved exciting for all parties involved.

- CPT Hartwig

Medics “Blood Platoon”

Happy January Medic Platoon Friends and Families!

This past month found the Medics braving new territory in treating our partnered Afghan National Security Forces
(ANSF). Working with the Brigade Support Battalion, we convinced the Brigade Dental Team to come out to ANCOP
Headquarters and set up a combined ANSF health clinic. In result, we've been able to help our partners by doing everything
from removing teeth to stitching up sliced thumbs. This goes a long ways towards tightening our bonds and
making us a more cohesive, healthy, joint fighting force as we march into 2011.

In other news, this month we bid farewell to LTC Elden Rand, our Battalion Surgeon for the first half of the deployment.
After sharing all of the rigors of getting into theatre and the ANCOP HQ day-to-day, he will be sorely missed.
However, we know getting home to his wife, Wendy, and their two little girls will be a great day for him. Not to mention
getting back to work at the wonderland that is Brooke Army Medical Center. Our expectation is that he continues
the body-sculpting exercise regime SFC Jordan put him on/through.

Luckily, MAJ Kevin Akers, LTC Rand's replacement, is also a tremendous doctor who has already seamlessly integrated
into the Blood Medic treatment scheme. As an infectious disease specialist, I can only hope his skills will go unused
during the remainder of our time in Afghanistan. We're looking forward to working with him over the next six
months and already feel like he's a tight part of the team.

As always, we miss each of you and hope that 2011 has been nothing but the best so far. But we, just like you,
know the best parts are yet to come. Keep your heads high and know that, regardless of distance, you're thought of every day.

-1LT Modlin

MAJ Akers uses his doctor skills to hold the flashlight so CPT Morton can pull a tooth

SSG Strickland, SSG Donley and PFC Brandsasse
take a minute to pose for a picture while on patrol

ACP holds up the DVDs the SJF Kindergarteners
sent them from the DVD drive

Mortar Platoon “Thunder”

Mortar and Sniper Families;

I thought this month I would simply give you a few “operational” stories from the platoon that you might enjoy.

As you all know everyone has their own talent or “thing” that they do particularly well. For some it may be physical
like running or lifting a lot of weight. Others take delight in reading a novel. As for PFC Kitchen, he has found his specialty
in finding water. While on patrol one cold January morning, the lead man decided to cross a creek at a very
slippery dam. As each man knelt down and made sure to be extra cautious in taking steps while a thin layer of water
flowed over the dam. PFC Kitchen was not quite as wise as the rest of the squad. He somehow managed to completely
soak the entire right side of his body when he slipped and fell on the narrow crossing. When he finally
made it to the other side he told me, “Well sir it wouldn’t be so bad but this the third time I’ve fallen in this month!”

One of the newest additions to the mortar platoon is PV2 Pratt from Huntsville, Alabama. As country as they come,
this red headed Crimson native is able to find just the right time to throw in a good ole country saying. For example:
after a long night of patrolling then sitting in an observation post it was finally time to breakdown and get back
home. Once again the squad was faced with crossing a small body of water. This time there was no dam only a
span of about 5 feet with 3 ½ feet of water in the middle. As Pratt jumped from one side to the other he quickly realized
he undershot his mark and landed firmly in the middle of the murky water. When we finally returned to ACS 4
I asked him how he was doing. He replied by saying, “The water isn't that bad but that smell hit me like a
Randy Johnson fast pitch!”

After talking with some of the local villagers one night we decided to set up another observation post to monitor a
nearby road. We placed ourselves on a small hill with very high wheat that had not been harvested all year. After
about 5 minutes SSG Diaz frantically came over the radio and said he would have to move to a different spot on the
hill. I said “ok” and asked why. He called back and said, “Chacon and I are covered in ants!” They had sat directly
on top of a small ant hill and were covered within minutes. By the time I got to them all of their gear was off and PFC
Dorsey was calmly brushing the ants off their clothes as they threw them to the side.

I hope these few short stories have allowed you to see into the humorous side of what we do. Thank you again for the
support you give from home. God bless you all.

1LT Richard M. Dunkin

“REGULARS, BY GOD!”

Assault CP “Punishers”

Dear Punisher Family,

Hip Hop Hooray, we have passed the half-way point of the deployment! The Assault CP continues to take on and accomplish
any task. From clearing mine fields, to searching caves at midnight, the platoon remains versatile and always at the ready.

Many Punishers have taken to doing the “Insanity” workout DVDs every day, before or after the day’s patrol. Boy is
it a smoker. SFC Lawson, the Platoon Sergeant, says “I’m not sure if my old legs can keep up with Sean-T. Ka-kaow!”

