JUNE TRAILBLAZER

This Month:

65th Engineer Battalion heads to

the Pohakuloa Training Area

An Update from the 34th SAPPER

Company

Find Out what the Soldiers of the

70th Geospatial Have Been Work-

ing On

Upcoming 65th Engineer Events

and Family Readiness Group and

Happenings!

June 2011

65th Engineer Battalion Nesletter The

TRAILBLAZER

Inside this issue:

First In: Trailblazer 6 2

A Message from Trailblazer 7 2

34th SAPPER Company 3

Range Density at PTA 4-5

HHC Renegades 6

70th Geospatial Company 7

Forward Support Company 8

82nd Engineer Support Company 9

95th Route Clearance Company 10

7th Dive Team 11

Chaplain’s Corner 12

Family Readiness Group 3

T railblazers, Trailblazer Families and 65th Alumni,

Greetings all! It‟s been a long and hectic

month, with most of the Battalion shipping to PTA for

training, and the 95th executing critical pre-deployment

training. But our non-deployed units are all, briefly, in

the same place at the same time. That won‟t last long,

however, as the train keeps moving and we ship 95 th to

the National Training Center during the first week of

June.

Our training at PTA was all we hoped, and

then some. My intent for our units going into the rota-

tion was to get beyond basic marksmanship and achieve

proficiency on all of our weapon systems. I also wanted

to capitalize on the opportunity of having everyone in the

field to do platoon collective training that would allow us

to test our planning, tracking and mission command

systems. Finally, we wanted to exercise many of the

logistical support functions that we don‟t often get to

shake out in garrison. Mission accomplished on all

fronts!

All three of our training units, HHC, FSC and

the 70th, achieved outstanding results on a host of weap-

ons ranges. From Basic Rifle Marksmanship to reflexive

fire and crew served weapons, every company exceeded

the standard. On our heavy weapons, we qualified liter-

ally dozens of crews, and on individual weapons we were

able to train more than 2/3 of our Soldiers in Close

Quarters Marksmanship and reflexive fire.

When it came time to execute the platoon

collective training, our main effort shifted to the 70th,

who put their platoons out into the field to execute analy-

sis and production missions. Despite this being the first

time many of our 12Ys had operated in that environment,

they came through with flying colors, developing a num-

ber of outstanding geospatial products that will be used

for years to come by USARPAC, FEMA and JTF-HD.

FSC, meanwhile, got to shake out its distribu-

tion, maintenance and field feeding operations. Their

operations went smoothly for the whole month, and were

a highlight of the FTX. Every field Soldier can agree on

one thing: good support (especially hot chow!) is worth its

weight in gold, and that‟s exactly what we got from our

FSC. Add to that the seamless support from HHC‟s staff

sections, and the PTA rotation was a resounding success!

The 95th remained at Schofield for the month

and focused on preparing for the NTC. They too qualified

on all of their weapon sytems, achieving and impressive

65% experts on individual weapons. They completed

convoy live fires and worked through the many tasks

required of a unit preparing to conduct a rotation at the

NTC. By the time this is published, they will be in the

Mojave Desert, putting all of their skills to the test against

the NTC OPFOR. We wish them good hunting and a safe

return!

One quick update to my save-the-date an-

nouncements from last month: Jane Sapper day is locked

in (that‟s Army-ese for “more likely than not”) for 27

August. Once again, spouses, please make plans to come

out and be a sapper for a day! Ask those who did it last

year…you won‟t be disappointed!

As we move into the summer months, with

kids out of school and some opportunities for leave, I

encourage all of you to enjoy the endless recreational

opportunities that we enjoy living here in paradise.

Whether you‟re a surfer, hiker, biker, swimmer, shopper

or whatever, there are lots of things to do here on Oahu.

Get out and explore!

Finally, as always, please remember those we

have deployed, and their families back here. And by all

means, if there‟s something you‟d like to see in future

editions of this newsletter, contact our new PAO, LT Kyle

Suchomski. Wherever you are in the world reading this,

good luck and stay safe!

First In, Last Out!

LTC Dan Koprowski

Trailblazer 6

The 65th Engineer Battalion Newsletter

65th Engineer Battalion Commander,

Lt. Col. Dan Koprowski

Greetings to everyone in the 65th Engi-

neer Battalion: Soldiers, families, friends, and support teams. Thank you for all your

support. Everyone has returned from

PTA, where training was being conducted to keep our Soldiers proficient in their

weapons, operating skills, MOS‟s, and

much more.

