Aloha to the families

and friends of the 7th Engineer

Dive Detachment! As August ends

and we reflect on the comings and

goings of the last month, we have

experienced many changes in our

area of operations. We bid fare-

well to the 197th Fires Brigade, to

whom we have been attached since

the beginning of our deployment.

We are very grateful for the

leadership and support they pro-

vided to our team to ensure we

were able to accomplish our mis-

sion. We also said goodbye to the 1

-182nd Field Artillery Regiment

(FAR), which served as the camp

command and mayor cell and was

responsible for the security, sus-

tainment, and MWR activities we

enjoyed on Kuwait Naval Base. We

wish them good luck and a safe

trip home to Michigan.

The role of the 197th

has been taken over by the 1-34th

Brigade Combat Team (BCT), the

Red Bulls! The 7th will fall under

their Brigade Special Troops Bat-

talion (BSTB), along with other

theater assets such as the EOD

and CBRNE detachments. Although

there is always a growing period

when two units begin working with

one another, we have been im-

pressed by the BSTB’s motivation

to support our troops and ensure

we have the assets to continue to

execute our mission.

As we approach the end

of Ramadan, we welcome back our

Kuwait EOD Diver counterparts,

who have been fasting during the

day and working in shifts through-

out the month. We look forward to

building on the relationships we

formed during Eager Mace and

continue to look for opportunities

to conduct joint training to

strengthen our capabilities. We

also look forward to swapping dive

pins, which is a tradition estab-

lished by previous dive teams and

is always a highlight of any dive

deployment.

One thing that hasn’t

changed is our operational tempo,

which remains high. SSG Cochran

spearheaded the Shallow Brown

training exercise, which tests our

second class divers on their under-

water construction and salvage

capabilities in preparation for

earning the salvage diver rate. The

From the Commander’s Desk by CPT Scott Sann

From the First Sergeant's Desk by 1SG Scott Baumgartner

Salam and Aloha,

from the land of sand. With my

R&R coming up in the near

future and the finish line in

sight I am already tempted to

look back at the great suc-

cesses our unit has accom-

plished. It is no exaggeration

to say that from day one in

theater, the 7th has kept up a

breakneck pace in regards to

both execution of missions and

training. If our deployment

were ending tomorrow we would

have already accomplished

every goal, met every chal-

7th Engineer Dive Team

Published on 30 August 2011 Issue 7: August 2011

Monthly Newsletter

Inside this issue:

XO Notes 2

PSG Notes 2

1st Squad 2,6

2nd Squad 3

3rd Squad 3

4th Squad 4

Feature Article 6

lenge, and succeeded in every en-

deavor that I had anticipated when I

tried to envision what our deployment

would look like.

The team has risen to the

challenges of diving in the swift and

garbage laden currents of the Tigris

and Euphrates rivers in Iraq; execut-

ing demanding missions with limited

support in the remote and hostile

mountains of Afghanistan; represent-

ing itself with aplomb and superb

professionalism while conducting

underwater explosives training with

our host nation’s military; while simul-

W E ’ RE O N F AC E BO O K :

“T HE 7 T H E NG INEE R D IVE

TE AM”

taneously maintaining an impressive level

of vital training that would rival any

stateside units. Already I have witnessed

a definitive maturation both personally

and professionally from every Soldier on

the team, including myself. It would be

safe to say that I could write up end of

tour awards for my Soldiers tomorrow

and still not reflect all the positive

things our team has done!

That being said, the mission is

not ending tomorrow, the challenges will

be even greater, and the pace of mis-

sions is even expected to increase! As I

once again try to envision what the

team’s future looks like for the sec-

ond half of this great adventure, I

know only one thing for certain:

though I cannot possibly see how, our

team will be better than we are now.

Hooyah Deep Sea!

training was tough and challenging,

but in the end all divers completed

the tasks to standard. It was one

of the most ambitious training

projects I’ve seen, and by all ac-

counts was a rewarding experience

for those who took part in it.

Divers continued to

support missions throughout

CENTCOM, and a recent task took

one of our small teams to the

remote mountains of Afghanistan,

where they worked with the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)

to survey dams which are part of a

massive rehabilitation project to

improve local infrastructure. We

are always looking to get the word

out about Army divers and the

capabilities we bring to the battle-

field, and our team did a great job

of showcasing these capabilities

during a high profile mission.

Through it all, as we

begin the latter half of our de-

ployment, we thank our friends and

families back home for their sup-

port and commitment to our team.

For those on the East Coast, stay

safe!

Hooyah, Deep Sea!

(Soldier’s Name)

7th Engineer Dive Team

APO, AE 09337

Care Packages Welcome!

