dawn of the devils march 2012 monthly newsletter

Dawn of the Devils

All Boots on the Ground

Dawn of the DevilsVolume 2, Issue 2

The Dawn of the Devils is published in the interest of the Sol-diers, Families and Friends of the Devil Brigade. Contents of the

Dawn of the Devils are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, De-partment of the Army or 1st Infantry Division. All editorial con-tent of the Dawn of the Devils is prepared, edited, provided and

approved by the Devil Brigade Public Affairs office.

1/1 HBCT CommanderCol. Michael Pappal

1/1 HBCT Command Sergeant MajorCSM Thomas Kenny

Public Affairs OfficerMaj. John Mini

Public Affairs NCOICStaff Sgt. Robert Dedeaux

Public Affairs JournalistSgt. Kerry Lawson

Public Affairs Journalist/EditorSgt. Kandi Huggins

Public Affairs BroadcasterSgt. Summer Woode

1/1 HBCT FRSANoel Waterman

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February has been a month of honoring the Devil Brigade’s accomplishments while deployed, getting our staff systems estab-lished, and taking time to rebuild our teams and reconnect with our loved ones.

It was an honor for me to see and take part in the many awards and uncasing cer-emonies that took place during this month. 1-16 IN, 2-34 AR, and 4-4 CAV truly gave their Soldiers, the heroes, recognition that they deserve. As their block leaves are wrapping up, they have also demonstrated that they are taking time to adjust to be-ing back at Fort Riley and are ready to start another round of training to get the brigade team back together and in fighting form.

In the same spirit of teambuilding, it has also been a distinct pleasure to welcome the 1st Engineers back to the Devil Brigade Team. The most storied engineer unit in the Army has always shared a close relationship with our brigade and we look forward to training with them, having their support, and supporting them as they prepare for their future missions. Their “Diehard Stakes” taking place this month was a great indica-tion of what they are capable of doing.

There have been some leadership chang-es in the brigade and battalions. It has been an honor and privilege to work with

CSM John Jones, who did yeoman’s work in rebuilding the brigade after transition from training and getting everyone ready for their deployments. I know that all of us wish him well in his future endeavors after three de-cades of service to the nation. CSM Thomas Kenny has stepped into his seat and is doing a superb job in this time of transition for the unit, while we wait for CSM Mark Kiefer to arrive in a few months, pending his return from an OEF deployment.

We’ve also said farewell to LTC Keith Casey at 1-5 FA, CSM Tonia Walker at 1-1 BSTB and CSM Jeffrey Adams from the 101st BSB. The units each did their lineage proud at the changes of command and respon-sibility ceremonies. LTC Scott Nolan, CSM Naamon Grimmett and CSM Franklin Jordan have stepped into the leadership roles and I’m confident will continue ensure that their units are doing great things.

As the Devil Brigade continues to reset and train for the next mission, I want to en-sure that all units are welcoming in their new Soldiers and integrating them as full members of the team. All of you have forged friend-ships and built units under the strain of de-ployments—now your challenge as leaders is to integrate new members into the effective teams that you have built so that the Devil Brigade passes on knowledge and remains strong and ready.

No mission to difficult. No sacrifice too great. Duty First. Devils!

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I would like to bid farewell and thank CSM Jones and his Family for nearly 30 years of service with the last 10 served right here at Ft Riley, Kansas with the Big Red One. His retirement ceremony will be held at the Riley Conference Center on the 29th of February at 0900. I encourage everyone available to stop by and show their sup-port for CSM Jones and his Family on this special occasion. I will fill the void left by CSM Jones’ retirement and serve as the interim Brigade Command Sergeant Ma-jor of the Devil Brigade until mid-summer. In July, CSM Mark Kiefer is scheduled to arrive from Hawaii to serve as the Devil Brigade CSM. At that time I will transition to 4-4 CAV and serve as the CSM for the Pale Riders.