Soldiers had a bit of a gut check

while climbing to the top of Mauna Kea. Everyone made it and realized what they

could accomplish if they truly pushed

themselves. Recovery went well, and the recent Town Hall Meeting gave us all an

glimpse into a few key areas we need to improve. These improvements will make

the quality of life better for our families

and single Soldiers. Up next is ensuring that all of our Soldiers and equipment are

ready for the next tasks—the upcoming NTC rotation, Army Birthday, NCOES,

Engineer Week, and the Luau.

Take care, be safe, Aloha.

“FIRST IN, LAST OUT!

SGM Joe Constante

Trailblazer 7

A Message from

Trailblazer 7

First In: Trailblazer 6

Battalion Command Sergeant

Major Joe Constante

A Message from First Sergeant

I am very excited to write you all again in this edition of our news-

letter. Time has been flying by this deployment, but even though we are more than halfway through it the end can‟t come fast enough. I

wanted to take a moment to thank all

the spouses and family members back home for your consistent and

unwavering support. All the care packages and letters for our Sol-

diers have truly been appreciated.

This month has been a very busy and exciting month. With R&R leave in full

swing, we have many Soldiers re-turning to Iraq recharged and ready

to finish strong. We also have many others taking a well deserved and

needed break to enjoy some quality

time at home with their loved ones. Our Titan Soldiers continue to stay busy and continue to accom-

plish great things here in Iraq. We have truly made a name for ourselves throughout our Task Force. I am very proud of all the

Soldiers, Noncommissioned Officers, and Officers in this unit and couldn‟t think of a better group of guys to stand side-by-side with

during a deployment.

I would like to take a moment to recognize some Titans for a job well done and their achievements. First of all, I would like to con-

gratulate SPC Clark, SPC Humbertson, SPC Williams, SGT Welsh,

and SGT Astrande for a job well done by attending and successfully passing the promotion board. This was a very significant and excit-

ing part of their careers and it is exciting to see them grow as young and future leaders in our Army. Additionally, SSG Camacho

made the list for E-7, and is now SSG(P) Camacho: a very signifi-

cant achievement indeed. I also would like to congratulate SPC Schultz, SPC

Manthei, SPC Lobato, SGT Da-

lia, SPC Coleman, SPC Fitzpatrick,

SPC Kempfand SPC Francis for

recently reenlist-ing to stay in the

Army. The Army will continue to

improve as an

organization as long as young

Soldiers like these Titans continue to serve in our military.

In closing I would like to express my sincere gratitude for all the support and love that you have shown for our Soldiers. As I

discussed a few months ago, it truly helps a Soldier deal with a deployment when he knows he has the love and support of his

family and friends back home. I feel that families have just as hard a job and deserve the same amount of respect for every-

thing you go through back home while your Soldier is deployed. I

would like to say thank you for all that you do. Trust me our Sappers couldn‟t perform their jobs without you. With summer

fast approaching and the end of school, I hope you all enjoy some good times at the beach and quality time with family. Be-

fore you know it your Sapper will be home.

Once again, thank you for the support and stay strong as deployment is almost over. God bless,

take care and talk to you soon.

First In-Last Out and Breach Hell!

1SG Otero

Titan 7

The 34th SAPPER Company TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

34th Sapper Company‟s

First Sergeant Otero Soldiers of the 34th Sapper Company donned their gas masks to

say their oaths of re-enlistment. The dust downrange has been

especially bad as of recently.

A s any Soldier will tell you, he is required, at a minimum, to be proficient with his individually assigned weapon. For the

vast majority of Soldiers, this requirement translates into marksmanship training followed by a day or two at the instal-

lation‟s M16 (or M4) rifle qualification ranges. While there are

distinct advantages to this training scenario, Soldiers also benefit from a much more immersive and varied training

experience. By focusing training on a wide-array of weapon systems, Soldiers could ultimately become proficient with not

only their assigned weapons, but also with other weapons in a unit‟s arsenal. With this objective in mind, more than 300

soldiers of the 65th, Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade are currently on the island of Hawaii at the Pohakuloa Training

Area for an extended field training exercise.

The Pohakuloa Training Area, or PTA, a is the Pacific Theater‟s

largest training site, with a enormous 108,000 acre footprint on the lower slopes of both Mauna Kea and

Mauna Loa. Though Pohakuloa is immense, it is in a remote and sparsely populated location, due

in large part to the volcanic terrain. Such re-moteness makes the training area an ideal loca-

tion to employ a wide range of weapons of vary-

ing calibers. At 6,800 to 9,000 feet above sea level, the site is mountainous and diffi-

cult to traverse, but, there are large expanses of relatively flat ground that

are well suited for use as one of PTA‟s many weapons ranges.

