1/168 Dust-off Newsletter September 2013

7/29/2019 1/168 Dust-off Newsletter September 2013

1/10

Dustoff Friends and Families,

Another month down! Your Soldierscontinue to do great things out here

and I am continually proud to say Iam a part of this excellent team. Wehave been saving lives, conductingmaintenance, and training diligently.We continue to train with not onlyAmerican Soldiers but also those frommany other countries including Ital-ians and Spanish. These trainingevents are excellent opportunities tofurther hone and prepare our skills aswell as teach our Coalition partners

how we operate in case they need usin the future. We have conductedsome ranges and we continue toshoot on a fairly regular basis tokeep our basic Soldier skills sharp aswell.

Everyone continues to remain focused andwork hard. Football season has broughtrelief to some and grief to others, but weare in high spirits. We are heavily di-

vided between 49ers and Seahawks fansbut there also lots of College Footballfans rooting for the Nevada Wolfpack.Most of the grief comes from those thathave to put up with the cheers andyelling coming from the MWR tent late at

Greetings,

August is a distant memory,

weve seen the changing of the

guard here in the west with the

changeover of Task Force Apoca-lypse to Task Force Nightmare.LTC Fred Defualt and CSM PhilipPaniagua have gone out of their

way to welcome DUSTOFF into

the Big Red One family of 1st

Infantry division.

Moral continues to be high andDUSTOFF continues to excel and

get the job done.

-1SG Wayne Loader

Dustoff 07

Commanders Corner MAJ Lovett

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Commanders 1

1SGs Soapbox 1

Safety Bulletin 2

MANBEARPIGS 3

Chingaderas 4

Honey Badgers 5

Black Knife!! 6

Desert Rats 7

Company Photos 8-9

For The Families 10

First Sergeants Soapbox 1SG Loader

THE

H I G H L I G H T S :

More New Stories

What happens when a foot-

ball rivalry goes wrong

Pictures of the Unit at Work

Wildlife that you would

never expect

I D Q U O M E N S U R A N T U R O M N E S A L I I O R D I N E

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E V R C W E S T & S O U T H W E S T , A F G H A N I S T AS E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 3

night or early in thmorning while folks watching games. Untunately I lost my

friendly wager with Maldonado about wwould win the Nineand Seahawks head head matchup. (LTMaldonado pictureddoing the honors).

Check out our facebook page, and shoan email to your FRG rep if you woullike to be added to our private FRG

group on facebook. Hope everyone athome is doing well, its almost Fall!

-MAJ LovettDustoff 06

Our Com-

mand team

out doing

what they do

best, smiling

and nodding

their heads. . .


2/10

P A G E 2

SAFETY

CAMPAIGNSINITIA-TIVES/KnowtheSigns/tabid/2369/Default.aspx,

focuses onsports, recreation,

pedestrian, POV,POM, alcohol, work-

place and homesafety. It alsoaddresses how youcan prepare yourself and your family for the

changing weather that comes with the Fall se

Below are some links that you may find help

Back to School Safety: https://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/august2013/SchoolCrossing/tabid/3427/Default.aspxFamily Engagement Kit: https://safety.army.mimultimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/

FamilyEngagementKit/tabid/2150/Default.aspxSafety Activity Book for Kids: https://safety.army.mil/LinkClick.aspx?

fileticket=MHeX91V5L8s%3d&tabid=2152I hope that the links provided are helpful in ting you engaged and thinking about safety i

your daily activities.

~CW2 Anddrea Postma Safety Rocks

Hello and welcome to the new Safetysection of the newsletter. For those of youthat do not know me, I am CW2 AnddreaPostma, the Safety Officer for the company.During a recent meeting with the new Task

Force Commander, he expressed his concernwith safety as it pertains to the folks back

home, to include the reardetachment, FRG and friends

and family members of theSoldierswhat a great idea!!

With that I would like toextend to you an invitationto explore the link for the

U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center, https://safety.army.mil/. This linkprovides a plethora of infor-

mation, awareness and mediato help you be safe in youreveryday activities. Most ofthe soldiers are very familiar

with the annual safety train-ing requirements on topicssuch as Personally OwnedVehicles (POV), Personally

Owned Motorcycles (POM),

Gun/Firearm Safety, Hot andCold Weather Injuries, etc., however, much of

this training never gets passed on to you.

