SFAT TEAM 33 Closing Down Shop & Carved out a Piece of History
Special points of interest: Each Page. Team Leader “”Closing Down Shop and Carved out a Piece of History” NCO’s
Salutations from Afghanistan!
“Guide and Direct”
Wow, time has flown by over here. Before you know it, we will be on the big “Freedom Bird” headed towards the States. This sentiment hit me hard as we gathered our bags and began to pack our container. The container will be shipped back to the States in another month or so. It will hold most of our equipment we are not turning over to the new SFAT teams replacing us. It also holds our extra duffle bags and boxes we shipped over from Fort Sill, Oklahoma many months ago. This is one of the first steps to begin movement towards redeployment. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.
Your Soldiers Pics
But the mission is not over yet, far from it. We are closing down shop here on the JRAC and preparing to move us and our ANCOP Kandak out into a new area for the remainder of the time in Afghanistan. Your Soldiers (our SFAT Staff and Soldiers) have trained their counterparts as well as the ANCOP policemen on a multitude of tasks. More importantly, we’ve built a capacity in that we’ve trained subject matter experts (SME) within the ANCOP unit. These SMEs are skilled in: tactical driving, police tactics, weapons tactics and marksmanship, counter IED skills, and medical skills. These SMEs will in-turn, train all their subordinate units. It will be Afghans training Afghans, without assistance from International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF). Your Soldiers have taught the ANCOP to be self-sufficient for training in these tasks, and more. The real key to mission success is having the Afghan Nation Security Forces (ANSF) capable of training, equipping and sustaining themselves, without assistance from the ISAF. With minor assistance from your Soldiers, they are one more step closer to accomplishing this mission. Sometimes the training has not been glamorous or perfect, but it is Afghan sustainable. See page 3: “Piece of History” MAJ Crooks and CPT Martin
MAJ Crooks loading up his “Tuff Boxes” on the Ranger to take them out to the storage
Operation Enduring Freedom 2012-2013
enjoying some lunch at the SFAT dining facility
BUSHMASTERS
Volume 1, Issue 5 1 September 2012
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SFAT TEAM
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NCO’s: Guide and Direct To the family and friends of SFAT Team #33, another month has come and gone and as the calendar turns here in Afghanistan we find ourselves preparing to deploy with our ANCOP counterparts out into sector. The days are getting shorter and even the temperatures have gotten to become more bearable in place of the 100 plus temperature days. We’ve had the opportunity to help guide and direct our counterparts in the right direction for their training, we’ve completed a lot this past month as far as assisting them to become “Self Sustainable” in all operations of their missions. The most difficult thing we’ve found is understanding the Afghan way of doing things and not trying to “reinvent the wheel”, so to speak, from what we as ISAF would do in similar situations. We are here to help guide them develop their own systems and standards that will be sustainable now and after our time with them here is complete. They have completed the first ever class on Counter Improvised Exploding Device (IED) training to be held here at the JRAC, utilizing the outdoor classroom and the IED training lane to sharpen their individual detection skills. We obviously didn’t have the opportunity to assist in the training of all of the ANCOP, but we did divide each company to ensure that they each had Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) attend all the training. They will train their own with the Counter IED training, Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM) and weapons maintenance, police training as well as mine detection training with the Afghan equipment. We as a team have been consistent in our own training as well, we completed the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) on the 21st of the month to ensure that we are keeping up our standards as individual war fighters. We took our vehicles to services to ensure that our trucks are ready for our movement out to sector as well as ensure they are up to date with any new upgrades or modifications to keep us as safe as possible. Proper maintenance and oil changes enables ourselves to move and assist our counterparts with their mission, and prepares our vehi-
SFC Darrow Standing by the “Marines” Flag raising monument at one of the Army Dining facilities.