Mailing Address:

also boost second class divers basic

knowledge on tools and how to work

underwater, but during the whole

week there were tests on multiple

subjects like "Cutting and Welding,

Dive Knowledge, Demo, Charting, and

Hydraulic Tools". Over all I will say

that everyone learned a little bit

about their skills and became better

as divers. Hopefully within the next

month, all of the second class divers

will have earned their salvage diver

check offs, and will be ready for the

next level.

Regarding SGT Hall and SSG Rowley,

they led the way with the dive team’s

August has been a very busy month

with a lot of action! We just finished

doing underwater demo with the

Kuwaiti divers last month. This train-

ing was being run by SSG Rowley and

SGT Hoover. This training gave us a

refresher in underwater demo and

helped us understand our host nation

while building bonds and making new

friends.

After Eager Mace training we en-

tered Shallow Brown. Shallow brown

is an exercise that is for the second

class divers. Its sole purpose is to

help second class divers earn their

salvage diver rate. Shallow Brown

Notes from the Executive Officer by 1LT David Guerdan

1st Squad by SPC(P) Patrick Morales

Insights from the Platoon Sergeant by SFC Milton Prater

After a very busy month of July, August was-

n’t any less busy. First, there was the long

awaited mission to Afghanistan during which

1SG Baumgartner and SSG Rowley led a team

that performed a Remotely Operated Vehicle

(ROV) inspection of a dam and conducted a

site recon for a future hydrographic survey

mission. Also, all of the 2nd class divers have

been awaiting the Shallow Brown exercise

which the command used to evaluate them as

divers and aid them in completing their Sal-

vage Diver Checkoffs. I would like to say

congratulations to SSG Cochran for a job well

done successfully accomplishing the com-

mander’s intent for the mission.

This deployment has brought out the best in

all the Soldiers of the 7th. I couldn’t ask to be a

Platoon Sergeant for a better group of guys that

make my job so easy. When we first deployed we

were a very young team. With all the missions

and the time spent conducting training during this

deployment, everyone has been brought up to the

standard that is expected for divers in our field;

most have exceeded that standard. I am proud

of the guys and what they have accomplished so

far.

The Soldiers of the 7th have been busy studying

and getting ready for the next step in their

professional careers. We have had five promo-

tions that were effective 1 August. Congratula-

tions to newly promoted SGT Hall, SGT Russell,

SGT Steffic, SSG Bays and SSG O’Brien

Page 2 Monthly Newsletter

Hello friends and families of 7th

Dive, I hope everyone is doing well

and getting back into the swing of

things with school having started and

those wonderful three months of

summer unfortunately behind. From

everything we’ve seen on the news, a

lot of the folks on the mainland have

had the “awesome” opportunity of

experiencing record breaking high

temperatures – believe me, we feel

your pain!

As usual, this past month we had a

lot going on. SSG Rowley blazed a

new trail, adding yet another country

to the already large list of countries

we have provided dive support to.

SSG Rowley led a small team to

Afghanistan to collect information

on a few dams that will aid in reha-

bilitating the intake systems as well

as potentially open the door for

more opportunities for us to support

the war effort in Afghanistan.

Back here in Kuwait, SSG Cochran

coordinated and executed top-notch

salvage training for all the divers

who were not Salvage Diver quali-

fied. The

picture to the

left shows

SSG Cochran

helping pre-

pare part of

the project by

inserting the

rebar cage

into the re-

cently poured

concrete to

increase the overall strength of the

block. The project tested the

diver’s ability to perform the follow-

ing tasks with limited visibility as

this exercise was conducted at

night: welding, drilling, using lift

bags, precision cutting through steel,

grinding, excavating a steel bar from

a concrete block, cutting through

concrete with a chainsaw, and con-

structing and placing a salvage patch.

The guys learned and refined valu-

able skills, skills that will continue to

enhance our capabilities as a unit.

Also during the month of August, we

reached one of the milestones for

deployment/redeployment – the Pre-

Deployment Site Survey (PDSS) for

the next dive team in the chute to

come out here. This four day stint

consisted of providing the incoming

command team critical information

on what they will need to do in the

last few months to better prepare

for coming out here, as well as the

types of procedures and require-

ments they will fall in on once they

arrive in country.

In other exciting news, I head out on

R&R next month and I am very much

looking forward to it! My girlfriend

(Christina) and I are headed to

Europe to spend time in Italy, Ger-

many and France – should be awe-

some! While in Germany, Christina

and I are registered to run in the

Berlin Marathon on September 25th

so wish us luck!

very first mission in Afghanistan.

