2 0 4 T H B R I G A D E

S U P P O R T B A T T A L I O N

S P E C I A L P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

A Message from Hell-

fire 6

Black Knights recog-

nize two warrant offic-

ers

Cobras train for the

CrossFit Challenge

Hellfire Soldiers pro-

vide communications

support

Assassin’s Headquar-

ters Platoon

NEWSLETTER STAFF:

CPT Ashlea Cleveland

1LT Betsy Arndt

Rough Rider Connection

This newsletter contains official and unofficial information. The inclusion of some unofficial information in this newsletter has not increased the cost to the Government, in accordance with DOD 4525.8-M

Friends and families of the Rough Riders and Hellfire Company,

I hope this message finds you in good spirits and increasing excitement as your Soldiers con-tinue to work towards redeployment. Looking back at the Rough Riders and where we came from, what we accomplished, and what we still have ahead leaves me in absolute amazement. Upon deployment, the Rough Riders wasted no time learning all of their new tasks and making it happen. After a brief handover from our friends of the Raider Brigade (1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division), FOB Walton and the logistics support to CTF Warhorse rested squarely on the shoulders of the Rough Riders.

Originally I had deployed as a Soldier of Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) as the Battalion S6 Officer in Charge, but in late September, 2011 I was blessed with the oppor-tunity to take command and lead the Soldiers of HHC. During my time as Hellfire 6, I have seen the Soldiers of HHC and all of the 204

th BSB accomplish some amazing things. The S1

(admin) section started the deployment by tracking the movement of every Soldier as they ar-rived into theater, which quickly transitioned to preparing the necessary leave forms, risk as-sessments, and other documents for R&R leave. Always moving towards the next task at hand, S1 then ensured that all routine evaluations, promotions and other personnel actions continued to be processed on time. Lastly they have been processing end of tour awards, and have begun planning the award ceremonies for each Rough Rider to recognize their hard work. The Soldiers of the S2 (intelligence) section spent the duration of the deployment learning the culture, history and threats in our area of operations in order to keep every Soldier safe on and off the FOB. The S3 (operations) and SPO (support operations) sections planned, resourced and executed (with Alpha Company) over 400 missions in Kandahar Province. These missions pushed critical supplies to CTF Warhorse. The S4 (logistics and supply) section in coordination with the Contracting Cell consisting of 1LT Courtney Merkler and 1LT Allison Callesen, submit-ted and executed vital contracts to ensure FOB Walton and its growing population received all of the necessary services to thrive. These services include all things it would take to keep a small city operational. The S6 (communications) section had a very busy deployment by not only providing seamless communications to the 204

th BSB, but also by improving the infrastruc-

ture of FOB Walton. The S6 section installed a vast fiber optic network connecting a large num-ber of subscribers to internet and phone services.

I can’t help but continuously express my pride in each and every Soldier in this Rough Rider Battalion; they truly continue to learn the importance of teamwork and together have grown to consider each other family. As they go forward on new journeys, our Rough Riders can look back and know that the time they spent in southern Afghanistan serving their country, they truly made an impact. They executed their jobs above expectations and more importantly they main-tained a professional attitude and can forever be proud of their accomplishments.

“Hellfire - Keep up the Fight!”

A P R I L 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 2

Black Knights Recognize Two Professional Technicians

Warrant Officer 1 Donald Ray Page Jr., is the Battalion Maintenance Technician for the 204

th Brigade

Support Battalion. He supervises the maintenance of 123 pieces of equip-ment, ensuring the success of the battalion’s resupply mission of Com-bined Task Force Warhorse. Mr. Page oversees this process by en-suring that all military vehicles uti-lized for this transportation are in working condition. Mr. Page also supports the maintenance of CTF Warhorse, which includes four Security Force Assistance Teams (SFATs), one mili-tary police company, and three of our sister battalions. Mr. Page has main-tained an Operational Readiness

Rate of 92% throughout the deploy-ment, allowing the successful comple-tion of all wheeled vehicle missions. His hard work has definitely paid off; the maintenance program and motor pool have been recognized at the Bri-gade and Division levels, which would not be possible without the wrench turning and elbow grease from his Maintenance Team. The team con-sists of SFC Marlon Drakes (Maintenance Control Sergeant), SSG Travis Maughan (Motor Ser-geant), SGT Christopher Rasmussen (Shop Foreman), and SGT Larry Todd and SGT Paul Burnside (the Senior Mechanics). These NCOs spend countless hours providing routine ser-vices to vehicles and fixing any me-

Story by Specialist Natasha Gaskins, Bravo Company Public Affairs Representative

chanical issues with the battalion’s vehicles. The work of Mr. Page has not gone unnoticed, he will be getting promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) on April 13, 2012.