SFC Darrow, SPC Rodriguez, and SGT Bashant waiting for the APFT
ARMY PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST
MAJ Crooks, SFC Caldwell, CPL Johnson, and SPC Buckland are read the RULES
cles for acceptance of them to our replacements in the best possible condition. The container loading was also completed this month on the 23rd, all extra items, team as well as individual equipment sent from Ft. Sill that is not mission essential has been packed up, sealed and ready for its trip back to Ft. Sill. In doing so we as a team had to send individuals to specific training as to complete the inspection process properly and to standard so as there won’t be any problems with the container when they are delivered as we will be out with our counterparts assisting them on their mission. For the Soldiers here it has been an experience to watch our counterparts develop and emplace their own standards and goals and achieve them. I am very pleased with the work that each member of the team has done as we all have our own piece of assisting and improving our ANCOP counterparts so when the time is decided upon by their government, they can stand alone without any assistance and make their Country better for themselves as well as their families. I would like to personally thank you all for the support you’ve given your individual soldier as well as the team. It’s hard enough to do what we are out here doing daily, and the support we each receive from home makes it that much more bearable. As we are getting closer to the end of our time here we must remain focused on the tasks and mission at hand and assist our Afghan ANCOP counterparts in securing their Country from insurgents so as generations to come have the opportunity to grow up in a World without conflict. God Bless SFC Richard Darrow SFAT Team # 33 NCOIC
Volume 1, Issue 5
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Your Soldiers PICS 1LT Horvath the team Movement Officer….waits
CPL Johnson and PFC Page download...
T U
“What is the hold up”???
F F B O X E S
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CW2 Johnson, waiting
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for the Physical
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Fitness Test
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Piece of History
T O
Major Crooks: CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1:
Your Soldier has carved out a little piece of history for themselves. They are the first SFAT team to join the ANCOP, they were the first to build/occupy our Tactical Operation Centers on the JRAC and Azzizullah, first to train the ANCOP, first to build and train on the JRAC C-IED lane, and many other firsts. Along the way your Soldiers have blazed a new trail for others to follow. Not only in the above areas, but also in systems and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which will be used long after this SFAT team is gone. In this relatively short amount of time, your Soldiers have accomplished more than they realize. It may take months or years for them to understand, but they helped shaped a little part of history. I’m extremely proud of each and every one of them. Each brings a unique talent needed for this team to be successful. This has been a very memorable deployment for me, and and for each Soldier. All this would not have been possible without your support, your letters and your prayers. Thank YOU for making this a successful deployment. We still have several more months to go, so do keep your heads up. As always, please feel free to send comments or recommendations to Kevin.crooks@us.army.mil . Until next time!
S T A R T ? ? ? Each person needs to have four copies of their packing lists for inspection. 1LT Horvath supervises bracing of the boxes container by SFC Darrow and SFC Caldwell
Thanks again and have a Steel Warrior day! SPC Buckland taking
Kevin Crooks Major, United States Army Team Leader
a break in the shade
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SFAT TEAM
SFAT 33 Conducts Civilian Police Tactics Training
PFC Ford SPC Rodriguez loading his Magazine
SPC Buckland
PFC Guerrerovazquez,
PFC Page
PFC Morris
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Volume 1, Issue 5
Page 5
SFAT 33 at Civilian Police Tactics Training continued
SGT Hooper
SGT Bashant, SPC Rodriguez, PFC Page, SPC Buckland, SPC Rani PFC Guerrerovazquez, PFC Morris, PFC Ford and SGT Hooper
SGT Bashant
SPC Rani
SPC Rodriguez (Civilian Police mentor) Frank gives a block of instruction to the team
Your Soldiers PICS PFC Guerrerovazquez ready
SGT
to move some Team bags
Bashant And SPC Buckland Finish Install Of MWR Dish
1LT Schwen helps open community care boxes and store all the treats on the top shelf for all to share
C H
B R I E F I N G S
A I N O F H 2 O
SFAT 33 and the PSD conduct vehicle briefings
B O
HOT!!!
A R
SGT McWilliams And
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OCT
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15th
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2012
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SPC Rodriguez at the...
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1LT Ostruske “40 Years Old!!”
Last day to ship LETTERS and BOXES to your SOLDIER and know they will be received.
1LT
SGT McWilliams and PFC Ford
Schwen
on Afghan Repairman escort duty
And ANCOP S4 Reps
Have a See Note “HOT” Box or Mail First Name, Last for SFAT TEAM 33 your S o l d i e r ? FOB JRAC
APO-AE 09355
CPT Martin smiles for the camera “Say Cheese”