SSG Rowley helped pass on his

knowledge on what we as divers need

to inspect on dams. The team used

the ROV set, a robotic video system

that can reach depths and areas

that divers cannot. The team did a

great job up there, and helped us

build good relationships with the

units operating in Afghanistan.

SSG Rowley has been doing a lot of

training trying to prepare for the

Iron Man in California. He has been

dedicating much of his personal time

to helping all of the Soldiers on the

team prepare for the promotion

boards. He has been a great leader,

NCO, and friend to all of us and has

helped us in almost every aspect.

(Continued on Page 6)

(formerly known as SSG Vicente). I would also like to

congratulate 1SG Baumgartner for being selected to

attend the Sergeant Major Academy next year.

The pace the 7th has been moving has been fast and

furious and it isn’t going to slow down any time soon.

The great thing about this is it makes the weeks fly

by…

Divers making the most effi-

cient use of their time

Hello to the families and friends of the 7th

Dive. What can be said about second squad

that has not been said before?! This month

was filled with great expectations, and as per

the usual, second squad met and exceeded

them. SPC Varas went to the promotion board

and smoked it. Great job Tony!

SGT Russell and I were also fortunate enough

to get promoted this month, and we continue to do

great things for the team. Congratulations Rob,

you deserve it.

This month the major focus was on the Shallow

Brown training exercise. The exercise was geared

towards the young guys in the unit to finally make

headway on their salvage diver check-offs. I

must say, SGT Russell, SPC (P) Varas and SPC

Bullington did solid work in the water during a

grueling week of long hours and rigorous dives.

Their hard work led to attaining nearly all of their

salvage diver check-offs and moving in the right

direction to becoming a lead diver in the field.

SSG Geffert went on a much needed vacation

this month. Nothing like family and friends to

boost morale halfway through deployment. I

think I can speak for everyone in saying, have

fun, enjoy leave SSG Geffert, but most impor-

tantly be safe! The guys continue to impress

the command team on a daily basis. Their hard

work ethic and drive to accomplish any mission

is appreciated by myself and SSG Geffert.

Next time you talk to your diver let him know

you have been hearing nothing but good things

and keep up the hard work.

2nd Squad by SSG Jeramy Bays

3rd Squad by SGT Kyle Steffic

Page 3 Issue 7: August 2011

The month of August has come and

gone, and for third squad it was a

busy one.

During the first part of August, SSG

Dunham participated in the Eager

Mace exercise, an underwater demoli-

tion range aimed at improving the

7th’s relationship with our host na-

tion’s divers. Shortly after, he flew

back to Virginia for some much de-

served R&R with his fiancé and as is

happens, the two got married. Con-

gratulations to you both. SSG

Dunham is due back to the unit in a

couple days which is good news for us,

although I’m sure he was enjoying his

time catching fish and relaxing.

SGT Hoover had a fantastic month of

August as he had the opportunity to

go to Afghanistan for a mission. His

technical skills in all aspects of the

dive field came in handy when the 7th

was asked to conduct a survey of a

Dam with the Underwater Remotely

Operated Vehicle. SGT Hoover and

his crew worked long hours day and

night while in Afghanistan and we

were all happy to see them return

safely only a few days ago.

SPC Steffic was promoted on the

first of August to the rank of SGT.

He was also placed onto SSG Rohde’s

team destined for Oman for a force

protection mission. The mission went

off early in August and was a success.

SGT Steffic acted as lead diver. The

crew returned on a Sunday night and

rolled right into Shallow Brown, one

week of diving with hydraulic tools,

cutting and welding, lifting, rigging,

and written tests. On his off time

Steffic and some team mates are

preparing for a basketball tourna-

ment and we all can’t wait to see how

that turns out.

SPC Wilson spent his downtime this

month preparing for his promotion

board, expected to take place during

the first week in September. He went

through multiple “mock boards” and

showed great progress with each one.

On top of studying, SPC Wilson went

about his regular work routine, par-

ticipating in Eager Mace and Shallow

Brown. This is an extremely stressful

time, so let’s all wish SPC Wilson luck

on his promotion board.

SPC Karraker has continued to do

good things with his skills in con-

struction and mechanics. He is quite

the carpenter and was the “go to

guy” when it came to fabricating

wooden and steel patches for our

salvage project. SPC Karraker also

started growing out a mustache this

month, a token of his loyalty to SPC

Bullington who is currently on R&R.

He also put together a lifting class

and plans on teaching it to the unit

in the coming weeks. Karraker’s

Muay Thai fighting skills definitely

come in handy when anyone in the

unit needs a “key grip” on their side.

Thanks for all of your support, stay

tuned for more next month, Third

squad, OUT.

