1. 2ND BRIGADE SPECIAL TROOPS BATTALION, 2ND BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 10TH MTN DIV (LIGHT INFANTRY) BATTALION NEWS 27 April 2012Helpful Phone Headquarters, 2nd Brigade Special Troops BattalionNumbers: 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) HHC Company Commander CPT McCall 10120 North Riva Ridge Loop HHC Company 1SG Fort Drum NY 13602 1SG Ward 772-4509 A. Company Commander 24 April 2012 CPT Boyles Alpha Company 1SG 1SG Volz Letter to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion Family and Friends: 772-7410 B. Company Commander CPT Keay I would like to thank everyone for their support during our Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) Bravo Company 1SG Rotation in March. Our Soldiers performed better than any Brigade Special Troops Battalion in 1SG Pasol 772-7412 recent past. They could not have done it without the support of their Families and friends. C. Company Commander CPT Remillard Additionally, thank Family,everyone that came out to support our Annual Spring Gladiator Games Highlander you to Charlie Company 1SG on 5 April. Although the weather did not cooperate, it was a great reward for the hard work SFC Gruby 772-7429 accomplished at JRTC and a chance to spend some time with Family and friends. If you havent HHC BDE Company alreadySincerely,please take some time to look at the photos of the event on our facebook page. done so Commander Thanks to all of the Family members that donated food items for the FRG breakfast and for the CPT Freeburg HHC BDE Company 1SG kids games. Ibanez Ruddie 1SG Maciag Captain, Field Artillery 772-2492 Battalion Staff Duty: Company Commander May is right around the corner and the Battalion will be Red Cycle during the month. The focus is 772-5100 to execute tasks in support of the Brigade and Division. Some of these tasks include color guards Brigade Staff Duty: 774-2199 and parades for community events; support to on post schools; and a large list of supporting tasks FRSA: that rotate to units assigned to red cycle. Our red cycle period ends at the conclusion of Memorial Decima Chiasson 772-9166 Day weekend. May is the start of many transitions in the Battalion. Our first transition is the company change of Whos Who command for Charlie Company on 18 May. CPT Remillard is departing our formation after two In the outstanding years in command. The Battalion will miss Frank and Terri RemillardThank you for FRG everything you have done to take care of the Cobras and their Families. We will welcome CPT Advisors Andres Tapia and his wife Kimberlee to the team. Amy CoxHHC FRG Leaders Our transitions will continue in the month of June with Bravo, HHC/2BSTB, and HHC/2BCT all Lori Bogutskie changing command by the months end. Riverfest is scheduled for June 21 st and at the end ofAlpha FRG Leaders June, Fort Drum will host its annual Mountain Fest Activities. The Commando Brigade will follow Kim Boyles suit and augment this event with Commando Fest on the 25th and 26th June more details as theBravo FRG Leaders Jennifer Limerick events for both of these activities are forthcoming. Please mark the dates on your calendar so youCharlie FRG Leader can join us. The Battalion will take a much needed break with our Block Leave starting on 30 June Teri Remillard and ending on 15 July. HHC 2BCT FRG Leader The Battalion Change of Command Ceremony is tentatively scheduled for 18 July. Immediately Sarah Freeburg following this, we will participate in the 10th Mountain Divisions Mountain Peak exercise from the You can make a middle of June to the middle of August. After this exercise, the Battalion prepares and deploys in difference in your September to Fort Irwin, California for the National Training Center (NTC). FRG!Call your FRG Leader As always thank you to all the Family members for your steadfast support of our Soldiers, your to volunteer or for dedication is appreciated! more information. Strength and Honor!Please let the FRGknow if you havemoved or changedphone numbers so we RHETT R. COXcan keep our LTC, MIrecords up to date!Thank You! Commanding

2. ALPHA COMPANY Page 225 April 2012Dear Sapper Families and Friends,First of all, it is good to be home. Since our last newsletter the Soldiers and Families of Alpha Company haveaccomplished a great deal, beginning with a month long JRTC rotation at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and culminating in acompany small arms weapons range here at Fort Drum. Of course, none of this could have been possible without thetremendous support from our families and friends back home. We are truly grateful for your encouragement andunderstanding during our time deployed.During JRTC Alpha Company Soldiers received several accolades for their outstanding achievements, most notably,SPC Mark Blackwell. He was recognized by the Brigade Commander, COL Dennis Sullivan, and the JRTC OperationsGroup as one of the Brigades Heroes of the Battle. SPC Blackwell served as a Team Leader in 1 st Platoon and wasresponsible for finding two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) during training. Overall, the entire company helpedreduce the number of IED casualties by over 50% through their efforts during route clearance missions.In addition to JRTC, Soldiers from Alpha Company also represented theunit with distinction at the Advanced Leaders Course (ALC) and the2012 Best Sapper Competition, in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. SSGTrevin Sparks was recognized as the Honor Graduate for ALC Class003-12 for maintaining the highest average test score in his class.Additionally, two teams from Alpha Company, Lieutenants Doug Mizeand Ian Ensley and SFCJosh Moffit and SSG MattGoduco competed in theBest Sapper Competition with37 other teams from acrossthe Engineer Regiment.CHESTER D. BOYLESCPT, ENCommanding