Soldiers from the 65th Engineer Battal-ion‟s Headquarters and Headquarters

Company, Forward Support Company, and 70th Geospatial Company, as well as

the 84th Engineer Battalion‟s 523rd Engi-neer Support Company have recently

completed the first of two weeks of “range density” training. Throughout

this training, Soldiers have taken up an assortment of individual and crew-

served arms with the objective of be-

coming more than simply „familiar‟, but of becoming tactically and technically


Range Density at Pohakuloa Training Area

SSG Ray Jones, from HHC, fires the Mk19 Grenade Launcher at

targets as far as 2000 meters away.

Sergeant Sukah Nanthavongsa, of the Forward Support Company takes aim with his

assigned weapon at the M16 qualification range.

PTA “gives Soldiers the maximum opportunity to qualify on all

MTOE’ed (or available) weapons. Otherwise, we’d have only

been able to send a few assigned crews to the range.”

-CPT Shawn Hutson, CDR, HHC

(Continued on next page)

TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

With more than 150 rounds per iteration, the M2

range consumed many cases of ammunition. Sorting

and supplying .50 caliber rounds was a critical task.

proficient with these weapons. These weapons range from the M16

carbine rifle, M9 pistol, and M203 grenade launcher to larger, crew-served models, like the M249 and M2 machine guns or the Mk19 gre-

nade launcher. Captain Shawn Hutson, Commander of the Headquar-ters & Headquarters Company, said that PTA “gives Soldiers the

maximum opportunity to qualify on all MTOE‟ed (or available) weap-

ons. Otherwise, we‟d have only been able to send a few assigned crews to the range.”

For many Soldiers of the 65th Engineer Battalion, the Pohakuloa Train-

ing Area has been their first introduction to these weapons. One

such Soldier was Sergeant Troy Halley, of HHC shot „expert‟ in his first attempt at qualification with the Mk19 grenade launcher. “At first

I was a little nervous, but I like the weapon,” said Sergeant Halley of the Mk19, “I think I could show other people how to use it.” For other

soldiers, the training has been a much needed refresher. Although she had only

fired a few training

rounds from an M203

grenade launcher

during basic

training, Specialist Lashay Mays, of the Forward Support Company, qualified as

a sharpshooter with the weapon at the range. Much like Specialist Mays, Private First Class Richard Graczyk of the 70th Geospatial Com-

pany, said that this was the first time he had used a quadrant sight on the M203, and as a result, he “felt more confident and accurate”

with the grenade launcher. The M2 .50 caliber machine gun train-up and qualification was also a success. Private First Class Justin West

from HHC had never used the .50 caliber, but after being trained on how to maintain and operate the weapon, he was able demonstrate

his proficiency by qualifying at the range.

Although training Soldiers on individual and unit-oriented

skills has been the emphasis of the field exercise, for those in sup-

port functions, the training event in itself has also proven beneficial.

The responsibilities associated with planning, coordinating and re-

sourcing training for more than 300 individuals has prepared Sol-

diers not only to support garrison missions, but also to support mis-

sions abroad. “All the stuff we‟ve

been training on, like timelines and

ammo requests—Soldiers are seeing

it in action here”, said 1LT Doren Ko-

lasa of the FSC. “That‟s the stuff we‟ll

all have to adjust to downrange. So, I

think it‟s been really beneficial”.

At first I was a little nervous (about firing the

MK19), but I like the weapon. I think I could

show other people how to use it.”

-SGT Troy Halley, HHC

(Continued from previous page)

A loha Renegades,

The month of May was a busy one, bringing with it an extended FTX at PTA and a frenzy of efforts in the Rear D to push 95th (and a few of

our own!) out the door on their way to NTC. Not that anyone had

forgotten about our trip to the Big Island, but as we return to our regular routine and battle rhythm here at Schofield Barracks, it‟s

important to stop and offer our thanks and appreciation for the warm welcome home and continued support of our friends and families who

held down the homestead while we were actively engaged at PTA.

The end of the FTX doesn‟t leave the Renegades idle, however. As with any FTX, there is plenty of recovery of vehicles and equipment to

keep HHC well-occupied. Maintenance and Training are the pillars of unit readiness, and our FTX to PTA has provided plenty of both. A few

scattered holidays (Kamehameha Day and the 4th of July) and a much-deserved DONSA on 06 JUN

will provide some time for personal and family

„recovery‟, too.

