Steel Warrior Issue 3
August 2012 I am pleased to be joining the Steel Warrior Battalion. I am very excited to be at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and very honored to be serving as the battalion commander in this great organization. Since my assumption of command on June 27th, 2012, we have been going full speed ahead. The battalion has stepped up and begun to implement changes to improve the readiness of the battalion for our upcoming deployment to Fort Chafee, Arkansas. Recently, the battalion executed battalion range week where many of the Officers, NCOs, and Soldier were able to fire and qualify on systems such as the M16A2, M240B, M249, and .50 cal machine gun. After the range week, the battalion moved to the field to conduct Artillery Table VI certifications and the Battalion Best by Test. I would like to congratulate all members of the crews for certifying and Alpha Battery for sweeping all competitions of the Best By Test. The battalion will continue to plan and prepare for the upcoming off post training at Fort Chafee, Arkansas. The battalion will remain in training from late September thru the entire month of October. While at Chafee, the battalion will conduct more Artillery Table certifications, weapons ranges, and situational training lanes. The training has been designed to maximize the battalion’s effectiveness and readiness. It will train the Soldiers to fight, win, and survive on
the battlefield. After returning from Fort Chafee, the battalion will conduct recovery operations at Fort Sill and prepare for the holidays. Check the 1-14th Family Readiness Group Facebook for updates on all battalion holiday celebration events or your unit’s FRG Leader. “Steel Warriors” LTC William Johnson
Change of Command
Hellraisers H H B , 1 - 1 4
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Soldiers, Families and friends of the Hellraisers Battery, we hope you are enjoying this hot summer. This past quarter has been very productive with the Battalion Change of Command two Battalion Field Exercises and block leave has been keeping the Hellraisers very busy. Well my short time in command has come to an end. I have truly enjoyed my tenure, of course I will not be going far I will still be in the Battery serving as the Battalion S6. As one Commander departs another one arrives I would like to welcome CPT Mckean to the Battery as the new HHB Commander. Please share your ideas and concerns with him in order to make this Battery better every day that goes by. Promotions: CPT Bracewell, SSG Cope, SSG Sewel, PFC Akins, and PFC Feebeck Baby Births: SGT Schaffer and his wife SGT Cooper and his wife
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From 13-15 August 2012, Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery Regiment conducted the annual “Best by Test” of all launcher, ammo, and fire direction centers (FDC) crews in the Battalion to determine the best crew in each respective area . The test consists of soldiers conducting manual fire missions, reload operations, computing masking data, tactical movements from point to point, and then reaching the culminating event of firing rockets down range. Each crew is graded on their ability to accomplish the given task and assigned a score that is indicative of their performance. The Assassin crews swept the competition winning best launcher, ammo, and fire direction crew. SSG Nussbaumer’s launcher crew of SPC Rice and PFC Harsvick led the Battalion with a score of 425 points and took the honor of being the best launcher crew in 1st Battalion 14th Field Artillery Regiment. But the competition did not go without a little competition as SGT Whigham’s crew of PFC Robinson and PFC Whitaker came in second with a score of 421. Adding to the high performance by the Assassin launcher crews was CPL Dickson and SPC Righettini who scored 370 points and earned top honors as the best ammo crew in the Battalion. Last but not least was the Assassin FDC crew who also took first place in the Battalion. The crew is led by SGT Forgette and consists of SPC Hutchinson, PFC Blieka, SPC McPheron, and SPC Springs. The Assassins proved through their actions that hard training pays off, and it showed in each of their scores during the exercise. The training was challenging and full of late nights, early mornings and everyone's fair share of scorching hot afternoons, but each and every Assassin soldier truly performed at a level unseen in any other unit in the Battalion, showing their dedication to their family, profession, and Alpha Battery. Thank you and your families for the support of the Assassin Battery, without you none of this would be possible! WHO DARES, WINS! CPT SEAN GREVIOUS ASSASSIN 6
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the $20 dollar bill up. He then asked, "who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, "what if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and tarted to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson," he said, "no matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20." Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened, or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless ... and especially to those who love you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. "You are special - Don't EVER forget it." Count your blessings, not your problems. Never be afraid to try something new.