The current Autumn Safety Campaign,https://safety.army.mil/multimedia/

Hoist training with the

Marine Special Forces at

the MEDPOND.

The most current Knowle

Magazine, https://

safety.army.mil/

knowledge_online/

september2013/
https://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/august2013/SchoolCrossing/tabid/3427/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/august2013/SchoolCrossing/tabid/3427/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/august2013/SchoolCrossing/tabid/3427/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/august2013/SchoolCrossing/tabid/3427/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/FamilyEngagementKit/tabid/2150/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/FamilyEngagementKit/tabid/2150/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/FamilyEngagementKit/tabid/2150/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/FamilyEngagementKit/tabid/2150/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MHeX91V5L8s%3d&tabid=2152https://safety.army.mil/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MHeX91V5L8s%3d&tabid=2152https://safety.army.mil/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MHeX91V5L8s%3d&tabid=2152https://safety.army.mil/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MHeX91V5L8s%3d&tabid=2152https://safety.army.mil/https://safety.army.mil/https://safety.army.mil/https://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/september2013https://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/september2013https://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/september2013https://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/september2013https://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/september2013https://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/september2013https://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/september2013https://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/september2013https://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/https://safety.army.mil/https://safety.army.mil/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MHeX91V5L8s%3d&tabid=2152https://safety.army.mil/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MHeX91V5L8s%3d&tabid=2152https://safety.army.mil/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MHeX91V5L8s%3d&tabid=2152https://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/FamilyEngagementKit/tabid/2150/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/FamilyEngagementKit/tabid/2150/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/FamilyEngagementKit/tabid/2150/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/august2013/SchoolCrossing/tabid/3427/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/august2013/SchoolCrossing/tabid/3427/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/knowledge_online/august2013/SchoolCrossing/tabid/3427/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspxhttps://safety.army.mil/multimedia/CAMPAIGNSINITIATIVES/KnowtheSigns/AutumnSafety2013/tabid/2421/Default.aspx


3/10

P A G E 3

Team 1 MANBEARPIGS (SHINDAND)care packages this month!

Keeping with the finest of Army Aviation tradi-tions, we remain equally dedicated to maintain-ing a superior safety standard and finding timeto blow off steam, despite our less than stellarlocale. While the prohibition of brown liquordoes limit our goodtime options, Corn hole re-mains the units chosen good time game with

SGT Ryan Moore and SPC Cory Cranston aschamps again.

As the school years begins know were all wish-

ing we could be home, enjoying the changing

seasons with our loved ones. As always, you

have my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for

keeping Home Command Center ops running

smoothly, allowing your soldiers to focus on the

mission at hand. Till next month!

-LT MaldonadoMBP 06

Greetings from the sunny oasis of Shindand!

With another month in the books were all looking

forward to the approaching fall, as its rumored temps

will finally begin to drop below something resemblingthe bowels of hell, to simply purgatory-esq. The onsetof fall marks the end of party season here, with someof the more rowdy and ill -mannered locals puttingdown their party pants till next season. We are allawaiting the resulting decrease in OPTEMPO. Moreimportantly fall marks the beginning of FOOTBALL SEA-SON. There are some heated rivalries in the Company,with part of unit being from Washington GO

HAWKS!!! Then of course part of the unit from Califor-nia and Nevada Boooooo 9ers!!!! Although we

may differ on who we will be rooting for come Sunday,(early Monday morning) one thing we can all agree on,is we are all looking forward to the end of footballseason when the Seahawks are crowned Super bowlChamps and our time here will be over.

In other news, the unfairly named Task Force Night-mare took over Command, replacing TF Apocalypse 01SEP. Thus far the shift seems to be a great fit as ourunits personality seems to align well. We are allexcited to be working with the new task force as its

quite clear they hold MEDEVAC in high regard. It hasbeen a welcome change and I suspect an increase in

morale as result. Im looking forward to seeing

the Big Red 1 on everyones right shoulder.

Maintenance and our Crew Chiefs are still per-forming as super-stars in the unit. I am con-tinually impressed with their dedication to mis-sion readiness. These are the men and womenwho experience the full force of the skin meltingAfghan sun day in and out and have consistentlykept our aircraft in top shape. If your loved one

is one of the afore mentioned, send them extra special

SFC Rael and SGT Sabatini

showing off their new pets.