We have a full plate to look forward to in the month of June. In addition to our regularly scheduled

training events, we‟re supporting 95th during their deployment to NTC, running a range to qualify

those who weren‟t able to fire at PTA, and gearing up for the upcoming Change of Command in the

beginning of July. In the short term, this means 100% inventories as HHC makes sure all of its

property is where it belongs. While the CoC Inven-

tory process can be tedious, it‟s one more step

towards handing off our unit to the incoming Commander fit to

fight.

Congratulations are in order for SGT Caddel, SGT Weaver, and SGT Winder on their recent promotions. Also recognized with

AAMs for their contributions at PTA were PFC Johnson, SPC Picket, SGT Newman,

SGT Weaver, SFC Outlaw, SFC Pierce,

and 1LT Spencer.

HHC would like to

welcome the follow-ing individuals to the

unit: PFC Dana Ber-sterman, SPC Jason

Burns, SPC Nathifa Pierre, SGT Troy

Wallan, SSG Corey Smith, SSG Roger

Lariviere, SFC Bal-more Vasquez, 2LT Jason Borchik, 2LT Steven Stark, CPT An-

thony Nguyen, and CPT Raymond Mockus.

Finally, a fond farewell to the following Renegades: PFC David Lippman, PFC

Shawnte Robinson, SPC Eddie Goodwin,

SPC Timothy Lawrence, SPC Daniel Marker, SPC Thomas White, and 1LT Alex

Plotkin.

Until next month,

Renegade 6 out.


HHC Renegades

HHC Company Commander, Shawn Hutson, at

PTA‟s M16 Zero Range. HHC Soldiers trained on a variety of weapons at PTA.

(From left to right) HHC Executive Officer, 1LT Walsh,

points out left and right limits to SSG Church and SSG Lentz, both of HHC.

CONGRATULATIONS!

SPC Nathaniel Jacobsen

and wife Lisa Maria

Jacobsen delivered little

Stuart Arthur on May 15th.

Private First Class Mark Corcoran shakes hands with 8th TSC Commanding General ,

Major General Terry.

A Message from the CPT Meyers As the Company Commander of the 70th Engineers, it

is with my great pleasure to report to the readers of the

65th Engineer Battalion that it has been an incredible adventure this past month with overwhelming success all

across the board. With our Soldiers deploying to the

Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), WLC, Air Assault School,

Soldier of the Year competitions, redeployment back from PTA and the return of our two

Soldiers that deployed to Japan

in support of Operation Tomoda-

chi. Each Platoon in the com-pany wanted to take the time to

write about a significant event

that took place during the com-

pany‟s deployment to PTA.

1st Platoon

The 70th Engineer Co

(Geospatial) recently returned from a training exercise at

Pohakuloa Training Area, on the

Big Island of Hawaii. Their mission was to support a hypo-

thetical Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operation after earthquake and tsunami events.

During platoon collective training week, the 70th

established tactical command posts and setup cantonment areas from which to conduct operations. Each platoon

implemented a 24hr work cycle to maximize effort and

system availability to complete PTA exercise products and

concurrent support for Yama Sakura 2011 and other thea-ter-wide missions.

1st

Platoon

was tasked

to

coordi-

nate collec-

tion and

proc-

essing of new

aerial

imagery

of the “damaged areas.” Throughout the mission, Squad Leaders

were eager to maximize previous lessons learned and

prove the unit‟s effectiveness toward the mission. To the

first end, using the Air-Ground Integration range experi-ence they developed an over-flight plan with the 2-26

Combat Aviation Battalion. To the second end, they lever-

aged the capabilities of the Combat Terrain Information System (CTIS) to collect, orient, process, and deliver near

real-time geospatial data and products.

2nd Platoon

Second Platoon executed a variety of events at the

Pohakuloa Training Center including running the M16 Ranges, mapping key points of Hilo, taking aerial photo-

graphs of a UAV Landing Strip, and climbing to the peak of

Mauna Kea (8 miles up).

The M16 Range experienced threats from thunder, lightning, rain and winds, and the harassment of

the Nene Birds which no one injured. If the Ha-

waiin Nene bird was to even show up on the range

for a second it shut the range down completely until the bird decided to leave on its own free will.

We also had the opportunity to convoy down to

Hilo where we

took pictures of some key points

which we deemed

necessary for

Humanitarian Aid and Disaster

Relief operations.

Though at first we were weary that the residents of Hilo

would be alarmed at our presence, we found that they were more than helpful and oftentimes thought we were

lost (which we were not).

The last part of our Geospatial training consisted of

having PFC Quinones, the photographer from our Platoon, hang out of a UH-60 Blackhawk with a

$1,000+ camera and take aerial photographs of

the UAV Landing strip (fortunately the camera came back safe).

