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V I S I T S H A D O W
D U S T O F F O N
F A C E B O O K
The company also
unveiled the C/6-101
Shadow Dustoff Facebook Page in January. You can
find the page at http://
www.facebook.com/ShadowDustoff . We look
forward to providing our families current informa-
tion regarding their Sol-
diers’ achievements as well as upcoming events
for the Family Readiness Group on the page. The
page was also created with
the intent of documenting the heritage and 69-year
legacy of this great organi-
zation and all of its previ-ous Soldiers.
C / 6 - 1 0 1 M O N T H L Y N E W S L E T T E R
THE 9-LINE Volume 1, Issue 6 15 February 2013
UNIT KEEPS FOCUS NEAR THE END
D U S T O F F 6 C O R N E R
W e would like to
thank all of the
support that you
provided from the
homefront that enabled our unit to
maintain focus while celebrating
the winter holidays and welcom-
ing the New Year during this de-
ployment. Our families and
friends are truly the foundation of
this great organization and all of
the individual and collective
achievements that your Soldiers
continue to produce here in Af-
ghanistan.
The unit continues to provide
first-rate MEDEVAC support to
our coalition and Afghan National
Security Forces across eastern
Afghanistan. As we are now in
the final third of our deployment
our Soldiers understand the need
for heightened mission focus and
emphasis on safety. The aviation
standardization section reinforced
(See: FOCUS on page 5)
1ST STILL FIGHTING FIGHT By CPT John Keutmann
1st Platoon Leader
January has been an-
other busy month for 1st
Platoon. Our missions con-
tinue to keep us on our toes
with new challenges still to
overcome. The platoon has
been attending small arms
ranges to keep our skills
sharp at Ghazni and Warrior.
We were fortunate to knock
out a lot of good flight train-
ing for our crewmembers in
progression (SPC Ryan
Lawrence and SGT Carlos
Morales earlier in the
month), which benefits the
pilots and back-seaters alike.
Towards the end of the
month we’ve had a lot of
winter weather. The weather
has delayed training and
mission load, but is a wel-
come break for the Soldiers
in the platoon who have
been working tirelessly for
the last six months.
Specialist Shelton Kill-
ingsworth, SGT Walter
Sanders, SGT Alex Marcum,
(See FIGHT on page 4)
T O P
D U S T O F F
A V I A T O R
Shadow
DUSTOFF Instruc-
tor Pilot CW3
Adam Stratton has
been selected as the
DUSTOFF Asso-
ciation Aviator of
the Year for 2012.
This annual award
is presented to rec-
ognize excellence
in service either for
one mission or for
an aviator’s career.
Tremendous per-
formance by an
inspiring aviator.
Above, CW3 Josh Williams discusses a mission prior to launch. At left, CPT John Keut-mann, left, pro-motes Specialist Stephen Adams, right, to Sergeant as Sergeants Cory McElhatton and Andrew Six hold the flag during a promo-tion ceremony.
Page 2 T H E 9 - L I N E
T O P ’ S T I M E
SOLDIERS BUSY WITH REDEPLOYMENT PREP
Page 2
A nother month
has come and
gone in the
blink of an eye,
and, here we are in Febru-
ary.
The MEDEVAC mis-
sion may have slowed
down but our Soldiers have
not as we are busy with our
preparations for our re-
placements to arrive. Al-
though it is easy to sit and
dream of family reunions,
trips to Disney Land, Lego
Land or just a day not hav-
ing to be in uniform, we
must remind ourselves to
remain focused on the task
at hand and like the Com-
mander likes to say “Finish
Strong.”
As operations in Jala-
labad come to an end for
our 4th Platoon Soldiers,
it’s just one more step in
the drawdown here in Af-
ghanistan. It reminds us the
landscape that we will
leave behind will be vastly
different than the one we
fell in on.