Shortly after this people

were complaining about

their old nightmares of

gremlins more frequently

SPC Cranston brings in

two of our Marine bud-

dies, we did notice that

they were trying not to

look down.

Two of our Marines going for a hoist ride, they seem

far too comfortable sitting on each others lap . . . .


4/10

P A G E 4

Team 2 CHINGADERAS (FARAH)We have been increasing the number of trainingflights, our most recent partnering with one of thelocal Italian units. It was great training and we bothlearned a lot. We have a new Task Force in chargeof our operations and we have been nothing butimpressed by them.

Weve had two new additions to our families back

home; Alan and Julie Sharp just had a baby boy,

Wyatt James Sharp, on September 9, he was 5 lbs. 8oz. and 16 inches long. Jayson and Teddi Zorola had

a baby girl, McKinley Zorola on August 31, she was 6lbs. 11 oz. and 19 inches long.

Our whole team has shaved their heads and havebeen wearing orange bracelets in support of JaysonZorolas niece Aubreys fight against Leukemia.

We all look forward to any mail. Our incoming mailis stopping soon so please send mail for our team to:

Soldiers NameC CO 1/168th (Team 2)

Shindand AirbaseAPO, AE 09382

Thank you for all of your support back home.

-CPT Petersen

Chingadera 06

Hi everyone,

Team 2 has been doing well. The summer heat isfinally starting to subside, 85 degrees at night almostfeels chilly. Our only complaint about the coolerweather is that now we are dealing with a lot moreflies. Weve been working out a lot getting ready for

our Army Physical Fitness Test. Our gym here haseverything that you could ever need to get in shape.

The dining facility here is probably one of the best inthe country, we have fresh fruits, and veggies and aselection of entrees at every meal. Sadly, they will beslowly closing, going down to two meals a day soonas the Army here tries to become moreExpeditionary. We have stocked up our freezer

with food and all our cupboards are full in our com-

mon area, thanks to all the folks back home. Wehave a large BBQ and a hot plate, griddle, pots andpans, but our sink situation is a little tricky. It willbe interesting to see how it all works out.

There is a quite a bit of downtime, so we try to

keep ourselves busy with sports, classes, and commu-nicating with family back home. Quite a few people

are taking college classes as well. Every Sunday nightwe host volleyball for the FOB. Some of our teammembers could be professional ping pong players, andour team members took second place in the FOBs 3on 3 basketball tournament.

SGT Sharp working on a

patient during training with

the Italians . Not only is

this his DUSTOFF STAN-

DARD debut, this picture

was taken directly from the

Army Knowledge Online

Home Page. Luckily the

fame has already gone to

his head.

CW2 Conley, SGT Crow-

ley and SPC Headings

celebrating their 2nd

Place basket ball victory.

The rest of the Chin-

gaderas were sure that if

they had not shaved their

heads, they would not

have even placed.


5/10

P A G E 5

Team 3 HONEY BADGERS (STONE)Soldiers for the work and the support that they provi

Which brings me to a request. By my count we hav

been away from you, our families for over 230 days,

(starting with the FEB train up at Camp Roberts) and

know that it is draining on me and the rest of us.

continue to send your Soldiers the letters and packag

you have been. They are all working hard, providing

same great support to all Soldiers and Units here and

need to continue to get your support at home. It habeen great and I do appreciate it. Thank you again!

Until next month,

-MAJ Ranney

Honey Badger 06

Dear friends and family,

This last month has been an exciting one for us hereat Camp Stone. So at the very end of AUG we re-ceived word that all of the tents we were living inhad to be torn down and we had two weeks. Fortu-nately for us the Eric Franz construction and movingcompany was here at Stone to help. We completelymoved everyone from one tent to another, after firstcompletely deconstructing and then reconstructing the

rooms inside each tent. What wethought would take us five daysended up only taking four thanksto all of the hard work of all ofthe Soldiers here at Stone.

