Welcome to the first special

edition newsletter. As you can

tell, this past month was Mus-

tache May. Actually, it was

Mandatory Mustache May be-

cause when Bravo does some-

thing, we do it big. I’m proud to

say I think I grew a pretty good

Burt Reynolds, but sadly I was

not the winner. If you look on

page three you’ll see the real winner. As with anything,

when there are winners, there are also losers. You can find

the losers of Mustache May on page four. A lot of guys,

me included, had never had facial hair before and didn’t

know how it would turn out. These are the guys that proba-

bly won’t ever grow facial hair again. This month has been

busy (but I think you’re used to hearing me say that every

month). We’ve integrated 4th PLT fully into operations

and have gotten back out there to do some regular patrols

to surrounding villages. It is important for us to spend time

in the bazaar, but I know the boys get bored doing the same

thing all the time. Now we’re able to get out to some new

places and reconnect with some people we haven’t seen in

a while. The improvements that we see out among the peo-

ple truly are amazing. Charkh was considered one of the

more unstable places, and already your sol-

diers with their Afghan partners have done

more than the previous two years’ worth of

units combined. I’m excited to see how much

more we can improve in the few months we

have left here. Speaking of partners, we also

welcome a new company of Afghan National

Army. As I’ve said, they change out about

every 8 weeks or so. We were sad to say good-

bye to our last partners, but are all looking

forward to working with a new group. 1SG

and the guys have been working like crazy to

improve the COP, and I think the quality of

life here continues to get better every day.

Last month, I mentioned that we had some

media visitors. It seems that we’re really popu-

lar, as we had another visit this month from

journalists. Stars and Stripes sent a reporter to

interview the guys, and we also had a visit

from a military historian. The historian is

Army-oriented, but look out for the Stars and

Stripes article at a post near you.

-CPT David Wilson

“Charkh 6”

Letter from the Commander

2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment

BRAVO COMPANY NEWSLETTER

JUNE 2011

Letter from the First Sergeant Your loved ones have

accomplished great things

this past month here in

Afghanistan. This month

we have extended our se-

curity bubble in Charkh

into the village of Pen-

gram. Everyday, your

loved ones are making a

huge increase in the secu-

rity of Charkh residents

and extending the influence of the Government of Af-

ghanistan. This month was “Mustache May”. Everyone in

Team Charkh grew a mustache or tried to grow one. The

looks on some our visitor’s faces as they arrived on the

COP made it all worth it. We found out that no one can

grow a better “Tom Selleck” than one of our night crew

NCOs, SGT Yeager (pictured on page 3). We have been

very busy on the COP and out in sector, improving our

positions. On the COP, we have moved all of 2nd Platoon

and the remainder of 4th Platoon into Containerized Hous-

ing Units. Now, all your loved ones are living in hardened

structures. Our brand new dining facility collapsed a few

days ago. We are sad to lose this building, but are thankful

that no one was injured in the collapse. We

have since moved our kitchen and converted

another building on the COP into our Dining

Facility. With some help today, I installed a

TV and CPT Day donated his XBOX so that

we can watch movies while dining. Later this

week, we will get Armed Forces Network

Television up and running in the Dining Facil-

ity, as well. Our mortar section has completed

their improvements to the mortar bunker. I

should really call it an earth home, they even

installed air conditioning! It is an amazing

fortification and has all the comforts you could

have here in Afghanistan. It is a testament to

their hard work and ingenuity. Your loved

ones have worked very hard changing the

whole look of the COP, striking tents, filling

sandbags and clearing out all the clutter on the

COP. Thank you all for the unwavering sup-

port you continue to give to this Company and

your loved ones.

-1SG Karl Fratzke

“Charkh 7”

Letter from the XO

ISSUE 4

Not a ton of promotions this

month, though we did finally

promote two officers about 2

months after they were both offi-

cially promoted by the Army.

We did Doc Cantrell on time.

To SPC

Clayton Cantrell

To 1LT

Cody McBroom

To CPT

Griffin Day

We have finally moved everyone out

of tents and into better living areas.

The Containerized Housing Units

(CHUs) are a great addition to our

COP and overall quality of life. Un-

fortunately, the large concrete build-

ing that was being built for our new

dining facility collapsed one evening

due to poor quality work by the local

nationals, luckily nobody was inside

or injured. However, the CHUs have

allowed us to free up one of our pre-

engineered buildings, which we have

turned into our new dining facility. It

is not as large as we would like, but

it is better than a tent and even has a

TV setup, maybe next month we will

finally have AFN up and working.

All of the soldiers are working hard

and doing their part each day to

make not only the COP a better

place, but the district of Charkh a

better place.