Lastly before our hike up to the 8 mile

peak of Mauna Kea, which a good number

of the Platoon finished, Second Platoon performed hip pocket training when the

camp overflowed with water into the

Billets and into our work area. It was an

experience many of us will not forget as we had to manually dig trenches in the

miserable rain so that we could divert

the flow of water so as to not be electro-

cuted from the DTSS-D computers.

3rd Platoon

One of the ranges run while at PTA was a qualifi-

cation range for the M203 Grenade Launcher. Run by the Soldiers of 3rd Platoon, 70th EN CO, their

task was to train all available Soldiers in the use of the

Grenade Launcher, and to qualify them in the use of the

weapon. To assist them in this task was 4 M203 Grenade Launcher and over 3600 40mm practice rounds. As the

Range Safety Officer, SGT Shawn Smau put it during the

FTX, “Our biggest challenge during running the range was

to get a lot of these Soldiers through the range, but to do

70th Geospatial Company

TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

Congratulations to 70th Geo

Executive Officer, CPT Peterson

on his recent promotion.

so with the small amount of weapons, and the

large amount of rounds we had to go through.”

The sheer number of ranges was not the

only obstacle for the platoon in trying to execute the range. The weather also proved to be an ob-

stacle, frequently cutting short days on the range,

leaving for even less time available to fire. What

was on the side of the platoon however, was the Soldiers who helped run the event. From the OIC,

to RSO, to the RTO, CLS, range safeties, ammuni-

tion detail, and weapons guard, this range re-

quired the full participation of everyone involved, who delivered enthusiastically. One of the Soldiers

who played a vital role on the range was PFC

Richard Doonan, who

served on the Ammunition Detail during the range. Of

his time out there, he

says, “It was always tricky

trying to figure out how many rounds to get ready

for the day, since we had

to shoot every round out of a case that we opened

even though the range could get shut down be-cause of the weather. But it was fun being able to

participate in the range, watching other people

shoot, and even being able to qualify myself.”

Overall, even through all of the challenges

that the platoon was put through on the time in

running the M203 range out at PTA, it proved to be

a huge success. By the end of the range, over 120

Soldiers were qualified on the weapon, many of

them for the first time, and almost 80 Soldiers

from the 70th EN CO alone were able to qualify.

With that, the M203 range had set the standard

for what would turn out to be a highly successful

time in the field not just for the Company, but the

Battalion as well in their three weeks on the Big

Island.

Sergeant Kyle Thomas, of the 70th

Geospatial Company, was named NCO

of the Year in the 8th TSC’s Annual

Warrior Challenge!

Soldiers of the 70th Geospatial Company pre-pare for the arduous hike up Hawaii‟s tallest

mountain, Mauna Kea.

8th TSC Commanding General, MG Terry com-mends SPC Levi Reynolds for his work through-

out PTA and in garrison.

the services and recov-

ery of dead-lined vehi-

cles for the Battalion. SSG Brian Gottshall,

platoon sergeant during the training exercise,

said “Yeah, well, you

know, stuff has to get done. We have the tools

and we have the mechan-ics; it‟s our job.” The

mechanics spent count-

less hours in the Battal-ion‟s motor pool servic-

ing vehicles, most of which belonged to other

companies. Apart from services, Maintenance also handled every

recovery mission at PTA. Since their platoon has the only wrecker, they rescued downed vehicles along convoy routes, as well as aiding

523rd Engineer Company move pieces of heavy vehicle equipment.

The Headquarters Platoon had the arduous task of feeding the 330 Soldiers occupying PTA from the Battalion. Their commitment

level was evidenced in their ability to open the dining facility the day after we arrived in the field, which was days earlier than anticipated.

For the most part, Soldiers of the 65th Engineer Battalion had three

meals daily prepared and served out of the dining

facility. 1LT Doren Kolasa, the Company Executive

Officer, when

asked about the Soldiers working

in the dining facil-ity, said, “These guys work hard! It is a thankless job and yet

they are doing it day after day without anyone complaining.

It‟s impressive really.”

The Soldier‟s of the Forward Support Company were essen-

tial to the success of the 65th Engineer Battalion‟s rotation at

PTA. Their hard work, unwavering sense of duty, and pride in

their work was evidenced in the scope and quality of training

achieved in the field. CPT Clarence Toussaint, the company

commander of the Forward Support Company, said of his

unit‟s performance in the field, “Proud doesn‟t even begin to

describe how I feel about this company. Thank you to every-

one. The Battalion couldn‟t have done it without you.”