As we have been taking sometime to recover from our move,we have continued to provideMEDEVAC coverage for thecity of Herat and surrounding

area. This brings me to ournext and most exciting event of the last month.As most of you are probably aware the U.S.Consulate here in Herat was attacked recently.We here at Stone had the privilege of conductingtraining back in June with the Consulate and sowhen we were called to provide MEDEVAC sup-port we were all ready. It was exciting for usto know that the training that we planned andexecuted had a direct impact on how well wewere able to provide MEDEVAC support to our Depart-ment of State Brothers and Sisters. There are several

pictures that we haveseen on the internetand I have attacheda couple here aswell. You should allbe proud of your

Most of the team at Stone

helping to work on their

latest construction project.

It seems that the Honey

Badgers are quite spectacu-

lar at supervising.

One of the Honey Badger crew going into

the Consulate to pick up wounded Sol-

diers and civilians, a rare picture of real

lives being saved

MAJ Ranney working on

a mud igloo, well they told

us it was a pizza oven,

guess you have to see it to

believe it.


6/10

P A G E 6

Team 4 BLACK KNIFE (QALA-I-NAW)Hello everyone!!!

Another month has past, and that means anothermonth closer to being back with friends and fam-ily. First of all, we would like to say Thank You to

everyone who has sent the Qala-E-Naw Soldierscare packages. Your support for us definitely keeps

our morale up and in good spirits. Secondly wewould like to thank our brothers in Farah. They

continue to help us out by sending up meats,

fresh fruits and vegetables that we dont haveaccess to up here. They truly are team players!!

We continue to conduct realistic and invaluabletraining with the Spanish elements located here.

We have trained with nearly all of the Spanishunits here on our MEDEVAC procedures should

they ever need to call on us for help. Along withtraining in MEDEVAC procedures, we recently

trained with the Spanish security forces here inPersonnel Recovery operations. These are the menand women who go out and pick up personneloutside of the wire should they get separated

from their unit. It was a great time for all. A

couple of our pilots were acting as the downedpilot and in need of rescue. We found the Spanish

take these operations seriously as one of ourpilots gave the wrong password and was quickly

One of our crews hoisting someSpanish Soldiers. If we are not

hoisting someone, we areprobably shaving their head.

Look at those guy go, precision twowheel landing and exiting theaircraft like they are on TV or

something.

Catching our guys information with thegorgeous countrysidein the background.

detained and searched until they could ver

was who he said he was. Much of the traindo builds relations with the Spanish that pback in return.

Again, Thanks to all of you who continue tport us. We appreciate every single one of

more than you know. You keep our spirits and you help make this deployment as goo

can be. You are in our thoughts and prayer

next month,

-Sgian Dubh

Contributing Editor: CW2 Jason Miller


7/10

P A G E 7

Team 5 DESERT RATS (DELERAM)Hello from Camp Deleram.

Team 5 has been busy building and stockingour new home and everyone is stepping up

and doing a great job.

It is a small FOB, socoming together as a

cohesive team is instru-mental to our success.

Our Marine hosts are

being more than accom-modating, taking care ofus at the drop of a hat.

We have multiple pro-

jects that we are work-ing on, ranging from building an outdoor patio,

creating more rooms, and improving our opera-tions center. Of course none of that takes

precedence over our mission, running 24/7MEDEVAC for our ISAF counterparts in RC-SouthWest. We take our mission seriously here, andthat shows with our excellent results.

CW3 Rahn, CW2 Groth, SGTAtkins and SCP Waller Workingon building their patio in theBack Yard We heard rumor

that they were getting a poolinstalled, well more of a hot tub.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the nexexhibit at the afghan MEDEVACzoo, a large bat that somehowfound his way into the chin

bubble.

We are extremely pleased with the team andwith the execution of the mission. As we getmore established we will be doing more train-ing with the Marines, so look for more updates

from Desert Rat country in future newsletters.

-CPT Sandin, SFC Hughes

A couple ofMarine

helicopters

landing nearour aircraft.Down at Delwe are all onthe same team.


8/10

P A G E 8

Photos of us in Action

SPC Justin Becerril Re-

Enlisting. Here he it makinghis oath once again. Con-

gratulations and thank you.

Introducing the all new streamlined leadership, Straight from

Fort Riley, your very own, Task Force NIGHTMARE!!!

Quala-E-Naw lined up in

formation receiving their

combat patches from our

new task force commander

and Command Sergeant

Major.