SSG Bays is pinned by 1LT Guerdan SPC Billington sets up the underwater

chainsaw during Shallow Brown

SPC Varas connects a welding attach-

ment in preparation for the next dive

SPC Karraker communicates with divers during Shallow Brown

SSG Cochran is working hard still.

He is continuing his maintenance plan

for the unit and has taken up a small

mission to help train junior divers to

earn their dive check-offs. SSG

Cochran seems to be as busy as he

was last month with all the paper-

work, mission briefs, and mainte-

nance; his hard work and dedication

doesn’t go unrecognized.

SSG Rohde, like always, is SSG

Rohde. He continues to perfect the

art of world domination. I’m sure if

Risk were real he would rule the

world. If he were going to conquer

the world, Oman would be first on

his list. He just returned from there

with SGT Nnabue; I’m guessing they

were secretly scoping the area to

see what would be the easiest ap-

proach for total domination. SSG

Rohde, when not perfecting his typ-

ing or memo skills, is teaching and

supervising divers. He continues to

do what is best for the unit and his

squad and is looking forward to fan-

tasy football so he can once again

dominate!

SPC (P) Martinez is currently spend-

Another month has passed again.

These last few months have been

flying by with all that we have been

doing. The unit is continuing their

training and many of the soldiers

have reached new levels in their

career.

SSG O’Brien (formally SGT Vicente)

has just returned from R&R to a

desk full of paperwork and work

orders. While on leave she was

picked up for SSG and was also

married, congratulations. Now that

she is back the unit can continue

asking for supplies and have their

monthly inventories – meaning the

unit can function properly again. Not

only can the unit resume normal

supply operations but KNB can finally

get their workouts with SSG

O’Brien’s Zumba class!

SGT Nnabue continues achieving

notoriety as the best poet and singer

on KNB. She continues to work hard

at everything she does. She just

returned from a mission to Oman

where she acted as a diving tender

and performed well.

4th Squad by SPC Joe Moore ing much needed time with his fam-

ily. The few weeks he was here he

assisted the unit with load outs and

medical assistance. He is truly a

great medic who should be getting

promoted to Sergeant in the near

future. We look forward to him

rejoining our team.

Well, I guess it is my turn to say

something about myself. I will try to

be as modest as I can and not boast

how great of an IMO I am. There

really isn’t much I have done this

month. I continue to take pictures

for the unit and I try to help out

when I can. Currently I’m studying

for the “Soldier of the Month”

board. Now I finally get to see what

all the other guys had to go through.

This is a lot to study, but I’m sure I

will get it. I have great NCOs who

have been helping me. Thanks guys.

Underwater Demolitions Training!

Shallow Brown

SGT Damon and SGT Russell enjoy a light hearted moment on

the dive side

SSG Cochran, the NCO in charge of the exercise, delivers the

dive brief

SFC Harrison conducts supervisor checks

before sending divers into the water

An Army Diver ready to do work

The project is successfully dewatered and brought to the

surface during a test dive

SSG Rohde ensures the divers

understand the scope of work

(1st Squad, Continued)

SGT Damon has been running the show back in Kuwait with SSG Rowley gone. He has been spending a lot of his personal time working on training slides and coaching

me. Other than that, he has been spending a lot of time at the gym with his lifting buddy (SSG Bays). SGT Damon has been keeping home close by watching the new-

est episodes of True Blood and buying a coffee maker that a lot of people use (Thanks). SGT Damon is also a new bachelor in the market so if you know any friends

feel free to introduce them to us when we get back.

SGT Hall has been doing great things for the team. First of all he got promoted this month (congrats). If it wasn’t for SGT Hall the Afghanistan mission would not

have been a complete success. SGT Hall and SGT Hoover spent many an hour working on the ROV system to make sure it was mission ready during their time in Af-

ghanistan. He has also been doing a great job of keeping in touch with his family. I have only seen two other people talk to their families as much he does (SSG Row-

ley and SPC(P) Varas).

SPC Morales and SPC Varas went to the promotion board this month and got picked up for E-5. Make sure to congratulate both of them. I was in charge of my very

first load out and figured out how to run things and learned a lot from my fellow divers (Thanks Damon, Steffic, and Russell). I have been doing a series of hardcore

gym workouts, and hopefully by the time I get home my awesome back and diamond arms will be shredded! Since we arrived here I have been trying to keep the team

running the sports events out here with the rest of the divers. Next month we will be entering the volleyball tournament, starting on the 2nd of September through

the 3rd of September. Wish us luck.