The Commander and I
were able to close out the
month of January by get-
ting away from BAF and
out to each of the sites for
a day or two. We were able
to sit down with all the
Soldiers and talk to them
about what a great job they
have done and listen to
their concerns and address
(See PREP on page 3)
By CPT Dave Behrmann
3rd Platoon Leader
Hello, again, from the Soldiers of Ba-
gram DUSTOFF. We find ourselves in the
twilight of our deployment as our upcoming
redeployment looms in the near future.
While we are all very excited to return home
again to our family and friends, we still
maintain a mission-focused attitude while
beginning preparations for our upcoming
relief in place by C Company, 3rd Battalion,
10th Combat Aviation Brigade. Although our
flight time has decreased as the winter
months continue, we have still had many
notable events that shape our Company as a
whole.
We are continually greeted by our Jala-
labad colleagues as they transition to Bagram
after handing over their operations with the
members of a National Guard MEDEVAC
unit. It is always a welcome sight to see fa-
miliar faces that some haven’t seen since we
deployed and have their company around to
assist in our mission here at Bagram. The
majority of the JAF team arrived in time for
the Super Bowl, which, while early in the
morning, still attracted a crowd to partake in
well received rivalries and good natured ban-
ter. Deer sausage donated by CPT David
Riggs, one of our Enroute Critical Care Pro-
viders, was grilled to celebrate the event.
This month also brought about the pro-
motion of Sergeant Dereck Bible, a crew
chief in 3rd Platoon. His accomplishments
have been apparent throughout this deploy-
ment, both in missions and maintenance and
his promotion is long overdue. Establishing
himself in the corps of Non-Commissioned
Officers, SGT Bible will surely make a fine
addition to the leadership of Charlie Com-
pany. Congratulations, SGT Bible!
Recently we were paid a visit by none
other than “Magnus,” the Air Force working
dog. Unlike his prior visits though, this visit
was more serious in nature. His handler
greeted us and asked for a volunteer to prac-
tice Magnus’ attack skills. Without a beat,
everyone in the group immediately pointed at
SFC Chad Neal. After being fitted in a pro-
tective jacket, he was instructed on several
training scenarios. When Magnus was led
into the hangar, his demeanor was visibly
different from his other visits. Instead of the
happy-go-lucky attitude, he imparted a steely
-eyed stare down with SFC Neal, never tak-
ing him out of his sight. After a quick com-
mand from his handler, Magnus jumped onto
SFC Neal, clamping down on his arm as he
attempted to run away. As quickly as Man-
gus had latched himself to SFC Neal though,
he released him with a simple “Out!” com-
mand from the handler. This demonstration
(See PROMOTED Continued on page 3)
Several unit
Soldiers tabbed
for sergeant
DUSTOFF SOLDIERS PROMOTED Sergeant
Dereck Bible, left, is con-gratulated by longtime friend, Specialist Marcus Barton, after Bible’s recent promotion to Sergeant. A number of Shadow DUSTOFF Soldiers were promoted to Sergeant in January.
Page 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 6
4TH PLATOON SIGNS OFF FROM JAF Some Shadow DUSTOFF Soldiers to redeploy early
By CPT Jared Brynildsen
4th Platoon Leader
Hello for the last time from
4th Platoon. For those that have
not yet heard the news, 4th Pla-
toon has received orders to return
home early along with the Task
Force Saber, which it has been
supporting throughout the de-
ployment. Due to several re-
alignments and mission changes
it was deemed necessary to send
TF Saber back after successful
mission completion.
Needless to say there are
very few complaints coming
from our Soldiers. Though it is
bittersweet that we are leaving
our DUSTOFF brothers and sis-
ters early, everyone is happy to
be returning home to friends and
family after a job well done.
Families can rest assured
that every 4th Platoon Soldier
contributed tremendously to the
overall success of the DUSTOFF
and TF Saber missions. During
the deployment, your Soldiers
completed 107 life-saving mis-
sions, many of which were com-
pleted under extreme circum-
stances. The lives of more than
150 American, Afghan, and Coa-
lition Force members were saved
as a direct result of your loved
ones’ work ethic, dedication, and
heroic actions.