Another picture credit of the As-

sociated Press, our aircraft com-

ing in to help with the patients at

the U.S. Consulate in Herat.

Some semi-professional artwork down in Deleram.

This was done by our own LT Maldonado, we still

are having a debate as to whether it is a hawk or an

eagle, more to follow on that one.


9/10

P A G E 9

Photos of us in Action

Next in the

Afghan zoo,

Camels, awhole herd of

them, complete

with 2 herd-

ers. Taken by

SFC Rael in

Kandahar

The end result of the Niners-Seahawksgame. MAJ Lovett mourns the loss of

his lovely locks with his new best friend

Furd Burflur. Furd was a little addition

to our MEDEVAC family recently and

has become quite fond of the Major.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, our fearless

leader MAJ Lovett, in the middle ofone of his Motivational Speeches.

CW3 Rahn showing his

support for Seattle.

This is the closest thing

to a smile we have seen

all year, so we had to

share it with the world

CW2 Graham shown with his favorite

study buddy. Sometimes we worry about

Farah, it is kind of hot down there, and

obviously they spend a little bit to much

time studying.More hoist training in Farah, if you cant tell

we like to train on one particular event,

mostly the medics just want to look cool.


10/10

P A G E 1 0

For Our Families

Please let us know if we can do anything to support you

or your family. We understand that it may be difficult manage simple things like birthday or anniversary gifts- we have lots of ideas to help. Let us know if there are aspecial troop needs- we would like to be able to brighteyour day in any way possible. Are you missing your favite cookies? Are you out of hot sauce? LET US KNOW!

If your family member is not yet engaged with the FRG,please ask them to join one of our Facebook sites or contact me at [email protected]

or call me at (707) 249-4120.You can also call Katy Claiborne at (530) 251-7966.Also, Emmett Spraktes has written a book, Selfish Prayer,which he will be promoting at this year's Capitol Air ShoLet us know if you would like a copy and we will checkcost for mailing- or set some aside for when you return.

Best regards,Carol St. Aubin, C Co. 1-168th FRG Leader

Dear 1-168th Soldiers and Families,

You are in our hearts and prayers every day as wethink about you and the important work you are doing.Your homecoming can't come soon enough because wemiss you all so much.

We have hosted a few family FRG picnics at local parks(complete with bounce house, a water splash pad, andcotton candy) and participated at a Yellow Ribbon eventat the Sacramento Raging Waters Park. We make callsevery month to FRG family members and send emails

with copies of this newsletter and other relevant infor-mation. Get together plans during fall will likely in-clude a potluck event and a Holiday Party.

Our two Facebook sites provide a lot of social connec-tions for our FRG members. Please let us know if youwant to be included in these Facebook sites too and wewill add you:1. National Guard Unit C-Co 1-168 Family ReadinessGroup2. MEDEVAC wives of C co 1-168th GSAB

FRG Contacts

Overall FRG Contact-Carol St. Aubin, (CA). [email protected]

Also for contact with the facebook page or other help with your localunit:

https://www.facebook.com/C1168GSAB126MEDCO

We also have a 1-168 Facebook group as well. If you would like to beadded to the group, please contact Mrs. Jerica Lovett.

-Jerica Lovett (CA) (facebook) . . . . . . . [email protected] Guerra (NV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected] Walsh (WA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://web-ogdn.mail.mil/owa/redir.aspx?C=vmwJRb5fxE6-VhO9Q-151oF7nEOqCtAIriNxS_dL0C_jDjAEXkucJVXCt5RSn1Piz_TfXvEmDCo.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fC1168GSAB126MEDCOhttps://web-ogdn.mail.mil/owa/redir.aspx?C=vmwJRb5fxE6-VhO9Q-151oF7nEOqCtAIriNxS_dL0C_jDjAEXkucJVXCt5RSn1Piz_TfXvEmDCo.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fC1168GSAB126MEDCOhttps://web-ogdn.mail.mil/owa/redir.aspx?C=vmwJRb5fxE6-VhO9Q-151oF7nEOqCtAIriNxS_dL0C_jDjAEXkucJVXCt5RSn1Piz_TfXvEmDCo.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fC1168GSAB126MEDCOmailto:[email protected]

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1/168 Dust-off Newsletter September 2013