May Newsletter-Issue 6

8/6/2019 May Newsletter-Issue 6

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From the Battalion Commander

CLB 8 Team,

Another month has passed by quicklyand we are now well past the halfway point of the deployment. Despite the fact that rede-

ployment is growing closer, your Marines andSailors have stayed motivated and continue toaccomplish great things.

The Marines and Sailors of Transporta-tion Support (TS) Company continue to im-

press as they logged even more miles duringthe month of May than they did in April

over 28,000 miles! They also delivered a no-table 693 tons of cargo in support of our infantry brethren spread out across the areaof operations (AO).

Marines and Sailors from Engineer Company have continued work on different

patrol bases and combat outposts throughout the AO. In addition, the Marines of Engineer Com- pany have supplied more than 600,000 gallons of fuel and more than 15,000 gallons of water at sitesacross the AO. Their work is much appreciated by the Marines and other Coalition Forces on thefront lines!

Support Company recently had the challenging task of coordinating and executing the recov-ery of a French fighter jet that had crashed in the desert. Our French counterparts joined Marinesfrom Support Company as well as Marines from Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Company, 2dMLG, Marines from MWSS- 272, 2d Marine Air Wings Aircraft Recovery Fire Fighting team, andsoldiers from an US Armys 129 th CSSB, who provided heavy equipment support. Italian soldiers

provided escort and security at the crash site. Needless to say, it was quite an operation and your Marines and Sailors proved successful once again. In the following days and weeks since the mis-sion, we have had the opportunity to interact and build camaraderie with the French soldiers on sev-eral occasions.

Headquarters and Services Company continues to provide support around the clock to our Marines and Sailors outside the wire. Numerous H&S Marines and Sailors have embedded with Marines from other companies on convoys for extra personnel support. Additionally, the EmbeddedPartnering Team (EPT) continues to provide training for our ANA counterpartsand have completed several more joint missions. Yet another graduation will beheld in the coming days!

Id like to thank all of you the family members and friends of CLB 8 for being such an important part of our team. The steadfast support you have pro-vided for the duration of the deployment has been key to our success out here inAfghanistan. I have no doubt that you will continue to provide that support for the rest of the time were here and long after our redeployment.

As always, our thoughts and prayers are with our family and friends back inthe United States, and I ask that you keep the Marines and Sailors of CLB 8 inyours.

Semper Fidelis,LtCol McWilliams

A CLB 8 convoy drives through the desert to the crash site of a Frenchfighter jet. The recovery mission was led by CLB 8s Security Platoon.

M A R I N E&

F A M I L Y S E V I C E S

LINKS 451-1299

CREDO 450-1668New Parent Sup-port-449-9501

Children Youth &Teen 449-9552

Counseling Ser-vices 451-2864

FRO 450-6301

I N S I D E T H I SI S S U E :

CLB 8 CO 1

CLB 8 SgtMaj 2

Chaplain 2

Headquarters 3

Support 3

TS 4

Engineer 4

EPT 5

FamilyReadiness

8

U S M C

Combat Logistics Battalion 8

The Club 8 Chronicle

May 2011Issue 6

LtCol McWilliams addresses members of a French recov-ery team, who recently worked with CLB 8 Marines inorder to recover a downed French fighter jet.


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Mail Announcement! Its hard to believethat weve been hereover four months andare starting to plan

our redeployment! This announce-ment serves as a notice that mail willbe shut off on July 31st, 2011. Thismeans that any CLB 8 deployedmail in the postal system after thatdate will be re-routed to Camp Le-jeune. Please aim to send your lastletters and packages by mid-July toavoid the possibility of your packagebeing rerouted or possibly lost in thesystem!

CLB 8 is on Facebook! SearchCombat Logistics Battalion 8 or

go to www.facebook.com/pages/Comb at-Logistics-Battalion-8/157215094313968. Become a fan of CLB 8 on Facebook and becomebetter informed on Battalion andfamily readiness issues!