S oldiers of Forward Support Company, 65th Engineer

Battalion spent the latter part of April and most of May on the big island of Hawaii in support of the 65th Engineer Battalion‟s rota-

tion through the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA). Support ranged from transportation of equipment, vehicle maintenance services

and recovery, fueling, ammunition handling, and dining facility

operations. In short, the Forward Support Company found them-selves a critical component of overall mission success.

The Distribution Platoon, an 18-Soldier unit, was responsible for the entirety of the Battalion‟s ammunition needs for the more

than 20 ranges conducted

at PTA. In all, the platoon procured, secured, and

delivered over 300,000 rounds of ammunition val-

ued at over $2.5 million. In

addition to their hard work on the ranges, they issued

over 8, 5000 gallons of

fuel. SGT Cordell Reese, one of only two NCO‟s in the

platoon while at PTA, said “The Soldiers we have here

are easily doing the work of

30 Soldiers. These guys are always working-hard.”

The Maintenance Pla-toon was responsible for


Forward Support Company

“Proud doesn’t even begin to describe how I

feel about this company. Thank you to

everyone. The Battalion couldn’t have done

it without you.”

-CPT Clarence Toussaint, FSC Commander

Forward Support Company Soldiers practice reflexive fire

exercises at PTA. These exercises would culminate in the Close Quarters Marksmanship Range

SPC Cody Cripe and SGT Fredis Kindelin

prepare for the Forward Support Com-

pany‟s Nighttime Range. Night vision

devices were used to shoot the M-16 rifle

at 25-meter targets.

NCOs of the Maintenance Platoon aid the 523rd Engi-

neer Company lift a hydraulic arm onto one of their

damaged vehicles. Maintenance was the only platoon

with a wrecker from the Forward Support Company,

making them an invaluable asset on every movement.

Hello everyone,

Happy Mother‟s Day to all the mothers out there…

you‟re sorely missed by all us over here!!! Well we‟re off and running. It‟s been a crazy month since we left

Hawaii, but so far, so good. I‟ve been extremely im-

pressed with every one of our Soldiers, NCO‟s, and officers. You all would be amazed with the amount of

stuff that‟s been thrown on their plates, and with the professionalism that they conduct business. They‟re

doing awesome.

Things haven‟t necessarily gone as we‟d hoped, and we‟re not out on mis-

sion as much as we‟d like, but things are start-ing to pick up, and I think

that trend should change. As far as long term, I wish I had more informa-

tion, but every-thing‟s very murky

right now, and I‟m in the dark as much as everyone else. As soon as I have a

plan, with something solid, I‟ll make sure everyone knows what‟s going on

so we can all plan for a grand home-coming.

What I do know is that the amenities

which we enjoy now will start going away in June. As I get concrete dates,

I‟ll make sure the FRG is aware.

Thanks for all your support and prayers. Without you, we couldn‟t do what we do.

Sincerely,

CPT Long

C ompleting a rigorous and very long train-up

for deployment to Operation New Dawn, mem-bers of the 82nd Engineer

Support Company stood

proudly in formation on April 15th, 2011, at Joint Operating

Base Balad, or JBB for short. The training to get to this point

had been strenuous, physically and mentally shaping the Sol-

diers for the hardships they will face during their stay in

Iraq. Being the last Horizontal Construction Company de-

ployed in Iraq presents unique challenges which the officers,

NCO‟s, and Soldiers are

primed for and ready to execute. Following the

dreaded good-byes with loved

ones, the 82nd ESC flew for

nearly 2 days straight going

from Hawaii to Sacramento to

Maine to

Germany and finally, to Kuwait.

The trip was very

long and draining, but when the

boots hit the ground, the 82nd

began to execute beautifully. Completing all re-quired training in a very short time, the 82nd

82nd Engineer Support Company

TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

was able to exceed expectations and ar-rive at JBB ahead of schedule.

Upon arrival to JBB, the platoons immedi-ately began their tasks and transitioning

with members of the 617th EN CO out of Ft

Lewis, WA. The days were long, filled with inventories, and the dreaded “M” word…

Maintenance.

Once all the inventories were completed, it came time for the patrols. Each platoon

made their way out into the battlespace, learning the ropes from the old guys.

There were some minor hiccups along the way, but all the patrols were completed,

and the final transfer of information was

completed.

Following the official TOA ceremony, the 82nd went to work, ready to tackle a his-

toric mission, and live the epitome of the First In, LAST OUT Battalion

Soldiers of the 82nd Engineer Support Company

currently deployed in support of operations in Iraq.

Captain Joshua Long, Company Commander

of the 82nd Engineer Support Company.

82nd ESC Completes Relief in

Place (RIP) with 617th EN CO.

