Cold Steel County

A group of male Soldiers assigned to an air defense artil-

lery battery here took part in an educational tour of the El

Paso County Detention Facility June 24 as part of their

unit’s “Men of Merit” mentorship program.

The Men of Merit program was initiated by Capt. De-

wayne Deener, commander of Battery C, 5th Battalion,

52nd Air Defense Artillery, as a way of helping not only

the male Soldiers in his unit, but also men in the civilian

sector who may be facing similar issues, Deener said.

Since April, Men of Merit has opened its members to dis-

cussing a wide range of topics, from how to successfully plan for the future through

goal-setting to making smart decisions using critical thinking, so the next step was to

give the Soldiers a “reality check” with a firsthand experience of the prison system,

said Deener.

“I wanted to show (the Men of Merit Soldiers) the consequences (of) bad choices and

the realities of those bad choices,” said Deener. “If you know the consequences and

see, smell, touch and understand what you will go through, you will be more inclined

to not make a decision that will put you in a bad situation.”

The Soldiers’ tour began in a classroom where they received a briefing from Officer

Priscilla Telles, a veteran officer with the El Paso County prison system. Telles dis-

cussed the ins and outs of being incarcerated and also shared some of her own expe-

riences with the group.

Continued on Pg. 2

Spc. Sergio Gonzalez prepares to

try on items worn by inmates at the

El Paso County Detention Facility.

5-52 Soldiers from ‘Men of Merit’ Mentorship Program Tour Detention Facility

“One Standard” 3 July 2014

Volume 1, Issue 1

Men of Merit continued 2

Command Team 3

Family, Friends, and Fun 4

One on One with the 5

C-Btry Donates Food 6

Heroes’ Highlights 7

Inside this issue:

A show-and-tell portion presented the Soldiers with a look at the different uniforms inmates wear and the dif-

ferent types of restraints that are used when they are transported.

Spc. Joshua Amos, a Patriot enhanced launcher station operator and maintainer assigned to Battery C, said he

gained a great deal of information from the presentation.

“I learned a lot … about being in prison,” said Amos. “I learned that inmates wear different colored clothes

depending on the type of crime they commit. Also, I learned that the prison allows certain inmates to leave for

work and come back with their work-release program.”

Following the briefing the Soldiers lined up, shoulders against the wall, and were escorted around the facility.

Along the way they experienced the unique aroma that hung in the air, and commented on the unappetizing

meals inmates were served and the less-than-hospitable accommodations they receive during their stay. The

inmates’ lack of freedom and privacy, not to mention their being constantly told what to do and when to do it,

should persuade anyone from wanting to end up in the detention facility, one Soldier said.

“It’s like being in a cage when you’re in prison,” said Amos. “I’ve never been to jail, but after today, there is no

doubt in my mind this is not a place I would want to go.”

The tour concluded with the officers giving the Soldiers a simple yet unforgettable piece of advice: “Just do the

right thing.”

Men of Merit will continue mentoring its Soldier members with a home-buying class scheduled to be held this

month.

5-52 Soldiers from ‘Men of Merit’ Men-

torship Program Tour Detention Facility

Continuation from pg. 1

Soldiers from Charlie Battery 5-52 ADA Male Mentorship group ‘Men of Merit” pose for a picture as they wait outside for the tour to begin. During the

tour they learned a lot about how one bad decision can change your life forever.

Cold Steel’s Command Team

Sergeant First Class Kevin Shaw hails from Valparaiso, Indiana and joined the Army in Octo-

ber 1995 and attended Basic Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Advanced Individual training

at Fort Bliss, Texas as a Patriot Missile Crewman.

His assignments include Patriot Crewmember Echo Battery 2-7 ADA Fort Bliss, TX,

Squad Leader, Echo Battery 5-52 ADA, Fort Bliss, TX, Squad Leader Echo Battery 1-43 ADA

Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea, Alpha Battery 1-1 ADA, Fort Bliss, TX, Squad Leader, Alpha

Battery 1-43 ADA, Suwon AB, Republic of Korea, Squad leader Bravo Battery 3-43 ADA, Fort

Bliss, TX, Army Recruiter, Indianapolis Recruiting BN, Platoon Sergeant Delta Battery 1-43

ADA, Fort Bliss, TX, First Sergeant Charlie Battery 5-52 ADA, Fort Bliss, TX

His awards and decorations include: Army Accommodation Medal (5OLC), Army

Achievement Medal (7OLC), Meritorious Unit Citation, Army Good Conduct Medal (6th

Award), Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War

on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Pro-

fessional Development Ribbon (No 3), Overseas Service Ribbon (No 3), and the Army Service

Ribbon.

He is a graduate of the Primary Leadership Development Course, Basic Noncommis-

sioned Officer Course, and the Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course. He is currently

perusing his Bachelor’s Degree from Post University.