P a g e 2

CLB 8

Sergeant Major Another month has passed and

it gives me great pleasure to say wehave surpassed the halfway point of the deployment. The light at the endof the tunnel is getting brighter! Asusual, the Marines and Sailors con-tinue to move about the battlefield ina very notable manner. The continu-ous logistical support throughout theHelmand Province builds moraleand, most importantly provides sus-tainment for their fellow Marines andSailors. Your Marines and Sailorscontinue to be true professionals andhave given nothing but 100% of their effort and dedication to this mission.

Each time we visit and talk tothe Marines, I am amazed at their energy level it remains high. Nomatter what the task and no matter how much we ask of them, the job isaccomplished without complaint andcompleted in a highly professionalmanner. Though the Marines andSailors might be tired, and despitethe fact that the heat continues to rise(100+ degrees), the gusting wind

presents additional challenges out-side the wire, and the workload can

be taxing both mentally and physi-cally, I have yet to hear or see defeatin our Marines and Sailors.

I, along with the units CLB 8supports, truly appreciate the effort

put forth by your Marines and Sail-ors. That said, it takes a total teameffort on both ends of the spectrumhere in Afghanistan and back atHOME! It goes without saying thatwithout your support, this job would

be much tougher. Your hard work and effort in taking care of the homefront does not go unnoticed. Thanksfor being for such a great supportsystem, and we look forward to re-uniting with our loved ones here inthe near future. Thanks for what youdo to keep us focused. Stay Safe!

Please contact our FamilyReadiness Officer Mr. Drake if youhave questions or concerns.

Semper Fidelis!

SgtMaj Crutcher

C o m b a t L o g i s t i c s B a t t a l i o n 8

Chaplains

Corner The Significance Of Baptism For TheChristian Believer

This has been a very busy monthfor the Religious Ministry Team. Onevery meaningful aspect of this monthwere the Baptisms conducted. In theearly church, salvation was followed

by baptism. Just as baptism was celebrated by the early church, this sametradition was celebrated here in Af-ghanistan, and six CLB 8 Marineswere baptized. For each baptismalcandidate it was a personal act, yetone rich in meaning. I would like totake a moment and explain the signifi-cance of baptism for the Christian

believer. According to the Evangeli-cal Church Alliance (my faith tradi-tion):

Water Baptism identifies the believer with Christ in His death, burial andresurrection (Colossians 2:11-12and Romans 6:4)

Water Baptism is an act of obediencefor the believer. It should be pre-ceded by repentance, which simplymeans change. It is turning fromour sin and making a commitmentto follow Christ. It is giving thecontrol of our lives over to Him(Acts 2:38,41 and Matthew 28:16-19)

Water Baptism is a public testimony -the outward confession of an in-ward experience. In baptism, westand before witnesses confessingour identification with the Lord.

Water Baptism is an act of cleansing (IPeter 3:21)

The celebration of baptisms wasmade possible by two diligent Marineswho built the baptistery. These two

Marines are LCpl Smith and CPL Pey-ton (CLB 8 Engineer Company). Iknow many of you (family, friends,and loved ones) celebrate with theMarines who made a commitment tofollow Christ, and displayed their commitment through water baptism.

May God Continue To Bless You,

Chaplain Barry

Above: Chaplain Barry prepares a Marine for baptism in thebaptismal pool built by Marines from Engineer Company.Below: Chaplain Barry assists a Marine as he is baptized.*photos taken by Cpl Michael Augusto, 2d MLG


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the leadership and Marines and leader-ship outside the command.

Security Platoon continues to showits flexibility and ability to succeed withany mission tasked. They ran numerousmissions to outlying bases to resupplyunits conducting combat operations,

providing them with much needed sup- plies to stay in the fight. Two of thesemissions included large convoys to es-cort Army vehicles to outlying bases for resupply and backhaul. They not onlysucceeded in accomplishing these mis-sions, but did so in a manner that earned

Company Commander- Capt Sean Day

Company 1stSgt- 1stSgt Ramiro Olmos

To all the families and friends of Support Company, another month has

passed, meaning we are one monthcloser to the return of your Marines.The pace has not slackened over the

past month as the temperature contin-ues to rise, and if anything, the tempohas intensified. Your Marines havesurely risen to the challenge and con-tinue to make a name for themselvesand the battalion.