Aside from missions, your
Soldiers completed more than
100 credit hours towards upper-
level degrees, and as a direct
result of the high quality of Non-
Commissioned Officers in the
platoon, eight Soldiers received
promotable status, two of whom
have already been promoted.
This deployment, though
shorter than normal, has been a
very successful one. The platoon
definitely had spurts of cabin
fever, but in the end everyone
acted as a family. It was with
great pride that SFC Ramos and I
led this platoon through Opera-
tion Enduring Freedom XII-XIII
and it is with gratitude that we
return every Soldier of 4th Pla-
toon to their families and friends.
continued until the exercise
was complete and we were
all allowed to pet Magnus
who, like a light switch,
went from attack mode, to
friendly mode.
As we prepare to head
home, one cannot help but
look back at all the accom-
plishments we’ve made
throughout this deployment
and not feel a heightened
level of pride in ourselves,
both as individuals and as an
organization. I am im-
mensely proud of each and
every one of my Soldiers
and their family members
who have sacrificed so much
these past eight months and
given their sweat, tears and
blood to accomplishing the
MEDEVAC mission. I look
forward to seeing everyone
re-united with their loved
ones when we step off the
plane and seeing them get
the well deserved rest they
will receive.
(Continued from page 2)
any rumors that may be lurking
around. At all the sites the Sol-
diers seemed to be in high spir-
its and each site had their own
way of passing time between
missions. At JAF, there was
Monopoly Deal; at Ghazni, it
was classic Monopoly; at
Shank there were videos; at
Warrior there were episodes
and talk about Top Gear and
“The Stig” (the British ver-
sion). And here at BAF it is
ping pong. However, there is
one common game among all
the sites, and that is “Call of
Duty.”
Congratulations to all of
the Soldiers promoted this
month. Former Specialists
Stephen Adams, Dereck Bible,
Javier Coromac, Jermaine
McKenney, Walt Sanders, and
Kevin Wright have now joined
the ranks of the NCO Corps.
Making Sergeant is a giant step
and I know each of them has
been well prepared by their
leadership. It is your time to
train those who will come after
you and prepare them.
-- 1SG Bailey
(Continued from page 2)
PREP PROMOTED
Sergeant First Class Chad Neal, above right, squares off against Mangus, an Air Force Working Dog, during a recent training event at Shadow DUSTOFF’s hangar.
and SPC Kyle Lamont were awarded the
Polish Army Medal by our Polish brothers in
arms at Ghazni for actions taken during a
MEDEVAC mission to save one of their
Soldiers.
We continue to build our relationship
with our ISAF partners to provide the best
service possible.
We had the pleasure of promoting Sand-
ers, Jermaine McKenney, Javier Coromac,
and Stephen Adams to the rank of Sergeant.
We welcome all of them to the Non-
Commissioned Officer Corps and we are
expecting great things from them in the fu-
ture. SPC Billy Taylor went to the promo-
tion board this month and received his pro-
motable status. Soon he will be joining the
ranks of the other fine NCOs in C Company.
The weather was pleasant most of the
month, but it’s been snowing on a regular
basis the last couple of weeks. This has given
the platoon the opportunity to practice close
quarters combat snowball tactics.
Outnumbered and out-flanked, 1LT
Matthew Perry and I still managed to put a
hurtin’ on our crew chiefs and medics. They
quickly learned that accurate, superior fire
power can be achieved by a lesser number
and overwhelm a much larger force when
coupled with the desire and will to win.
At the end of the day, the only real dam-
age done was the damage done to their pride.
We stand ready for any who challenge on the
field of battle (the flight-line) come next
snowfall.
We had the pleasure of sending our first
Soldiers back to the States to their families
this month. It is an exciting time to be able to
send some of our Soldiers home to be with
their families and not expect them back since
the end is so near.