As we come to the end of February we welcome all the Devil Brigade Soldiers back from their redeployment block leave. I hope you all enjoyed your leave and were able to spend some quality time with your Families, friends and loved ones. I encour-age you to continue to spend time with your Family, friends and loved ones while main-taining and upholding the standards of the

Devil Brigade. You’ve all done a great service to this country over the past year; don’t jeopar-dize all that hard work and sacrifice by doing something your chain of command can’t help you with. Continue to enjoy your time home with a focus on competing the redeployment process and resiliency training over the next few weeks.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I would like to thank all of the Families, friends and sup-porters who continue to volunteer through their selfless service and support to the Devil Brigade, tis Soldiers and Family members during the past year. Brigade-wide, we had approximately 600 volunteers who dedicated about 3 years (total number of hours was 24,212, which was about 1008 days and about 2.7 years… so I rounded to 3 years) worth of volunteering hours during the 2011-2012 timeframe alone. This level of support is very impressive and I commend you all for the hard work and commitment you have given to the Devil Brigade Soldiers and Family members. Collectively, I cannot thank you enough for your support, which allowed our deployed Sol-diers to focus on the fight downrange. Again, thank you all so much for your unwavering support.

No Mission Too Difficult. No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First. Devil 7.

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Dawn of the Devils February 2012

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Dawn of the Devils February 2012Man on the StreetWhat does it mean to be

Army Strong?

Staff Sgt. James Muller, HHB, 1-5 FA

“To me, Army Strong means setting the example for my soldiers to emulate. Being physically and mentally tough at all times, living the Army Values.”

Staff Sgt. Thye Black, HHC, 1st HBCT

“To me, Army Strong means maintaining a positive attitude and not holding any grudges.”

Sgt. Carmencita Laboy, HHC, 1st HBCT

“Being Army Strong means being physically and mentally fit.”

Spc. John Christian, HHB, 1-5 FA

“Army Strong is be-ing physically fit and mentally prepared for life.”

Spc. Brad Butters, HHC, 1st HBCT

“Army Strong means not being a slacker and putting forth your best effort in accomplish-ing your goals. It means America!”

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“Iron Rangers” Receive Honors for Courageous ActsBy Sgt. Summer Woode1st HBCT Public Affairs FORT RILEY, Kan.— The 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infan-try Division, honored ninety-four of its Soldiers during an awards ceremony held Jan. 30 at building 727.

Honorees received nearly 100 awards including six Purple Hearts, 76 Bronze Stars, and six Army Commen-dation Medals for Valor.

The Soldiers recently completed their tour and returned home in January to loved ones and joined the rest of their brigade at Fort Riley.

Recognized as the most decorated infantry battalion in the Army, the unit, also known as the “Iron Rangers,” has served in nearly every major U.S. war, beginning with the Civil War. While training for a deployment to Iraq, the unit received new orders that changed their mission to assisting with “Operation Enduring Free-dom,” in Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. James Smith, battalion commander, said his unit had only a short amount of time to prepare for their new mission.

“Our mission changed and we only had forty-six days of notice,” Smith said.

Assigned to support the “Combined Joint Special Task Force,” the “Iron Rangers” were deployed to fifty-eight remote locations across Afghanistan. They com-pleted over ten thousand missions as part of Village Stability Operations with the Afghan people. The operations connected the government of Afghanistan to the village level. Afghans learned the ways of their government through conducted training that educated them on their constitution.

Smith said that he felt the mission was a success. “I felt a lot of pride. We trained transition teams that expanded to one thousand. I think we accomplished the mission superbly. We brought everyone back home,” Smith said.

With no personnel losses, the infantrymen stood in formation and were recognized with medals, for their courageous and meritorious service to their nation. Some Soldiers received multiple awards.

Staff Sgt. Caleb Vanvoorhis, received both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He was wounded in combat on Jan. 19, 2011. Being in a combat zone, Vanvoorhis knows his situation could have turned out differently. He shared his gratitude towards his team.

“I give all credit to the guys. We got a lot accomplished while we out there. The memory will stick with me forever,” Vanvoorhis said.