As in the past, Landing SupportPlatoon and Heavy Equipment Platooncontinued operations at the outlyingairfields in the area of operations. Withlarge quantities of cargo and personnelcoming and going, these Marines han-dle the burden with ease and ensure thetimely movement of anything comingthrough their areas. In addition, they

began setup of a seventh airfield, firmlyestablishing themselves throughout thearea of operations. Their reputation as

professionals continues to impress both

them the appreciation and respect of both the Army personnel they escortedand the personnel at the outlying

bases. Securitys continued flexibilityand responsiveness have made themthe go-to platoon in the battalion whendifficult or short notice missions arise.

As the operational schedule andtempo increased, Maintenance Sec-tions efforts matched it step for step.

No matter how many missions the battalion runs and how many pieces of equipment break, the MaintenanceSection is constantly in support, re-

pairing everything from heavy equip-ment and motor transport vehicles toair conditioners and generators. As if this work schedule was not enough,they also continue to send teams out tooutlying bases to fix battalion andsupported unit gear in those areas.Without their efforts, the battalionsurely would fail, and through their hard work and dedication, they en-sured that we do not.

Motor Transport Platoon contin-ues its successful transition into the(Continued on page 6 )

and the stresses and worries of a deployedMarine are a far cry from the concerns of your average college students. The trialsthat you go through as family member arefar more difficult and harrowing thanthose of a typical American family. I amso proud of all my Marines and Sailors,and sincerely grateful that they have their families to depend on.

Id like to acknowledge my S -3 sec-tion this month. The S-3 is the operationscenter for the entire battalion. It is a ro-

bust section that include our Combat Op-

erations Center (COC), Unit Move-ment Control Center (UMCC), train-ing, and operations section. When our convoys are out on the road, it is our COC that tracks their movement andkeeps up-to-date, accurate informationof their whereabouts and well-being.When something happens, it is thequick responses of those Marines inthe COC that ensure our guys and galsoutside the wire are getting the helpthey need. The COC is broken intotwo, twelve hour shifts. Our nightowls are headed by 2ndLt Dapra, whodecided to go to the fleet before head-ing to flight school, which he will bedoing shortly after returning to theStates. SSgt Taylor, who just re-enlisted, is the watch officer for theafternoon shift. On their team, theyhave a mixture of Marines to helpthem monitor the radios and receiveother information that comes in. SgtPiscione, Cpl Brooks, Cpl Espaillat,Cpl Martinez, Cpl Brier, LCplJustiano, Sgt Williams, and LCpl Cotecomprise our two teams .(Continued on page 6 )

Greetings, families of H&S Marinesand Sailors,

I hope this news letter finds youwell. By the time you receive this,you will already have celebrated theunofficial start of summer the longMemorial Day weekend. MemorialDay weekend heralds the opening of the local ice cream parlor, the pool,the flagging days of school beforesummer break, and gives us a runningstart into June.

For those of us deployed, itmeans we are getting ever closer tocoming home; and to the Marines andSailors of CLB 8, it is also more than

just the start of summer. This holidayhas meaning beyond the sparkling

blue pools of our home towns, or thewhite sandy beaches of the CarolinaCoast. Its a reminder of all those whohave gone before us in military ser-vice. Before going on my first Memo-rial Day 96 back during officer train-ing, my platoon commander gatheredour platoon and read the names of allwho had died during combat for thatyear. It is hard to be far from home;

H e a d q u a r t e r s C o m p a n y

S u p p o r t C o m p a n y

P a g e 3I s s u e 4

The Headquarters Company 1stSgt and Company Com-mander during a recent promotion and Fleet MarineForce (FMF) pinning ceremony.

Security Platoon, Support Company conduct a convoy through one Of the deserts in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.


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Friends and Families of Transporta-tion Company,

Greetings again from Camp

Leatherneck in the Helmand Province,Afghanistan. We are at the midway point of our deployment and the Ma-rines have hit their rhythm. A lot of the difficulties that we worked throughgetting familiarized to the operationalenvironment have now become rou-tine. However, the Marines are notlosing focus on the basics and what isrequired of them to be successful.