Chief Warrant Officer Twos Stephen
King and Ashley Weber, thank you for all
you’ve done during this deployment, and we
can’t wait to join you back in the States soon.
Meanwhile, we remain focused and vigi-
lant in our duty. We will continue to fight on
until our very last day in country and thank
you for your support in this difficult task. It
is because of your support that we are able to
continue to give our support to the Soldiers
we serve in harm’s way.
(Continued from page 1)
Page 4 T H E 9 - L I N E
FIGHT
Newly promoted SGT Walter Sanders, Specialists Shelton Killingsworth and Kyle Lamont and SGT Alex Marcum were recently awarded the Polish Army Medal for their work during a mission to save a wounded Polish Soldier.
Page 5 T H E 9 - L I N E
By Captain Bryan Mathena
Headquarters Platoon Leader
January has been, without
question, the busiest month so far
for Headquarters Platoon. In the
past few weeks, all Headquarters
personnel augmenting our 4th
Platoon had to pack up and leave
Jalalabad.
At any given time, roughly
one quarter of Headquarters Pla-
toon was assigned to Jalalabad,
most for several months at a
time, others for most of the de-
ployment. After being a part of
the mission in that region for so
long, it’s been a challenge to
adjust to our new home at Ba-
gram, a new routine and most of
all, the colder weather.
Despite the movements, two
Headquarters Soldiers assigned
to augment 4th Platoon and train
with them at Jalalabad attended a
promotion board on 31 January
to become eligible for promotion
to Sergeant. It’s my pleasure to
announce that Specialists Bran-
don Eddinger and Jacob Hurst
are now promotable. I also want
to thank our hosts for all of their
hard work preparing these two
Soldiers for the board. Without
their help and dedication, this
wouldn’t have been possible.
Chief Warrant Officer Two
Eric Radford, SSG Brandon
Shaw and SGT Andrew Six have
begun preparing the company for
redeployment in several ways.
With dozens of award submis-
sions, the trio has been swamped
with awards, which is a good
thing. However, reviewing them
to ensure all award packets are
checked and ready for submis-
sion to our Task Force, is a time
consuming process.
As we move closer to return-
ing home, the time has come to
look at professional develop-
ment, which means schools and
training. The Admin shop has
been receiving requests and map-
ping out windows for Soldiers,
Non-commissioned officers,
Warrant and Commissioned offi-
cers to attend various profes-
sional development courses like
the Warrior Leader’s Course,
which prepares Specialists and
newly promoted Sergeants to
function as NCOs.
Chief Warrant Officer Four
Joe Callaway, CW3 Michael
Nielson and SFC Chad Neal have
been working to set the company
up for success by identifying
aircraft and equipment that needs
to be refurbished after our return
home. This process involves
identifying what equipment
needs to be inventoried and
packed. A time consuming proc-
ess, this will ensure that we’re
prepared to turn the appropriate
equipment and set the stage to
resume flying at Fort Campbell.
JANUARY THE BUSIEST FOR HQ
Headquarters Soldiers from JAF are enjoying some colder weather.
environmental training to
hone the techniques re-
quired to continue safe
operation in this environ-
ment, the maintainers
provided the skills and
expertise required to
maintain the aircraft under
challenging environmental
conditions, and the flight
medics and enroute criti-
cal care providers seized
the opportunity to conduct
required medical training
to maintain their medical
readiness. This collective
teamwork has been essen-
tial in sustaining a mission
-ready MEDEVAC or-
ganization.
During the upcoming
months, the unit faces the
challenge of continued
mission accomplishment
and setting the conditions
for the successful replace-
ment from our inbound
counterparts. All Soldiers
and leaders are identifying
the systems that have been
established during our
tenure and creating the
products that will enable
the continuity of
MEDEVAC operations
after we depart.