After a successful mission and another achievement added to the impressive lineage of the battalion, Smith shared his pride in his men.

“Our Soldiers have grown into a lot of maturity. They have developed and are self-sustaining. A lot of thanks goes to the Families and Family Readiness Groups. The strength of our Family is the strength of our Soldiers,” Smith said.

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1-5 FA Change of Command1-5 Field Artillery conducted a change of com-

mand ceremony, bidding farewell to Lt. Col. Keith Casey and welcoming Lt. Col. Scott Nolan

as their new commander. The ceremony took place at the Redeployment Center, February 15,

2012.

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By Sgt. Summer Woode1st HBCT Public Affairs

FORT RILEY, Kan.— The Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division un-cased their colors during a ceremony held Jan. 27 at building 727.

The battalion, also known as the “Dread-naughts,” recently re-turned from a year-long deployment, in support of “Operation Enduring Freedom.” Standing up only two years ago as a combined arms battal-ion, the “Dreadnaughts” adapted quickly to every new challenge they faced in Afghanistan.

While preparing for their mission in support of Operation New Dawn, the ‘Dreadnaughts’ received new orders for deploy-ment to Afghanistan. With only 60 days to prepare, the battalion worked intensely to become mission-ready.

Lt. Col. Christopher Kidd, Dreadnaught Com-mander, expressed the pride he had in his Soldiers and their training.

“Through tough training, which included dis-mounted day and night live-fire scenarios, these Sol-diers became equipped and ready to fight,” explained Kidd. “Tankers learned the skills of infantrymen, serv-ing in every maneuver company within the battalion and conducting the majority of their air assaults.”

Kidd considered his tankers one of the most adap-tive forces of today.

“I am incredibly proud to say that when you placed an armor Dreadnaught and an infantry Dreadnaught side by side on a mission, you could not tell the dif-

ference between the two. They both had the same skills and great attitude to win the fight,” Kidd said.

Kidd told the story of the battalion and its accomplish-ments by telling who they are, where they have been and what they have done.

“We are incomplete. We stand here today with too many out of ranks, recovering in and out of hospitals and with five less men than we started this mission with,” Kidd said, honoring those Soldiers who were either injured or killed in action while in Afghanistan.

He also acknowledged the past “Dreadnaughts” and “Cen-turions,” the previous name of the battalion, who were able to attend and those who could not. Distinguished guests from the regiment included retired colonels and sergeant majors. The commander also recog-

nized the Family Readiness Group—the part of the “Dreadnaught” Family that does not wear the Army uniform.

Kidd commented that this day was about honoring every single person who supported the battalion dur-ing their mission. The uncasing of the colors formally marked the end of the “Dreadnaughts” deployment, but Kidd acknowledged his unit must stay ready for the future.

“We will draw our tanks and brads and start train-ing for our next set of missions. These colors and these guidons will be cased once more as we answer our nation’s call,” Kidd said.

“Dreadnaughts” Mark Return with Uncasing of Colors

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1-1 BSTB Change of Responsibility

The Defiants bid farwell to their first command sergeant major, during a change of responsibility ceremony held at Building 727, February 10, 2012. CSM Tonia Walker relinquished her responsibil-ity of the 1st BSTB to CSM Naamon Grimett to participate in the Army Congressional Fellowship Program in D.C.

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By Sgt. Kandi Huggins1st HBCT Public Affairs

FORT RILEY, Kan. – Soldiers of the 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, conducted a training exercise validating their basic knowledge of being a Soldier at Fort Riley, February 22-24.

The validation training consisted of various tasks to test the proficiency of their Soldiers performing individual skills. The tasks included land navigation, assembling and disassembling an M4 Carbine, sending reports, evaluating a casualty and performing a nine-line medical evacuation.

Because of the Soldiers’ recent return from Iraq and the integration of new Soldiers to the unit, Cpt. William Viegas, commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st BSTB, said this training took his Soldiers back to square one, back to the fundamentals. His company consisted of Soldiers of many different specialties and backgrounds, making the task uniquely challenging at times.