The platoon received eight big boxes of DVDs and CDs from K.I.N.D. (Kindergarteners in Need of DVDs for our Soldiers)
from St. John Fisher Kindergarten in California. The Platoon is grateful for the gift and thanks all of the kids who worked
hard to collect the DVDs for us. I am fairly certain if we only watched the DVDs on our down-time, we wouldn’t
have enough time to finish them all before we redeploy!

We are all looking forward to the fighting season this spring. That will bring more missions, which will keep us
on the go and make the remainder of the deployment fly by. Your Soldiers continue to grow as a team and keep
each other safe every day.

We hope all is well back at home. You are all in our thoughts and prayers and we cannot wait to see you all again soon!

Boouschx!

CPT Fitz

SPC Patrick, Yancey and Potter practice ready up drills developing muscle memory

HQ Platoon

ANCOP HQ faced a chilly January that ended with spurts of rain. Fortunately for everyone, we’ve begun to see longer
days and shorter, warmer, nights which remind us that winter will soon pass and our time to return home approaches.
Despite the rainy weather, our work here on ANCOP continues at a fast pace, between the various construction projects
force protection, and life sustainment duties we find ourselves always occupied and never standing with idle hands.
Yet, despite our many daily duties a few Soldiers have requested tactical training in urban movement. For the second half
of January, SPC Potter, SPC Patrick, SPC Quiroz, and PFC Yancey all received tactical training under my supervision.
After two weeks, these four Soldiers are now ready to clear port-a-potties and soon they will graduate to clearing
street corners and tactical movement through built-up areas. With their passion and dedication to learn and train,
all four Soldiers will soon perform basic infantryman skills with extreme efficiency. I look forward to report their progress
to you next month.

Until then, we continue to welcome all your support as we march past the halfway mark of this deployment and as the
rains continue so does our anticipation to see you all!

SSG Mendoza

FET; Courageously Going Where No Infantryman Has Gone Before

January flew by which is a good sign, we are all past the midpoint of this deployment. FET has been staying busy
this past month assisting the companies on missions. We have visited the Afghan women in their homes and shared
chai. Because of all our generous mail we were able to hand out lots of stuffed animals to the children in a disabled village.
Also while in this village we assisted 2/A with handing out Humanitarian Aid, consisting of blankets and rice, to these families.
The families were so thankful; many of the men in these homes are unable to work due to their disabilities.
It is good to know we made a difference for them. With D Co we endured long days of patrols and visiting homes.
Here we began to build and maintain relationships with the women. We re-visited again on a separate
occasion which helped to gain trust and helped the rela-tionship grow. The long patrols are worth it when you see
how excited the women are to see a female under all that gear. We also participated in a Humanitarian Aid mission
with D Co, helping the families by handing out rice and flour. All of our hard work is paying off with the relationships
we are building with the local nationals, and each day brings us closer to seeing our families back home.

S1 (Personnel) “El Jefe’s Corner”

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, ‘Regulars’ of all ages it has been a very busy month here in the S1 shop, with
just one word on our minds… AWARDS. Well, it must be getting closer to the end since the shop has been hard at
work reviewing and processing the End of Tour awards for our Soldiers. However, “there ain’t no mountain high
enough, no valley low enough, ain’t no river wide enough to keep us from getting” all the awards processed and sent
to higher. There have been several great accomplishments in January and we would like to take this time to announce
that our very own SPC Perez was promoted to Corporal. He now joins the ranks of the Non-Commissioned Officer
Corps and will be looked upon to perform much greater tasks but, more importantly, called on to lead Soldiers.
Please help SSG Feliciano and myself to congratulate CPL Perez on his achievement. I would also like to officially welcome
our Engineers (1LT Litfin and SGT Dempsey) as part of the S1 Team. Though 1LT Litfin will be leaving the Regulars
here shortly to go take a platoon in 1STB, he has greatly added to the overall success and motivation of the
ALOC. We wish you luck with your new platoon. All is not lost, we are gaining 1LT Kim, a very established leader and
one who is not all new to the ‘Regulars’ as he was with the Battalion before the Engineer Company moved back over
to 1STB at Carson. I cannot say all of these achievements and work were accomplished because of us alone out here.
There are several people whom have helped keep the S1 Team motivated and focused during the long days of the
Administrative warfront. So to all of our loved ones Delmi, Olga, Elissa, Koreena, Vilmary, Melony, Amy, Michelle,
Monica, and Carrie I cannot thank you enough for the support you all have provided and I ask everyone to join me in
three cheers… “Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!” I would like to thank LTC Fath, Commander of the
1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment (MRAP Motorized Battalion) and a former “Regular”, who continues to “serve”
this battalion by donating a George Forman Grill to the ALOC crew.