As we head into the Afghansummer, daily temperatures continueto rise. Soon they will become consis-tently hot and the average will beabove 110 degrees. The Marines havetoughened and acclimated well to thisdemanding setting. Recently the windhas picked up and has wreaked havocon the Battalions facilities. Regard-less of the conditions though, your loved ones continue to march in get-ting their unique jobs done in an ex-

cellent manner, whether driving, gun-ning, fixing equipment, or doing the

planning required for the next mission.When one considers the draining envi-

ronmental conditions and the unrelentingtasks, the Marines are doing some trulyheavy lifting for the RCT. Each Marineand Sailor is making a professional con-tribution to the work of supportingnearly 6,000 people spread across threemajor logistics hubs that we routinelysupply and travel to. The sturdy profes-

sionalism displayed by all continues toearn the respect and admiration of theunits and individuals we support daily.

Last month, the Company collec-

tively traveled over 28,300 mileswhile delivering 693 tons of cargo and445,000 gallons of fuel in support of RCT- 8. One of the Companys high-lights from last month was that wewere given the privilege of drivingover 500 miles one-way to Kabul toescort a newly formed Afghan logis-tics battalion back to Helmand Prov-ince. The Marines of TS Companystood shoulder-to-shoulder with our Afghan counterparts during their graduation ceremony and for a lot of them it was a memory they will never forget. As usual, your Marines endedup writing the book on how to conductthis type of security escort operation.

Even with unrelenting work, our Marines and Sailors continue withtheir professional developmentthrough various education and physi-(Continued on page 7 )

pound and at the various outlying basesand outposts. We also have as many

military and commercial air conditionersrunning in our work spaces and livingquarters as the power grid can handle.We encourage (more like force) our Ma-rines and Sailors to drink water continu-ously throughout the day; and the battal-ion has staged several room sized refrig-erators around our compound to keep

bottled water chilled and continuously

available. Some individuals takelonger than others to make their way

out of the big reefers with a bottle of water; and who could blame them?Our company leadership is even ex-

perimenting with modified work hoursto make the most of cooler parts of theday while avoiding too much heavywork during the harshest heat. Over-all, I think these measures are keepingour men and women operating in thegreen, or at least light yellow.

At the conclusion of somehalfway point reset training, equip-ment maintenance and a couple daysof relaxation time, both operational

platoons waved goodbye to CampLeatherneck and happily headed back into the harsher conditions of lifeoutside the wire. Although we stillhave a few months to go until we seeyou again, we are well over the half-way point, and despite the challenges(Continued on page 7 )

Greetings from Engineer Company!As the summer season

eclipses the all too brief spring, an-other dangerous opponent has risen besides the insurgency. It is HOTfolks! The temperatures are now top-

ping 100 degrees daily; and the dailyaverage is still climbing. For the re-mainder of this deployment, your young men and women will be operat-ing in temperatures that will continueto rise until we depart; so when youget emails, letters or phone calls de-scribing the blistering conditions, be-lieve them. In order to combat thisunfortunate reality, our company andthe battalion have instituted severalmeasures to help keep our Marinesand Sailors as comfortable as possible,and more importantly, free from heatinjuries. Huge sun screen nets calledsolar shades have been distributed andset up in as many work and living ar-eas as possible, both on our main com-

T r a n s p o r t a t i o n S u p p o r t C o m p a n y

P a g e 4

E n g i n e e r C o m p a n y

C o m b a t L o g i s t i c s B a t t a l i o n 8

A TS Company Gunner prepares for a recent convoy mission in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Sgt Meade, Cpl Faust and LCpl Vanleiden take amoment to relax after a busy mission.


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their off time to help the rest of the team.Most of the team will be black belts bythe time we get home! Its a great work-out and a good stress reliever from longdays teaching classes in the sun. Wesplit the team up into small groups with

each instructor in the spirit of the UFCsUltimate Fighter TV show. Thoughthe cameras are not rolling there is defi-nitely hard training going on in eachcamp. Team Goolsby and Team

Near just finished their Black Beltcourse, with me, Lt. Booth, Doc Reilly,Cpl Martin, Cpl Pope and Cpl Cessna allearning their black belts. Team Buck-son is not far behind in their black beltcourse and will earn their black beltssoon. Not sure if there will be a grudgematch at the end of the deployment be-tween the teams but there has definitely

been some good hearted trash talking asto whose course has been the hardestI can tell you I havent been that sore ina very long time and commend the entireteam for the hard work in their off time.They could have been relaxing in their tent watching movies instead.