“In Iraq we sacrificed individual task training for the operational needs in theater,” said the St. Louis, Mo. native. “The caveat of our return is to retask and organize our Soldiers and step one is to rebuild that foundation and train them on individual skills.”

Specialist Derek Lucas, a signal and intelligence analyst, Alpha Company, 1st BSTB, said his squad went on a mission to find weapon

caches and conducted a patrol in a village during his company’s training.

“I think the training, overall, is good training and it’s going well for all of us,” said Lucas, a Rock Port, Mass. native.

This three-day validation training consisted of a day of rehearsal, executing and recovery, all of which added to the importance of the event, according to Viegas.

Viegas explained how ‘just the muscle movement of equipment’ is training because the simple task of moving troops from one place to

Remaining Trained and Proficient: Epitomizing the Creed of Soldiers

another is a new task.“This exercise is forcing us, as

a mechanism, to get things fixed and work out the kinks in our unit,” said Viegas. “We have processes and systems we need to figure out in order to better work together as an organization and training, such as this one, helps bring those deficiencies to light so we can fix it, if it still works, or make it better.”

Overall, Viegas noted this as a building block process and it is better to find out now who needs any additional training so they can get it, than later.

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Diehard StakesSoldiers of 1st Engineer Battalion honed their skills during an ex-

tensive training exercise called the Diehard Stakes. They completed the multi-tasked competition that evaluated their warrior tasks and

drills while focusing on route clearance operations.

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‘Devil’ Volunteer of the Quarter

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By Sgt. Kandi Huggins1st HBCT Public Affairs

FORT RILEY, Kan.— The ‘Pale Riders’ 4th Squadron, 4th Cav-alry Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Divi-sion, conducted an awards ceremo-ny, honoring their troops for acts of valor and courage while deployed to Afghanistan, at the Marshall Airfield Hangar, January 25. Lt. Col. Michael Katona and Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Cook, command team for the Pale Riders, honored 70 of their Soldiers with Purple Hearts, Bronze Star Medals and Army Accommoda-tion Medals with valor, during the ceremony. “Today is about the Pale Rider Soldiers, their incredible individual valorous actions and their leadership,” said Katona. “It’s also about wounds received from direct combat with the enemy in Afghanistan, the combat everyone in this Squadron was involved in on a daily basis.” The Pale Riders deployed to Afghanistan, late February 2011, to what Katona described as a ‘tough, dismounted fight.’ “Because of persistence, valor, courage and individual motivation and discipline, we came together as a team, defeating dis-mounted explosive devices, maneu-vering through thousands of canals and fighting an entrenched Taliban force,” said Katona. Sergeant 1st Class James Rogers, platoon sergeant, 2nd platoon, A Troop, 4th Squadron, 4th Cav. Reg., said the battalion occupied the Zharay District in the

Kandahar province of Afghanistan, providing security for the locals and integrating the Afghan Army and Police into their mission, in order to help the country build it’s infrastructures build its forces. “We occupied eight tacti-cal infrastructures,” said Rogers, a Stockton, Calif., native. “We spread our squad’s footprint in order to cover more ground and create more Shuras (town hall, meeting place for village elders) for the people.” Although the achievements of the battalion remain impressive, it was not one that came without a price. “We will always remember the Soldiers killed in action and the 144 living Purple Heart recipients,” said Katona. “They gave their lives for the freedom of both Afghans

and Americans.”“All of the Soldiers did excellent jobs in accomplishing their mis-sion while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom,” said Rogers. “It was fabulous for the Soldiers to be recognized during the awards ceremony as we honor those standing in formation, those present in the audience and those who did not return with us. None of our sacrifices will be forgotten.”

‘Pale Riders’ Recognize Soldiers for Valor and Courage While Deployed

‘Devil’ PAOEmail: [email protected]

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dawn of the devils march 2012 monthly newsletter

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