- CPT “El Jefe” Behler/Battalion S1

SFC Andreas works his "magic" and walks
1SG Calvert through a reenlistment

Taking some initiative to keep
the showers clean

S2 (Military Intelligence)

As the Military Intelligence Shop enters the month of February, hitting the half way point for the deployment, the
shop continues to drive on with the mission and focusing their efforts on target development. Last month, SGT Deb
was recruited to work with our ANSF partner at OCCK. He continues to do great things for the Unit and developing
outstanding products for the team at OCCK. LT Heifetz and SPC Williams have returned from leave after much needed
time at home. CPT Madetzke and SPC Soriano have left during the mid month of January to spend quality time
with their families. LT Heifetz has been filling in for CPT Madetzke while he is on leave. On returning, LT Heifetz
(Zohan) is back in business at the ANCOP and cutting Soldier’s hair. His appointment book continues to be constantly
full of soldiers wanting style from the Zohan. SPC Williams has returned to working in Current Operations
during the day and during the evening SPC Williams continues to brush up his dart throwing skills and challenges others
in the shop every chance he gets. PFC Erb is now intergraded into the 1-22 S2 Secret Squirlism and currently doing
outstanding work at current Operations during the night. PFC Erb, continues to learn from the other JR Analyst
as well as being mentored as a young analyst by SFC Varcasia. SPC Franks continues to work on Targeted development
on future Targets with SPC Grady during the day. SPC Franks has integrating the Judi Chop and tries to get
others members of the shop as much as he can with a suc-cess rate of ninety percent. He is known around the shop
as the Chopping Machine. SPC Grady keeps SPC Franks entertained during the day while working by singing
randomly throughout the day non-stop as well as his tourettes while sneezing. SFC Varcasia, will soon join his wife Trina
and three children while on leave and celebrate with his family as their youngest child Jamal turns one. As the days
draw closer for SFC “V” for his leave date, he has the aroma of the Barn smell. As another month has come and
gone, the Shop would like to send out their appreciation to their love ones and family who have been our back bone
during the deployment and thank them for their support.

S3 (Operations)

The month of January has been busy for the S-3 section with the continuous improvements necessary for the Battalion TOC
to function. The Staff officers are constantly compiling information to keep the rest of us informed on
daily events here and news back home.

The TOC personnel have been busy tracking the Full Spectrum Operations of the Battalion and keeping things moving forward.
January has passed by quickly and everyone seems to be in their rhythm of daily operations.

The S-3 section has seen some changes during the past month. SFC Nice became the S-3 Operations Sergeant.
PFC Duncan moved out to Bravo Company in the ARV, and PFC Ferguson assumed duties as the daytime RTO
(radiotelephone operator). PFC Ferguson has had to over-come some challenges, filling a very important position,
but has been doing an outstanding job so far. Another no-table change is that we welcomed SGT Shields into the
NCO ranks with his promotion from Specialist to Sergeant. He has worked hard for the promotion and has been filling
the NCO role without missing a beat. Congratulations! SPC Martinek has been “thrown into the pit” and he is excelling
as the new “Jack of all trades”. CPT Otis Ingram, recently promoted from Brigade to Battalion, arrived just in time to
fill the role of ANSF LNO, along with being the new assistant S-3, a position previously held by CPT Calhoon.
CPT Calhoon received a change of mission – to lead the men of Alpha Company as their new Commander, ABLE 6.

The Staff Annex saw some new changes with the moving of 1LT Martin to Bravo Company, 2LT Wong to Charlie Company,
and 2LT Powers and 1LT Herron to Alpha Company. These lieutenants are going to lead Platoons down in the
line companies and after fighting the battle of the best power point slides, it should be a much-needed change for
them. We wish them luck.

The TOC has been able to sustain its momentum, even without Major Sandoval (Nemesis 3), who went on leave
this month, and we hope he had a great and memorable vacation. CPT Spencer did an outstanding job while filling
the role of Nemesis 3ng this time, even earning praise from Nemesis 6 with the comment “That other guy doesn’t even
need to come back!”

SSG Kling moved to daytime Battle Captain in the TOC. This is a role he excels at, but it is an ongoing battle to keep him
away from the Rip-Its in an effort to get him to slow down so that we can understand what he is saying.

Even though there were a few changes that have taken place, many things have remained constant. These are SGT Avila’s
quiet professionalism, SSG Monge’s OCD, SSG Holderby’s fascination with his own biceps, SGT Hardt’s
ever shrinking ACU sizes, CPT Hardin’s boredom now that the Zombies are gone, and everyone is still wondering what
SGM Moser is smiling about.