P A G E 2 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 2

As the Battalion Armament Systems Management Technician, WO1 Lloyd Smith plays a vital role ensuring that all weapons utilized by the 204

th Bri-

gade Support Battalion are mission capable. Mr. Smith maintained arma-ment services at Fort Carson, Colora-do and continues to ensure the weap-ons and weapons systems are func-tional while in Afghanistan. Mr. Smith is always searching to identify im-provements. Prior to deploying to Afghanistan, there was a month-long inspection of all weapons the brigade owned. Mr. Smith assisted a Small Arms Repair Team (SARET) in this inspection en-suring that all weapons and optics were ready and safe to deploy. “Ensuring that the weapons utilized by 204

th are mission capable, is very

important and lives depend on it,” says Mr. Smith. Upon arrival to Afghanistan WO1 Smith inspected all the weapons that

were already in Afghanistan, to en-sure they were in top working condi-tion. Maintenance of weapons is very intricate, there are two types of maintenance procedures that must be conducted: preventative maintenance and unscheduled maintenance. These operations identify apparent and po-tential faults and fix them. Mainte-nance operations currently hold a 95-97% maintained rate. While in theater, Mr. Smith coordi-nated with Field Service Representa-tives (FSRs) to support CTF War-horse. The FSR travels to surrounding FOBs to inspect Common Remote Operated Weapons Systems (CROWS) and Mortar Systems. “Maintaining the CROWS and utilizing the FSRs epitomizes the fix forward mentality of 204

th,” says Mr. Smith.

Bravo Company professionals are always looking for new innovative ways to make the system more effi-

cient and effective. In August 2011, Mr. Smith traveled to another Bri-gade Support Battalion in Afghani-stan to take notes on their success-es and lessons learned throughout their deployment. He toured their facilities and took note of their work flow. This trip initiated the relocation of various shops in Bravo Company including the Armament Shop, Pre-scribed Load List (PLL) Shop so that the flow of tasks would be more smooth and easier to accomplish.

Warrant Officer Donald Page - Battalion Automotive Maintenance Technician

Warrant Officer Lloyd Smith - Battalion Armament Systems Management Technician

Photo: WO1 Page (left) with his Motor Sergeant, SGT Rasmussen (right).

Right: WO1 Smith conducts services and inspections on an M4.

P A G E 3

R O U G H R I D E R C O N N E C T I O N

In the photos: The “Chuck Med” Cross-Fit Team is comprised of SPC Hill a dental technician, PFC Escamilla a medic, CPT Glenister a nurse, and PFC Dilday a preventive medicine technician and SSG Ramotar, also a medic (not pictured).

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—“The true vision of a champion is some-one who is drenched in sweat to the point of exhaustion when no one else is watching…”

For the Soldiers of Charlie Com-pany, 204

th Brigade Support Battal-

ion 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Divi-sion, this is the standard we train and live by. On April 8

th, five “Chuck

Med” Soldiers will come together to display their physical abilities as a team in the Combined Task Force Warhorse CrossFit Challenge at Camp Nathan Smith (CNS). As you may know CrossFit training is the nation’s leading physical endurance challenge that defines a true ath-lete. It combines Olympic weightlift-ing, calisthenics, gymnastics, sprints, plyometrics, and other well known conditioning programs to create the perfect workout regimen. The team, aptly named “The Power Rangers,” consists of: Pri-

vate First Class Brittny Escamilla, Private First Class Christopher Dilday, Specialist Quintin Hill, Staff Sergeant Kissoondial Ramotar, and Captain Marshall Glenister. Each of these selected individuals will repre-sent Charlie Company during this test of both physical and mental fitness. Each Soldier was selected based on an impressive history of past physical performances. SPC Hill, the Brigade Dental Specialist, is the captain of the team. He is well known in the company for his ex-ceptional Army Physical Fitness Test performances in which he con-tinuously exceeds the 300 point mark. The second member chosen was PFC Dilday, Charlie Med’s Pre-ventive Medicine Technician and youngest Soldier. His background in Greco-Roman wrestling and daily feats of athleticism made the “Little Gorilla” an obvious choice. Together SPC Hill and PFC Dilday conspired as to which Charlie Med soldiers would make up the rest of the CrossFit dream team. CPT Glenister, the Brigade Nurse, spent 11 years as a competi-tive swimmer, competing at the club, high school and NCAA colle-giate level. When not performing life saving interventions and patient care, he spends his free time train-ing for marathons and deemed a critical addition to the team. The team insisted on PFC Esca-milla, an exceptional combat medic, to be the team’s female competitor. Prior to her recent enlistment, PFC Escamilla competed on a collegiate Cross Country and Distance Track running team. With the compilation of excep-tional endurance, strength, and speed, the team of four individuals seemed well on their way to becom-ing a strong lead team. However, still lacking the final member, this