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Greetings Soldiers and family members of the Blackhorse battery. The past few months have been extremely busy for the unit. The battery conducted Artillery Tables IV the first week of August and certified all crews, from the Fire Direction Centers to the HIMARS launchers, in order to prepare them for live fire and Best Buy Test. We have conducted multiple small arms ranges, crew served weapons ranges and a hand grenade range. Soldiers in the battery were able to qualify on their crew served weapons from the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon all the way to the M2 .50 Caliber Machine Gun. We culminated last week with Artillery Table VI and Best Buy Test to see which crews were the best in the battery. Several crews stepped up to the challenge; congratulations are in order for SGT Adams and his launcher crew as Bravo’s best launcher and to SSG Konkus for being the best crew in Ammo platoon. Bravo has another busy month ahead as we prepare for Fort Chaffee. The Battery will be headed to Arkansas from late September through October, to follow on with the training we completed in August. While at Chaffee we will be firing more live rockets and continuing to provide timely and accurate missile and rocket fires. Since December, the number of promotions, awards and re-enlistments are too numerous to count. The Soldiers of Bravo Battery have set the standard high through all of our training events so far and will continue to set the standard across the battalion for all upcoming events. I would also like to invite all the Blackhorse Battery family members to our next FRG events with dates to be determined, a Halloween night in October, and the December Christmas party. Our last event, following up Bravo’s training in the field, was an afternoon at LETRA. The weather was perfect and everyone that attended enjoyed burgers and hot dogs by the lake. It was a great way to allow Soldiers and their families to relax after a long week. I am looking forward to our next FRG events and am excited to see everyone for Halloween. Lastly, I would like to once again say how appreciative to have the honor of commanding the finest unit the Army has to offer, Bravo Battery. Black Horse! CPT Brandon Martin Black Horse 6
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The Steel Warrior Battalion spent the first week of June out in the field. This week was an exciting time for the Phoenix Soldiers. They were able to in some quality training while providing excellent support for the battalion. One of the best training events of the week was the Mire Pit. The mire pit is an excellent training event for recovery operations and allows the Soldiers to get hands on as well as getting down and dirty while perfecting their recovery skills. They submerged one vehicle into the pit and then received classes on recovery operations before putting those new and/or refreshed skills to the test. Even the Commander and 1SG got in on the action as maintenance platoon dove into the muddy water to recover the vehicle. The Soldiers loved the training; not only did were they able to have fun while learning a new skill, but it helped develop teamwork within the platoon; creating a more functional and cohesive platoon. CPT Oliver Stolley PHOENIX 6
Steel Warrior 5, Phoenix 6 and the FSC Maintenance Team
SGT Hiner teaches a class on recovering a vehicle in water
DISTRO Platoon conduct refueling operations with B 1/14 FA
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Command Team Corner Families and friends of Hotel 26, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you what an outstanding job our Soldiers have done over the past months. Working with them has truly been a pleasure. We have accomplished a great deal and have settled into a new routine. No matter what the obstacle is, the Wolfpack Soldiers continue to accomplish their tasks. While it is difficult to get a rhythm due to the change in personnel, they have done everything we have asked of them. It has been an honor to see these young men and women serve proudly. I know that I am honored to be a part of such a great organization. Like always, I want to thank all of you for the love and support that you provide. It definitely makes all our jobs a whole lot easier. On the battery front, we have good news to report for promotions. CPL Schmitz has been recommended to be promoted to E5. He will be promoted on August 1st. We are also saying farewell to SGT Kozak, SGT Gastman, and SPC Bringolf. We wish each of you the best to come. You will be greatly missed. ~ 1SG Solis
Family Readiness News August is full of summer activities, including back to school preparations. We are hoping that you have been able to take advantage of the many local summer fun opportunities. Please contact your POC or FRG Leaders and they can direct you to the best places. We would like to begin planning our September “end of summer” bash. We’d also like to welcome our newest Wolfpack members. We will soon be updating the Contact Roster to reflect the new Wolfpack Families. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns in regards.
Soldiers During the Fort Bliss Welcome Training SPC David Bergeron and Mrs. Ariel Bergeron SPC Jason Deighton SPC Levi Kuras SPC Barry Leath SPC Nicholas Morris SPC Preston Shipley SPC Jared Teeter and Mrs. Whitney Teeter Child: Chandlyr, 18 months old
FAMILY READINESS IS TIED DIRECTLY TO COMBAT READINESS Commanding Officer CPT Nate Dunk 580-442-0277 nathan.dunk@us.army.mil
First Sergeant 1SG Robert Solis 580-442-0278 580-917-5951 roberto.solis@us.army.mil
Executive Officer Mr. Bobby Eastwood 580-442-0279 bobby.eastwood@us.army.mil
Point of Contacts Mirtha Solis FRG Leader H26frg@yahoo.com solismirtha@gmail.com Amber Eastwood 817-629-7249 FRG Co-Leader / Welcoming Committee Cell 817-629-7249 amberbob2002@yahoo.com Sharon Kedrowski FRG Advisor Cell 580-917-0048 sharonked723@yahoo.com Jasmine Alderman FRG Secretary Cell 434-509-3241 taj.alderman@AOL.com Rhonda VanVorst FRG Treasurer Cell 580-647-0620 rhondajvanvorst@yahoo.com Crystal McMahon Cell 920-248-1012 crystal_rose47@yahoo.com