This month we also realized thereal war is not with the Taliban or AlQaida, in Helmand Province the war iswith the flies! There are ENDLESSsquadrons of these suckers and we are indaily combat with them. The team hasfound new and interesting ways to killthe nasty creatures which of course hasled to competition. In a direct pull fromthe movie Zombieland we haveawarded several team members withFly kill of the week. No longer is itgood enough to use a simple fly swatter to stalk and kill your prey unless you canget a double kill with it! One of the

E m b e d d e dP a r t n e r i n gT e a m ( E P T )

P a g e 5I s s u e 4

We are past the halfway mark and

it is officially HOT. Over 100 degreesduring the day but still very nice at nightand in the early mornings. There have

been a few small dust storms but nothingserious. On clear nights it is amazing tosee all the stars. Delaram is far enoughout in the desert you feel like you aresurrounded by stars on clear nights. Iknow I say this every month but theteam continues to make me proud. Thiswas another month of hard work and

progress made by your Marines andSailors.

We had another LONG mission toMusa Qaleh this month. The missions toMusa Qaleh are always adventures andthis one was no different. Nine days totravel 237 miles. I think at one point wewere averaging 300 meters per hourAs you can imagine this wears on every-one but the team stayed calm and re-mained vigilant even when we had togo firm at night in the middle of thedesert. Going Firm means we stopwhere we are and wait until sunrise tomove. As you can imagine its not likecamping out, we have to stay inside thevehicles and keep someone awake in thegunners turret for security at all times.Incidentally, when we get home severalof us will be contacting Oshkosh (thecompany that makes our vehicles) to letthem know about the lack of comfort-able seats for sleeping on long tripsWhen we arrived at FOB Edi on day 5we had time to relax. The Route Clear-ance team that we were with had to waitfor some parts for their vehicles so weset up cammie nets and relaxed under the sun. LCpl Cessna even brought

some speakers for his laptop and we hadMovie Night under the stars. If youhavent seen Machete dont bother, itwas terrible.

In addition to missions and dailytraining of the soldiers in the Kandak,the team has been working on MCMAP(Marine Corps Martial Arts Program).We have three MCMAP instructors,Gunny Buckson, SSgt Near and SgtGoolsby who have dedicated hours of

Major Mills, EPT OIC, presents an award to a Marineduring an EPT awards ceremony at FOB Delaram.

Some of the EPTs Afghan National Army counter-parts pose for a picture prior to a mission.

most notable fly kills of the weekwas Sgt. Goolsbys inside the trouser kill, where an unsuspecting fly man-aged to get inside his trousers and wasswiftly dealt with and shaken out of his pant leg for kill confirmation. Lt

Booth has a kill board on the wall inhis office which is a big piece of card- board and if you are skilled enough toget a kill on the board you can signyour kill. Its a real crowd pleaser.There is also a rumor of ninja starson the way and if someone can kil l afly on the kill board with a ninja star I

believe the game is over. We willkeep you posted.

Last and most importantly I waslucky enough to promote LCpl Cessnato Corporal this month. A well de-served promotion and an honor for meto get the opportunity to do it. Wewere also able to give out some longoverdue awards to Sgt. Goolsby, CplCessna, Cpl Love, Cpl Reynolds, andLCpl Calhoun. These awards wereindicative of the effort the entire teamhas put in since we formed last Au-gust. I am constantly amazed at their success and proud of their hard work.

As you can tell we are having a pretty good time and are making themost of the opportunities we have onthe deployment. There is still not aday that goes by that we dont missand want to be home with you. Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Semper Fidelis,

Major Mills


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(Supt Co, continued from page 3 )company, adding to the flexibility andresponsiveness of the battalion. TheseMarines say yes to any mission taskedto them and accomplish it with ease, nomatter how many stops are needed on

the run or how much gear and suppliesneed to be hauled. The operationaltempo has made a definite impact onthese Marines, who are conducting mis-sions at a pace that would have manycalling for a break. They continue to

provide crucial support numerous unitsin a vital part of the area of operations,and again, do so in a manner that hasearned them the respect and apprecia-tion of everyone they support.