Story by the Charlie Company CrossFit Team, Camp Nathan Smith

Cobras train for the CTF Warhorse CrossFit Challenge

individual would have to possess the most important qualities: team unity and cohesion. SSG Ramotar, a Platoon Sergeant in Charlie Med, aka “The Glue” would be the man for the job, possessing both physi-cal and mental toughness. With his fourteen years of military experi-ence, continuous achievement of the Army Physical Fitness Badge, participation in multiple marathon and triathlon events, and an un-quenchable thirst for excellence, SSG Ramotar was the perfect Sol-dier for the mission. For this CrossFit Challenge on April 8, 2012, the team will be test-ed in six different events all de-signed to test a Soldiers’ physical and mental grit as well as total body fitness. The events include: a 25 pound medicine ball vertical toss to a height marker (10 feet for males and 8 feet for females) for 20 repeti-tions, 15 dead lifts, 200 meter tire drag, 20 repetitions of the dreaded “Burpee Box Jumps”, 20 pull ups, 10 hanging “toe-to-bar touches” and a grueling 3-mile run around the cannery. When asked if they had any fears or reservations about the in-timidating challenge, PFC Dilday stated with confidence, “We have no fears, because we train hard every day.”

P A G E 4 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 2

Clockwise beginning at top left: SPC Tatman packing up, SGT Gronkoski, SPC Tatman, SSG Rankin and SPC Lockhart set up audio for a ceremony, and SSG Rankin with a spool of fiber.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—In my opinion the signal support area of expertise has been expanded, broad-ened and even at some point redis-covered. The 204

th BSB S6 team de-

ployed with a great concept of what we need to do to get the mission done. We were boots on ground and almost immediately we were working to ensure all users had their accounts processed and created. We instantly began training to certify the Infor-mation Management Officers (IMO) for the battalion, ensuring that we were fluent on all policies in the thea-ter of operations. We also had to vali-date our equipment to ensure it met International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) standards and that it could do anything we needed it to do. Our workload is always at the begin-ning of any exercise, training, or de-ployment and we knew we had to manage all S6 related tasks with a running start. We reached a few hur-dles here and there, but we always managed a suitable plan to execute any project. One of our biggest accomplish-ments was the fiber optics project, which contributed to the connectivity of the network. Signal soldiers have different areas of emphasis similar to mechanics. Just because they are mechanics, doesn’t mean they can work on every type of vehicle. This same concept goes for Signal Sol-diers. While all of the Soldiers in the S6 shop had a common understand-ing of the situation, they do not all specialize in that particular area. Once the battalion identified this problem, we knew we would have to provide further support so we began planning and we got the gears turn-ing. We found our resources through every means possible, but we really started to see the light when the plan was presented. I was able to use my experience from a past deployment in network engineering and assess-ment. The whole team took orders and direction with ease. The military occupational specialty of cable sys-tems installer/maintainer, (25L or

“cable dogs” as we call them) is in our blood. Within a month our sup-ported units had consistent connec-tivity and the crisis was averted. Throughout the deployment these little projects would magically pop up. Word of our support got out and even expanded to our local national forc-es. We assisted with the Tactical Op-erations Center (TOC) set up and networking for JRAC (Joint Regional ANSF Compound) and ensured they had connectivity. This was a small project, but well appreciated by SFAT 1 (Security Force Assistance Team), the ISAF unit occupying JRAC. Communications support at PHQ (Provincial Headquarters) was a huge mission which fell on the S6’s shoulders. We took it and ran with it. I made a few site visits and sugges-tions to prepare the area for the arri-val of our equipment. My Soldiers validated everything at FOB Walton to ensure all issues were identified prior to the execution of the support mission. SPC Audric Tatman con-ducted the initial setup which allowed SPC Charlotte Lockhart to modify and maintain the connectivity. After a few weeks the communications at PHQ ran smoothly. Teamwork has been our biggest contributor mission success especially this one. As the FOB Walton S6 we sup-port everyone and anyone not only on the FOB, but within Combined Task Force Warhorse. Our door has been open to all issues for everyone, no matter what unit, military or civil-ian. Our customer service is what allows us to learn and grow. We sup-port all users and computers on FOB Walton and hundreds of others to outlying units. Our job doesn’t stop at network support. We have supported over 400 missions with COMSEC (Communications Security) support, radio trouble shooting, BFT (Blue Force Tracker) upgrades, and train-ing. SGT Michael Gronkowski has trained over 1,000 Afghan Uniformed Police on radio operations including