-1LT Sean Cockrill

“Charkh 5”

Promotions

First Platoon Soldier of the Month

Third Platoon Soldier of the Month

Second Platoon Soldier of the Month

SPC Saikwan Corbitt is a rifleman/machine gunner in 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon, Bravo company,

from Newark, New Jersay. He enlisted in the military after high school and plans on applying to

the green to gold program after re-deployment. His hard work and discipline make him one of the

best soldiers in 1st Platoon. Throughout this deployment, SPC Corbitt has participated in Operation

Charkh Bite, Charkh Attack I and II, and Charkh breach, as well as hundreds ofdaily dismounted

patrols throughout the AO. His self-less serviceand willingness to accomplish the mission has

doubtlessly improved the lives of the Afghan Citizens in Charkh District.

BRAVO COMPANY NEWSLETTER

Fourth Platoon Soldier of the Month

2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment JUNE 2011 ISSUE 4

SPC Roberto Soliz came to the unit at the beginning of March. He is 24 years old and hails from

the Lone Star State. Originally from San Antonio, Texas he is married to Emerald Soliz and they

have a 2 year old son name Amar’e. SPC Soliz is on his 3rd deployment. His first to deployments

were to Iraq with 1st CAV out of Fort Hood, Texas. For leaders of a platoon you pray for soldiers

like SPC Soliz. He is a soldier who knows his job and has 2 previous deployments as experience.

SPC Soliz has shown in these past few months he can handle more than just his job, and because of

this he earned a team leader position in the platoon. SPC Soliz is a well rounded young leader who

has become an asset to this platoon and company.

SPC John Fisher is a SAW gunner for 2nd squad 3rd Platoon. He from Charlotte North Carolina and

has been in the army for a year and a half. SPC Fisher worked in construction before deciding to

join the army. He has shown great leadership and anetative during this deployment. SPC Fisher is

the platoon armor and prepares the trip ticket before each mission. He is also the platoon handy

man, SPC Fisher installed all the Chigos for the new living quarters. SPC Fisher also helps teach

classes to the ANA on communications and small unit tactics.

The Soldier of the Month for 4th Platoon is SPC Daniel Badillo. SPC Badillo, 36, is from Chicago,

Illinois and serves as the line medic for 4th Platoon. SPC Badillo attended college at DePaul Uni-

versity, graduating with a degree in Organizational Leadership. In the month of May SPC Badillo

treated more than 10 civilian and US military personnel. On one occasion SPC Badillo’s actions

helped save the lives of 3 Afghan civilians critically wounded during a Taliban attack. SPC Badillo

has proved to be a valuable asset to the platoon since he joined us last month..

SGT Roe, 23, is from Charleston, South Caro-

lina and reviously served in Germany before

moving to Fort Polk. He hopes to be a re-

cruiter after his tour of duty with 2-30 IN.

SGT Roe currently serves as the TOC NCOIC,

where he is responsible for communicating

with higher and lower units to ensure that our

Soldier’s on the ground are armed with every

available asset. Soldiers at COP Charkh can

Headquarters Platoon Soldier of the Month

“OUR COUNTRY, NOT OURSELVES”

SGT Roe, 23, is from Charleston, South Carolina and previously served in Germany before moving

to Fort Polk. He hopes to be a recruiter near his hometown after his tour of duty with 2-30 IN.

SGT Roe currently serves as the TOC NCOIC, where he is responsible for communicating with

higher and lower units to ensure that our Soldier’s on the ground are armed with pertinent informa-

tion and every available asset. His hobbies include working out at the World-Class COP Charkh

Fitness Center and going to the beach. Soldiers at COP Charkh can always count on SGT Roe’s

humor and enthusiasm to brighten up their day.

BRAVO COMPANY NEWSLETTER

2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment JUNE 2011 ISSUE 4

Mustache Heroes

Night Crew (SSG Cardona and SGT

Yeager) fosters success

PFC Diaz sets the standard

SPC Quintanilla looks a bit

like Doc Roman‟s slightly

less mustachioed twin

SPC Seiger is ready

to lay down the law

Doc Roman does

the triangle look

Doc Hall… BAMF

SPC Weitzelsmith looks a

bit like a NASCAR driver

SPC Tyler classes up the joint

with both mustache and flowers

SGT Yeager– the winner

CPL Harvey– pretty good

for a carrot top

BRAVO COMPANY NEWSLETTER

2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment JUNE 2011 ISSUE 4

Mustache Failures

SGT Lopez rocking the Fu Man Chu

Gumby came to visit. He didn‟t have a mustache

If you look hard you can see LT

Hanson‟s mustache

SPC Vo‟s

mustache failure

merits a close

up. Yes, this is a

weeks long

effort.

SPC Smith didn‟t shave

the middle of his

„stache. It grew in like

that.

PFC Burgos spent a month with no results

CPT Day‟s new

nickname is

“patches”