Fourth Platoon, led
by CPT Jared Brynildsen
and SFC Audrey Ramos,
conducted the first relief-
in-place operations for the
company at Jalalabad
Airfield. This great team
developed outstanding
training plans and a pro-
fessional handover to a
platoon from Charlie
Company, 2nd Battalion,
149th Aviation Regiment
who relocated from an
existing area within Re-
gional Command-East
(RC-E) as a part of the
changing environment and
operations in Afghanistan.
Their first-rate transfer of
authority is a testament to
the outstanding perform-
ance of this MEDEVAC
platoon and their excep-
tional actions in support
of our wounded Soldiers
in the Nuristan, Nangahar,
Laghman, and Kunar re-
gions of RC-East.
We promoted CW3
Justin Horton and SGT
Ryan Drahman during the
month of January with
more to follow in the
coming month. Special-
ists Stephen Adams, De-
reck Bible, Kevin Wright,
Jermaine McKenney,
Javier Coromac, and Wal-
ter Sanders were also pro-
moted to the rank of Ser-
geant on February 1st. It
is encouraging and moti-
vating to see the growth of
these Soldiers during the
past year and previous
deployments as they con-
tinue to demonstrate the
increased potential for
greater leadership posi-
tions and responsibility.
As we approach the
period of redeployment of
equipment, aircraft, and
personnel, the chain of
command will provide the
Family Readiness Group
information regarding
projected dates and times
for these movements. To
ensure we maintain opera-
tional security, this infor-
mation will be sent to our
Brigade and Battalion
Rear-Detachments as they
are responsible for notifi-
cation of families and
official movement dates
and times. Soldiers have
been informed to refrain
from publishing this infor-
mation on social media or
email to prevent misinfor-
mation due to constantly
changing movement win-
dows and requirements.
We will work to ensure
that all families receive
information in a timely
manner. Thanks again for
all of your continued sup-
port! – Air Assault!
— MAJ Chris Chung
(Continued from page 1)
FOCUS
Page 6 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 6
F riends and Fam-
ily of Shadow
DUSTOFF!
Your support
during this deployment
continues to be out-
standing and extremely
helpful! As our Soldiers
continue to work hard and
remain focused on the
MEDEVAC mission
down range, the unit’s
redeployment grows
closer. With the redeploy-
ment of our Soldiers
comes the importance for
positive information flow
to our families and friends
so that they can be pre-
pared for their Soldier’s
return.
Visit http://
www.campbell.army.mil ,
scroll over the “Families”
tab and select the lowest
option on the drop down
menu listed as “Welcome
Home Ceremonies.”
On the “Welcome
Home Ceremony” Page,
Fort Campbell provides
information in the form of
a Ceremony #/Unit/Date/
Time. Ceremony times
are subject to change at
any time, based on flight
arrivals. Also listed on
this page are the direc-
tions to and operating
hours of the installation
Visitors Center, what to
expect at the welcome
home ceremony, and what
not to bring to the cere-
mony. Unit points of
contact are also listed as
well. Information regard-
ing the return of your Sol-
dier will be provided by
the 101 CAB through the
Immediate Response In-
formation System, a pre-
recorded message sent to
selected personnel based
on the manifests provided
by the redeploying units
to the Brigade.
If you receive the
message it will contain the
Ceremony# for your Sol-
dier that you can look up
on the Fort Campbell
website. Please remain in
contact with your Soldier
for their projected return
dates.
As a reminder, we
recommend no more
packages/mail be sent
after 15 February to en-
sure your items do not get
lost in the shuffle when
the unit begins to change
out with their incoming
counterparts. Also, we
were looking at our next
spouses night out on 23
Feb 13 at the Blackhorse
Pub in Clarksville, TN.
Please email me
il) if you are interested!
Thanks again for all
your support!
-Kathy Chung
For information on Shadow DUSTOFF Welcome Home Ceremonies, visit www.campbell.army.mil and click on the “Families” drop-down menu. Click on “Welcome Home Ceremonies” for the latest informa-tion on each unit’s arrival times.
KEEP INFORMED ON FORT CAMPBELL WEB PAGE