Story by Staff Sergeant Ana Rankin, 204th Brigade Support Battalion S6 NCOIC

Hellfire Signal Soldiers provide communications support

communicating with a radio, and proper radio procedures. Additionally, we are very handy with the PA (Public Address) system conducting over 50 ceremonies and 12 guest visits. Our ability to act and react to all “hey you” tasks has dra-matically improved. I wouldn’t be sur-prised if we would receive a tasking for a ceremony with a VIP without notice and have it complete in 15 minutes. Our experience in setting up for ceremonies now comes natural to our team and we’ve become very proficient in preparing for these events. One of my most valuable projects was the FOB Walton Volleyball tour-nament. This was something I volun-teered to do for the Soldiers on the FOB and has been the biggest pay-back to date. I know I had a blast set-ting this up and actually participating in the event. I was lucky to have a supporting chain of command to allow this to happen. Over all signal Soldiers have no limit….we are the unspoken heroes.

P A G E 5

R O U G H R I D E R C O N N E C T I O N

Spotlight on: Assassins’ Headquarters Platoon Story by First Lieutenant Christine Breckenridge, Alpha Company Public Affairs Representative

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—As our time in Afghanistan draws to a close we often reflect on the awesome achievements of our Transportation and Supply Support Activity pla-toons. Between recovering over 31 million dollars of equipment and run-ning convoy after successful convoy, the Assassins have many reasons to be proud. While their physical efforts never go unnoticed the success of the Trans and SSA platoons would not be possible without the efforts of our Headquarters (HQs) Platoon. This small platoon is essentially the heartbeat of the company, mak-ing sure every operational and per-sonnel detail is managed so the company can run smoothly. Ser-geant Melissa Delgado logs more hours working than perhaps any oth-er person. Stepping outside of her normal military occupational special-ty as an ammunition specialist (89B), she works as the NCOIC of the pla-toon, processing awards, preparing redeployment packets, ensuring fi-nancial paperwork is correct, moni-toring who is on and off our forward operating base, briefing the company commander and first sergeant on

personnel, and maintaining any and all personnel records. She has found an invaluable asset in her personnel administration clerk (PAC), Specialist Ernest Jackson, who helps maintain and track records. In the supply section of HQs Pla-toon is SPC Jamarieo Barkley and SPC Christian Gamboa. SPC Bar-kley, who works in a position slotted for a pay grade higher than his, main-tains Alpha Company’s high valued property book and is doing an out-standing job planning for the Compa-ny’s Reset operations upon redeploy-ment to Fort Carson. He is the sub-ject matter expert on all things prop-erty related and the Commander’s right hand man on property book is-sues. SPC Gamboa manages all incoming parts from the SSA and has been the main effort in ordering personal uniform and new equipment for our Soldiers. He was also select-ed to go to Farah, Afghanistan to handle property transactions. SPC David Sharp is the assistant FOB Walton Helicopter Landing Zone NCOIC. He briefs and tracks person-nel leaving FOB Walton by aircraft, manages incoming flights, relays flight schedules and information to ensure they are correct, and works all hours of the day and night according to the ever changing flight schedule. SPC Jesus Ruvalcaba, SPC Mi-chael Johnson, SPC Gregory Miles and SPC Ryan Zanni make up the Company Intelligence Support Team (CoIST) and are our liaisons between

the Military Intelligence world and company level operations. They study, receive, and report intelli-gence information from around Afghanistan that could possibly affect Alpha Company’s mission. This is an important job as they analyze the routes that our con-voys take and give us information that keeps us safe as well as help us make informed decisions. Finally, there is SGT Erik Cal-lies, and his night shift counterpart SGT James Weiss, who handle operations and training for the Company. They, along with Trans Platoon, build convoy operation briefs by looking at current and future operations. SGT Callies also makes sure the whole compa-ny is qualified in different schools, ranges, physical training tests, and tracks which future training is needed. He also analyzes mission requirements given to Alpha Com-pany by the Battalion and briefs the company commander and 1SG about what requirements need to be met. This small platoon truly affects

every aspect of successful compa-

ny operations both individually and

as a team. Dedicated to their work

and always motivated, Alpha Com-

pany is proud to recognize this

great platoon.

Assassins! Roll Hard!