The 82nd ESC‟s new logo, designed by SFC

Austin, Platoon Sergeant, 1st Platoon.

We continue to train hard, and I write this to you from the Na-

tional Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. The entire company is here and we are going into our last major training exercise before we

go on block leave in July. Our training in June prepared us well for this capstone event, with many ranges, two field training exercises, and

alot of long days making sure we are ready to go. I want to thank the

families and loved ones for the sacrifice they make with the require-ments to deploy on short notice. We have been making efficient work

of our time, and I promise that we will get that time back to our Sappers when we return from NTC and we all go on a very well

deserved block leave. My intent is to get every one of the Wolfpack home to thier families in time for July 4th weekend.

Between multiple ranges every week as well as numerous other

administrative requirements getting knocked out of the way, we are almost there. We re-qualified on every weapons system in the com-

pany, conducted a convoy live fire exercise, and validated ourselves so that we could fire the MICLIC (Mine Clearing Line Charge) at NTC. The

MICLIC is a cornerestone of engineer capability and is one of the most

potent systems the engineer can bring to bear.

Through this all, we have seen rapid growth of our FRG, with alot of participation and planning for upcoming events such as Engineer

Week and the Wolfpack returning from NTC. Come on board and make sure you get your rally towels!!

If you are not getting calls or emails, please send an email to our

FRG leaders at [email protected]. They do a great job of keep-ing our families and friends informed and are always looking to

have additional help. It doesn't take alot and the amount of informa-

tion you get through the FRG channels can be incredibly helpful. Also check out our facebook page- search for Wolfpack FRG and

you'll see the company logo- that's us.

From our team to yours, have a great June and we will see you all when we come back from the National training Center at the end of

the month.

WOLFPACK!!

CPT Rich Peacock

WOLFPACK 6

T o the Families and Friends of the Wolfpack-

It's great to talk to you again and tell you about the great things that your Sappers in the Wolfpack are doing as we continue or ascent to de-

ployment. This

past month has seen many re-

turning from over 5 months of

route clearance and engineer

training at Fort Leonard Wood, medical training at Fort Sam Houston, and a myriad of

other schools at assorted locations as we prepare ourselves.

The skills we have ac-quired while away are a key

element to our future success

in Afghanistan. Our medics were tested to the limits of

thier capability, and they passed with flying colors.

Many of our Sappers com-pleted EOCA (Engineer Ord-

nance Clearance Agent) school- one of the most men-

tally rigorous courses the Engineer Regiment can offer.

We also had LT Bazemore earn

the coveted Sapper tab as the honor graduate of his class. We sent almost a dozen of our very best to

Air Assault school right here at Wheeler Army airfield. Results: all gradu-ated and earned thier air assualt 'wings'. As you can see, we have been

incredibly busy.


95th Route Clearance Company

If you are not getting calls or emails,

please send an email to our FRG

leaders at [email protected].

A Soldier from the 95th Route Clearance

Company lays out MDI for prior to assembling demolitions charges.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

A loha from Kuwait! The month of May has proven to be another busy month for the 7th Engineer Dive Team.

We had an excellent start to the month as we promoted two outstanding Soldiers: SSG Cochran and SGT Damon. Also this

month, we found out that SSG Brandton Rohde was selected to

become a Warrant Officer in the Army Boat Community; he and his wife Andrea will PCS after returning to Hawaii and start his train-

ing as a navigator of the waters. 7th Dive has also been busy pre-paring many Soldiers for upcoming promotion and Audie Murphy

boards, so we expect to report a lot more good news next month.

7th Dive once again provided great support to the 20th Engineer Brigade in Iraq as they removed bridges from the Tigris River, and

we were also able to support other units in the ports of Kuwait and

Oman, throughout the month. Along with our missions, 7th Dive was also able to complete some high quality training in Kuwait. The unit

received training from SFC Andy Harrison on how to operate pumps during salvage operations, and SSG Jake Cochran trained

the unit on how to properly use and maintain underwater photog-

raphy and video equipment.

The big training event this month was spearheaded by SPC Robert Russell under the direct supervision of his Squad

Leader, SSG John Geffert; SPC Russell planned and executed the unit‟s surface demolition range where we trained on various cut-

ting and breaching charges used for underwater demolition opera-

tions. We worked with EOD throughout the

training event and the capstone blast was deto-

nating 2,400 lbs of explo-

sives! Needless to say the event ended with a

big bang! However, we once again found our-

selves doing equipment inventories towards the

end of the month, and unfortunately, this round

of inventories was for the upcoming change-out

of the 7th Dive Com-mander.