He and his girlfriend Jessilyn Nagel have four daughters Kaitlin, Makenna, Heidi, and

CPT Dewayne L. Deener was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He joined the

United States Army in 1993, and after Basic Training and AIT his first duty station was

United States National Support Element (Land) Karlsruhe, Germany. He attended Officer

Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia and graduated March 2010 as a Second Lieu-

tenant in the Air Defense Artillery. CPT Deener earned a Bachelor of Science from

Franklin University.

CPT Deener’s military education includes Warrior Leader Course, Advanced Leader

Course, Senior Leader Course, Combatives Level 1 and 2, Officer Candidate School, and

the Air Defense Officer Basic Course. Upon graduation from the Officer Basic Course in

August 2010, CPT Deener was assigned the Delta Battery, 5th Battalion, 52nd Air De-

fense Artillery where he served as a Platoon Leader.

CPT Deener’s awards and decorations include: the Defense meritorious Service Medal,

the Meritorious Medal (1 OLC), the Army Commendation Medal (4 OLC), the Army

Achievement Medal, the Meritorious Unit Citation, the Army Good Conduct Medal (4th

Knot Device), the National Defense Service Medal (2nd Bronze Star Device), the Global

War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Ko-

rean Defense Service Medal, the Army Noncommissioned Officer Professional Develop-

ment Ribbon (Numeral 3), the Overseas Service Ribbon (Numeral 5), the Combat Action

Badge, and he is a Sergeant Audie Murphy Club inductee.

CPT Deener has three wonderful children Tatyana (15), Tianna (13), and Dewayne (9).

Commander

1SG

Family, Friends, and Fun

One on One With The Commander

1) What is the male mentorship program? My way of ensuring we are helping

not only the Soldier, but the person. The female Soldiers have a mentorship

program and I decided that the males should have one also to address issues

they may have.

2) What made you start this program? To show the male Soldier of Charlie

battery that we care about them as a person and are here for them.

Is this the first of its kind? When we started I did not know of another

program of this kind in the military but I have since learned that D 2-43

has a mentorship program they have been doing for about two months now.

3) What is the intent of the program? I firmly believe that a good person

make good decisions and the more tools and options we can provide it only

makes doing the right thing easier.

Or what do you hope to achieve with this program? Help the future leaders in

the formation understand that helping Soldiers is more than helping them

with strictly Army related issues. If you teach people how to be successful

and achieve their goals, they will do the same for others. We should support

and congratulate each other's success and only compete to be the best by

positive actions and not negative ones. If you strive to be the best person

you can be, positive things will happen in your career as a result.

4) What was the purpose of the visit to the El Paso county prison? We spoke

about goals, critical thinking, relationships, and the next step was to show

the consequences for bad choices and the realities of those bad choices. If

you know the consequences and see, smell, touch, and understand what you

will go through, you will be more inclined to not make a decision that will

put you in that position.

5) What did you learn and what do you hope everyone else learned? I learned

that jail is not somewhere I would want to be and how one bad decision can

put your entire freedom in jeopardy forever. I think the Soldiers learned

the same and by being up close with the inmates you see the reality of being

in jail and the environment as a whole.

A battery of Soldiers assigned to an air defense artillery unit here donated more

than 15 cases of canned goods May 9 to go toward feeding the homeless in

downtown El Paso.

The food, collected by Soldiers assigned to Battery C, 5th Battalion, 52nd Air

Defense Artillery, was given to the Opportunity Center in downtown El Paso.

The Opportunity Center is a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to help

homeless men of all ages receive the basic necessities of food, shelter and water,

while providing them with medical care and a case worker to help them find em-

ployment.

Spc. Marcus Smith, a Patriot launching station operator and maintainer assigned

to Battery C, said he has taken part in sever-

al charity events since coming to 5th Bn.,

52nd ADA, three months ago. Throughout

the course of his volunteer work, Smith said

his mentality has changed after seeing

firsthand the immense impact his actions have on those he has helped.

“I really enjoy volunteering,” said Smith. “In the beginning I was just trying

to figure out if this is something I wanted to do or not. After doing it multi-

ple times I’ve realized giving back is something I love to do.”

Yvonne Herrera, the kitchen manager at the Opportunity Center, has

worked at the center for eight years and said she knows the importance of

any donations, regardless of the quantity or monetary value.

“We cook three meals a day, seven days a week, and provide an array of ser-

vices for these men,” said Herrera. “So we accept anything a person is will-

ing to give. These donations help us to ensure we can constantly provide

services and food for these men.”

Herrera said she also wants everyone to know that donations are always welcome, especially items like coffee,

sugar and spices that are used daily and are always in short supply.

5-52 Soldiers donate 15 cases of food to feed homeless in El Paso

Soldiers from Charlie Battery 5-52 ADA

helps bring in cases of food that was donated

by Soldiers of the unit.

Page 6 Cold Steel County Volume 1, I ssue 1

Soldiers from Charlie Battery 5-52 ADA

helps upload food that was donated by the

Soldiers of the unit.

Heroes’ Highlights