Your Marines and their effortshave surpassed all expectations of suc-cess. They continue to provide what-ever support is asked of them, alwaysready to work and do what is necessaryto accomplish the mission. The flexi-

bility and responsiveness they provideto supported units and the professional-ism they exhibit in providing it hasgarnered them the respect of countlessunits. The battalion and company lead-ership could not be more proud of your Marines and their tireless efforts. Withthe pace not slowing any, supportedunits will continue to feel the impact of the support provided by your Marines.Please continue to support your Ma-rines from home with letters, packages,and e-mails, as they are an enormousmorale boost for the Marines. Thank you all for your support and we look forward to seeing you upon our return.

God Bless and Semper Fidelis

-Captain Day

Congratulations to the following Ma-rines promoted in April: 1stLt Betti-

nelli, Sgt Sauer-Jones (Meritorious),Cpl Gaccione (Meritorious), CplSchell, LCpl Ralston.Congratulations to Cpl Amber Pate for her selection as the II Marine LogisticsGroup (Fwd) NCO of the Quarter Welcome to Tyler James Wayne andcongratulations to the Wayne family onthe birth of their son.

P a g e 6 C o m b a t L o g i s t i c s B a t t a l i o n 8

F R E N C H J E T R E C O V E R Y M I S S I O N

( HQ Co, continued from page 3 )The UMCC also operates in twotwelve hour shifts. Cpl Kenna, CplBreeckner, LCpl Carroll, LCpl Homi-das, and LCpl Gene work under SSgtMunna to track all air and groundmovements as well as the gear thatwill be carried to and from outlyingforward operating bases (FOB).GySgt Hayes manages all our logisti-cal statistics and monitors the fuel,chow, and water levels at the outlyingFOBs to ensure that our personneloutside the wire have the basic supportthat they need. In the training section,SSgt Montgomery coordinates all nec-essary training to make sure that eve-ryone stays current on their basictraining requirements.

Our current operations and for-ward operations are run by our Opera-tions Chief, MSgt Johnson, the Opera-tions Officer, Captain Horton, and the

assistants to Captain Horton, 1stLtLyren and 1stLt Grayston. They areresponsible for planning future opera-tions, making sure they are sustain-able, coordinating with other units to

provide needed support, and submit-ting the daily situational report. Theyare the final sanity check on every-thing that goes through the S-3.

Although the jobs of the S-3 maynot be glamorous, they are essential tothe continued success of the battalionand the infantry that we support. Weare lucky to have such a focused, dedi-cated team of individuals.

As always, if you need to contactme, please dont hesitate to e -mail meat [email protected] or my First Sergeant at [email protected]

-1stLt Kathleen Downs


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LCpl Veneziani prepares HESCO barriers for a re-cent mission in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

( Eng Co, continued from page 4 )in the next months, we are on thedownhill!

For those of you who love sendingcare packages to your Marine or Sailor,here are a couple of tips if youre notsure what they may need or want. First,its well over 100 degrees every daynow, so chocolate, gummy bears or sticks of margarine are probably notgoing to make it intact to your lovedone. Sunflower seeds, gum, beef jerkyand almonds or mixed nuts are stillgreat ideas. If you want to help your special someone beat the heat a little,see if you can find one of the smallspray bottles with the motorized mist-ing fan. Thats sure to be a hit! Of course, pictures of family and friendsare always great to receive. Our Ma-rines and Sailors are carrying them intosome pretty rough conditions; so try notto send original copies that cant bereproduced.A hearty congratulations go to the fol-lowing Marines:

May Promotions:From Private to Private First Class:Private First Class Ian AndersonFrom Lance Corporal to Corporal: Cor-

porals Dustin Gill, Jeremy Leal, andRay VigilSpecial recognition goes to

Corporal Ramon Esparza who earnedhis promotion to Corporal meritori-ously!