Everyone in the S-3 section continues to take care of business. Winter has settled in and so have we in our daily
mission of maintaining operations. We all look forward to February, if only to note that another month has passed
and we are closer to coming home to Family and friends.

Here are some comments from personnel in the S-3 section, that they wanted sent back home:

SFC Nice is proud that sons Andrew (8) and Peter (6) both received A’s on their report cards. Both sons also tested
for their yellow belt in Kung Fu. Andrew passed and Peter will have to retest. Wife Debbie is doing well in Port
Lavaca, TX with her job as director of 2 Head start Centers in the area, and cannot wait for the time in April for her
husband to come home.

SSG Lambert wants to remind his wife Amy to have Pork Chops and “Maters” ready when he comes home.

PFC Ferguson says “I wanna blow something up! I can’t call for fire, but I do make really good coffee.”

1LT Olson says “Thanks for the unending supply of care packages. The simplest things to buy in America are
impossible to get here. Operation Gratitude and other programs like it, made the Holiday season a lot less bleak, and a lot
more cheerful. My thanks to ALL back home.”

SSG Monge thinks PFC Ferguson makes really good coffee, missing getting dinner chow and really, really misses “game
of the year” Plants vs Zombies.

COL Quademsha shows his lighter side
giving bunny ears to Mr. Bashir our interpreter

PFC Ruiz coaches Nader Kan on how to hit the
target with the sniper rifle

LT Kim and SGT Dempsey of the Engineer Cell work closely with the S4 to build big projects

S4 (Logistics)

A lot of changes happened in the first month of 2011. SFC Zelinsky returned from his Mid-Tour leave without incident.
The KAF ALOC continued its mission in support of the 1-22 IN BN with the fine help of SSG Thomas and SGT Robinson
holding down the Fort. SSG Kincheloe worked exhaustively to sit in as the ANCOP ALOC OIC as CPT Cederstrom
prepared for his Mid-Tour leave. The new Year didn't bring a slower pace as the S4 has continued to support
a BN that's mission is continuously changing as does the battlefield. In addition to normal KAF ALOC operations, the
S4 has started signing for and fielding the new Multicam Uniforms. The Uniform will be a welcome addition to help
conceal and protect our war fighters from enemy elements in the field. The S4 on ANCOP has been working with several
local national contractors from throughout the city in the buildup of additional battle areas for our Soldiers. That
and the possible addition of 3 more companies has kept the logistics on their toes to provide each Soldiers with
everything they need to win the fight.

S6 (Signal)

The entire S6 section wants to say hello to our family and friends back home. We continue to stay busy maintaining
the Battalions communication network. Every day is getting a little bit easier knowing that we are more than half
way through the deployment and with it brings us a little bit closer to coming home. With the unit spread out across
fourteen different locations around the city it's a difficult task keeping the Regulars Talking but the Signaleers have
tackled the job with a winning spirit. The S6 team continues to knock down barriers every day to ensure that the
Regulars can communicate across the battlefield.

I find it fascinating how every month in America we seem to have at least one major holiday that we celebrate.
Though the focus and traditions surrounding these holidays vary, they are all in their own ways exciting and each give us different things to
look forward too. The month of February’s major holiday is none other than Valentine’s Day, the most romantic day of the year.

I know that most of us will spend this Valentine’s Day away from our loved ones, and to those of you who fall into this category
I want to say this. This year, focus on and cherish the memories that you have with your loved ones and allow yourself the gift of
pondering on how incredible all those memories truly are. Then, allow yourself to dream about the future… about how this
deployment will come to pass in a few months, and that you and your loved one will be together soon and that there will be
many more chances to make memories with them in the near future.

As 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, the infamous love passage read at many weddings says, “Love is patient, love is kind… always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” Let us all truly strive to implement these attributes into our
own lives as we strive to love our loves ones in these practical ways. Let us show them how our love for them is unconditional.
Let us realize that it is truly better to have a loved one in our life that we miss dearly then for that person to not be in our life at
all. Let us realize that “as love is patient,” we all need to be patient for this deployment to run its course.

So let us all make a conscious effort to focus on the many blessings that we all have instead of focusing on the things we have no
control over. Let us learn from this time apart from our loved ones just how much they mean to us. If we do this, if in the future
whenever we get mad at them we remember how much we missed them this year, we will never take them for granted.

Keep persevering Regulars… we are over halfway done with our deployment!

Regulars, by God!

Chaplain Chip Satterlee