To Everyone back home we hope that you stay safe if you’re on the east coast during Hurricane Irene. We will be keeping all of the people on the east coast in our

prayers and hoping for the best.

Looking back over the past 7 months, I have seen the team experience ups and downs. With the introduction of

Operation New Dawn and the draw down in Iraq, the tempo has really slowed and lessened the amount of mis-

sions in theater. That being said, we have a lot of time for training. So where should I start?

For starters, we have brought back the beloved Sergeant’s Time Training! For those of you who don’t know

what it is, I will elaborate. This is a weekly event, usually a four hour block of instruction, training our Soldiers

on anything from how to dawn a Pro Mask (gas mask) to the use of underwater hydraulic tools. The dive team

has used this as a double training opportunity. At first, the Squad Leaders were the only ones giving these

classes, which was good because they were more seasoned divers and it was easy for them to conduct this

training. All of them had conducted classes before and most of the subjects they already knew. But the 7th

took this training one step further. The younger divers started teaching. This is a little more time consuming

but well worth it. A lot of these guys never were in charge of conducting formal Army training and had to

research not only the topic but how to present the training. With the expert tutelage from their Squad Lead-

ers, these young guys not only gained the knowledge to teach the class but also how to present that knowledge.

Thanks to past units and the steady working relationship with the Kuwait Navy, the dive team still has a secure

training area in the port. This has come in useful during this deployment. The unit has done a great deal of

diver related training in this area. We have racked up countless minutes of bottom time conducting lift bag

training, cutting and welding training, and Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) and salvage dewatering training. The guys came across an old truck frame down there

and we even made that a training opportunity. If you read the past newsletters you saw that the team used this truck during Operation Eager Mace. This was a

great mission that consisted of both US Army divers as well as the Kuwaiti EOD divers. The Kuwaiti team was able to meld seamlessly with us which ensured a

flawless mission.

Now the last part of training that I want to talk about that I hold near and dear to my heart is physical training. When we first got here I really wanted to know

why all the guys kept going to see this guy “Jim”. They then started asking me if I wanted to go to Jim. I thought it was odd . I did not want to go see him because

every time they came back they were sweaty and tired. Then I realized that they were going to gym, not Jim. Even though I finally figured it out, I still hate that

place. Most of the guys go to the gym religiously and some are seeing big results. Others, I think they just walk in one door and out the other. SGT Willie Mays

Bays is getting swole and SSG Cochran can bench over 300lbs (I know because he told me). SSG Brandton “Road Dog” Rohde and I started the “no plan plan”. He

came up with it and I have adopted it as my own. This is where you go in with no expectations and no real plan; this way there are no let downs if you miss a day. If

you happen to go all week then great. No pressure, no expectation, no goals. It seem like at least every two weeks there is another reason for the camp to conduct

a 5K run; I guess these are for “fun”. I have done one. I can still walk around camp and run my mouth due to the fact that the dive team consistently grabs the top

three positions in every race.

I would also like to recognize the fact that this team continues to progress not only as divers but in their military careers. SSG Rohde was selected to become a

Warrant Officer. SSG Rowley earned an induction to the SGT Audie Murphy Club, which took a tremendous amount of dedication. SSG Cochran, SSG Bays and

SSG O’Brien earned the rank of Staff Sergeant. SGT Damon, SGT Hall, SGT Nnabue, SGT Steffic and SGT Russell have been promoted from Specialist to Ser-

geant. SPC Martinez, SPC Varas and SPC Morales have all gone to the promotion board and are now promotable. I would like to say good job to all these guys and

gals.

I would not like to talk about all the missions that the team has done because by reading the past newsletters you already know the great things the team has

done while conducting real world missions. I would just like to recall one mission that I will always remember. It was a bridge mission in Iraq where I was certified

as a swift water supervisor. Diving in swift water can be extremely dangerous and being able to supervise a dive mission without the direct supervision of one of

the unit’s Master Divers made me proud, to receive their blessing and have that responsibility entrusted to me to conduct a h igh risk diving operation.

In closing I would like to say that this team works very well together. We have all had our days when we would like to burn this place down but I think that is the

nature of being deployed. We started off this deployment bumpy but recently it seems like those bumps are smoothing out. I have learned a lot from this team,

not just from my leaders but from everybody and I hope that I have passed down some of my knowledge to members of the team. I will be re-deploying soon and I

should be leaving Hawaii before they come back. I would say that I feel honored to have served with this team.

(Editor’s Note: SFC Harrison will be redeploying in September to attend the Senior Leaders Course, where he will be evaluated for the rate of Master Diver. We

wish him the best of luck and thank him for his service to this team.)

The Reflecting Pool by SFC Andrew Harrison