As this will be

the last newsletter arti-cle I send out to the

friends and families of the 65th Engineer Battal-

ion, I would like to thank the 130th Engineer Bri-

gade and 65th Engineer Battalion leaders and

staff members for their outstanding support in

getting us to our deployed location trained and prepared to take on

our war-time mission. I would also like to thank all of the friends and family of the 7th Engineer Dive Team, Jenny Koprowski and the

65th Engineer Battalion FRG, and Nicole Martinez and the 7th Engi-neer Dive Team FRG. Nicole has been an outstanding FRG Leader

throughout my time in command, and she has gone above and beyond to keep all 7th Dive families informed and active in

the organization.

As CPT Scott Sann will soon learn that being the 7th Engineer Dive

Team Commander is the best job in the Army, and unfortunately,

the time in command goes way too fast.

7th Dive Team Commander,

CPT Adrian Biggerstaff

7th Dive Company TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

Col. Peter Corey, Commander of the 197th Fires

Brigade, awards the Army Achievement Medal to

Spc. Robert Russell of the 7th Engineer Dive Team

for scoring 300-plus on his physical fitness test

during a ceremony at Kuwait Naval Base, April 27.

As always, care packages and letters are always

welcomed by the 7th Dive Team, and we thank you

for all of the packages already sent:

Engineer Dive Team, APO AE, 09337.

Soldiers of the 7th Dive Team prepare for an underwater mission.

Perhaps our Single Soldiers and their sig-

nificant others experienced some form of strain in their budding relationships, too.

Even though the primary purpose of PTA

involved weapons qualification, a grueling 8

-mile climb to the top of Mauna Kea and the

perpetual search for a functioning washing

machine, the opportunity to expose our relationships to the strain of a separation

(albeit a short and sweet one!) served as a

“bonus buy” to help our families identify

“sustain or improve” aspects of their mar-

riage or future marriage. Now that the

“honeymoon”

phase comes to

a close and the

“honey-do list”

period resumes,

this may be a

good time to

conduct a rela-

tionship check-up. Please stop by my office at battalion

headquarters to pick up a free RAM

G reetings to all Soldiers and

family members of the 65th Engineer

Battalion! Our recent mini-

deployment to PTA on the Big Island

provided a great opportunity for our

young families to experience separation-

related anxiety for perhaps the very first

time. For

us “old

salts,” PTA

compelled

our more

seasoned

couples to

once again assume or relinquish tradi-

tional roles around the house for the du-

ration of the 4-week field problem.

TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

(Relationship Attachment Model) which

will help you and your spouse or future spouse assess the condition of your

relationship. Perhaps your marriage of

future marriage would benefit from

some counseling. As I mentioned in last

month‟s column, any counseling that I

conduct is considered privileged: I can-not reveal anything you say to me to

anyone at any time.

Until next month, may God richly

bless you and your family!

-Chaplain Mark Sedwick

Please stop by my office at battalion

headquarters to pick up a free Relationship

Attachment Model which will help you and your

spouse or future spouse assess the condition

of your relationship.

PTA compelled our more seasoned couples

to once again assume or relinquish tradi-

tional roles around the house for the du-

ration of the 4-week field problem.

If you would like to

speak with Chaplain

Sedwick, he may be

reached at:

Cell: (808) 497-0956 Office: (808) 655-8838

Chaplain hosts numerous

Battalion sponsored Couple‟s

Retreats and even Single

Soldier Retreats throughout

the year. Stay tuned for

upcoming dates and events!

Family Readiness Group Page

For More Information or to Get

Involved with Your FRG: Bridget Shioshita,

Family Readiness Support Advisor (FRSA) 65th Engineer Battalion

874 Williston Ave, Bldg 773 Room 107

Office: (808) 655-6559

Hours: 0800-1630

Upcoming 65th Engineer Battalion Events:

Complete list of ITR Specials:

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w.m

wrarm

yhawaii.com

/itr-welcom

e

Military Appreciation

Day at the Waikiki

Aquarium

June 25th 0900-1500

Free Admission for all

Service Members

with a valid Military ID

130th Engineer Brigade

Engineer Week Luau

June 30th Paradise Cove

1700-2200 It’s Not Too Late to Purchase Your Tickets!

130th Engineer Brigade

Movie Night July 22nd

Hamilton Field Watch a Movie, Grab a Snack, and

Enjoy a Great Movie!

Reminder: Utility Billing Goes Live

for On-Post Quarters in July Conserve energy. Save some green!

Check us out on

Facebook

65th Engineer Battalion

JUNE TRAILBLAZER

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