New Addition to the Engineer Com- pany Family:Teigan Mea Laflamme was born on 24April to Corporal Joseph Laflamme andShawna Laflamme!

As always, we send special thanksto the families and friends of our Ma-rines and Sailors. We understand thatoften times during deployment, thoseleft behind to worry and wait have amore difficult experience than those of

P a g e 7 C o m b a t L o g i s t i c s B a t t a l i o n 8

us abroad. Thank you for the support,and thank you for giving us a multi-tude of reasons to look forward tocoming home. Please feel free to con-tact us at any time.

Semper Fidelis,

Captain Seth E. [email protected]

(TS Co, continued from page 4 )cal conditioning endeavors. Right nowwe have two Marines attending theCorporals Course at Camp Leather-neck, six Marines taking collegeclasses, and many others taking MarineCorps courses online. Last month we

did take an opportunity to take a short break from our mission with a Battalion barbecue and talent show. The high-light of the event was LCpl Ahlfeldsstirring guitar solo that had everyone

jamming along with him.Time has bestowed another year

of wisdom on the following Marineswho we would like to wish a HappyBirthday to:

Sgt Joshua WoolridgeCpl Charles ArnoldCpl Tomas RuybalCpl Joshua SandersLCpl Travis PearsonLCpl Daniel PattersonLCpl Aaron HardingLCpl Robert AllenLCpl Dusty SmithLCpl Eric PeabodyLCpl George Gonzalez

Also congratulations to PFC RyanAvery, LCpl Roger Lopez, CorporalZachary Scholl, Corporal Alex Sib-

bach, Corporal Joseph Pederson, andCorporal Neil Rettedal for their promo-tions during the months of May.

Lastly, know that the Marines andSailors miss you, their friends andfamilies, and are continuing to makeyou proud through their superb profes-sionalism, dedication and discipline in

performing a vital and demanding mis-sion.

Semper Fidelis,

Jarrad CaolaCaptain, USMC

Steven Battista

First Sergeant, USMC

MCFTBMarine Corps Family TeamBuilding has a lot of classes tooffer and assist you in many

ways. Take a look at their web-site.https://mccslejeune.com onthe top tab click on family ser-

vices then on Marine CorpsFamily Team Building. If you

would like to receive MCCS weekly updates via your email, please sign up by selecting thesign up for MCCS Weeklylink on the website.


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Hello CLB 8 Family and Friends,

I hope your spring is going well. Although the first day of summer is not until June 21st, most of us will begin our summer when school lets out. I would like to congratulate all the CLB 8 High School and college family members who will beGraduating this year. Your schooling may be over, but remember that your education still continues. I wish you all the very

best!

I have scheduled a Kids & Reunion Workshop and a Return & Reunion Workshop for the spouses.

The Kids & Reunion Workshop will be 28 June 2011 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm in Bldg 40 on Camp LeJeune for kids ages 4years-18 years. Child care will be provided for kids under 4 years. The Kids-N-Reunion workshop is two workshops in one,a parents and a children's workshop, parents on one side and children on the other. It's designed to offer the parents as we llas the children resources and coping skills needed to assist them with family reintegration. The parent's side of the work-shop focuses on the children's emotional and behavioral challenges as well as coping strategies and resources to utilize dur-ing the homecoming and reintegration process. The children's side of the workshop provides the children activities and toolsneeded to cope with Family reintegration.

The Return & Reunion Workshop for spouses will be Thursday, 14 July 2011 in Bldg 40 on Camp LeJeune from 6:30pm -8:00pm. Child care will be provided for kids. This workshop is designed to explain, through interactive activities, what can

be expected with homecoming and the reunion process. During the workshop tips are provided that will help spouses duringthis time. Topics covered include Communication, Deployment Stress, Re-Integration, Expectations and the Return of Inti-macy. I would encourage ALL of you to participate in these classes as there is a lot of good information being passed here!!

I look forward to seeing you at the classes. Please plan to join us and use these classes as a means to make new friends andfind out what is going on in the battalion.

As always, if I can be of assistance, please call or e-mail me.

Thank you,

Henry DrakeCLB 8 FROW 910 450-6301BB 910 [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

Documents

May Newsletter-Issue 6