3. Page 3 BRAVO COMPANY20 April 2012To the Badgers and their families,JRTC rotation 12-05 was, as predicted, a truly great, distraction free training opportunity for our unit. TheSoldiers within the Company who attended JRTC learned a significant amount in a short span of time. Sincewe have been back, recovery has been under way as well as leaders relooking where we left off trainingwise. In addition to all this, our Company received numerous new Soldiers while we were away. Wecurrently reside at 112 Soldiers in our organization. So there is still much that we have to do in order to getthese Soldiers caught up on our training glide path as a Company. Getting all these Soldiers integrated intothe Company properly has been difficult at best thus far and so I ask any of you that see something thatdoesnt seem right or doesnt make much sense to just please mention to the appropriate individual or chainof command so we can welcome and integrate all new Soldiers as efficiently as possible. Most of themshowed up to this unit while we were away at JRTC so they are starting out behind the power curve but theywill learn quickly.While the focus for the Company continues to revolve around 100% inventories and recovery we still have agood amount of our formation that has already started training. We currently have several Soldiers scatteredacross the country FT Huachuca, FT Bragg and Texarkana, Texas to name a few training on imagery,new Army vehicles, and many of the linguist, increasing their proficiency in their respective languages. TheCompany as a whole continues recovering whats left soon we will become consumed once again withtraining.Congratulations to all the Soldiers accomplishing great things lately, to name a fewSPC Jered Dominey and SGT Chase Downey were the BDE Soldier of the month and NCO of the month1LT Baxter received her first officer promotionSPC Ryan Yoeman re-enlistedMr. Limerick was selected to attend ASOC (Advanced Source Operations Course) from 27APR-28JUL. Tohelp understand how difficult/rare this is only two Army Soldiers from FORSCOM (United States Army ForcesCommand) are attending this class. FORSCOM is comprised of right around 750,000 Service members.Great thanks goes out to the five Service members from 1st BSTB MICO and DIV HQ BN who contributed toour successes at JRTC. It was a good experience for both us and them to help connect the linkagesbetween the units here at FT Drum. We currently have our next Company FRG meeting planned for 9MAY.I know Jen Limerick is planning another location other than the Company classroom. I look forward to seeingmost of you then and seeing a lot of new faces as well. Until next write up.V/R,CPT Keay, BarclayCommandingB Co/2 BSTB

4. CHARLIE COMPANY Page 425 April 2012Hello Families and Friends,April was a great month not only for the Gladiator Battalion, but also for the Charlie Company Cobras. Since the lastnewsletter, the Cobras have deployed to the Joint Readiness Training Center for an excellent rotation and recentlyhave been conducting inventories in preparation for the company change of command next month. Lastly, CharlieCompany participated in the Gladiator Spring Games and it was a great event that lifted the morale of everyoneinvolved. Thank you to all of the spouses who came to enjoy our day with us.In the upcoming weeks you can expect your Soldier to be gainfully employed conducting even more inventories as wellas Brigades Signal Low Density Training during the first two weeks of June. It is here where they will continue to honetheir skills and continue to produce exciting results. Thank you for your continued support.I would like to take this time to thank each and every one of you for all of the hard work you have done since returningfrom deployment. The time has come for me to hand over the company to the very capable CPT Andres Tapia. I onlyhope you continue to support him as you have me over the last two years. Thank you for everything you do.Thank you again,Frank RemillardCPT, SCCommanding A Word from the Chaplain24 February 2012Hello All,Over the last few weeks the importance of mothers has been the subject of political firestorm in the media. It just sohappens that during that same period my wife had surgery and I took leave to take care of my family. I am not writingthis to gain sympathy for her, rather, selfishly to gain sympathy for me. After providing lame meals, not doing thelaundry, allowing the house to become a disaster, and basically just barely keeping my family alive (My daughter set themicrowave on fire while I was taking a nap), I want to share my heartfelt appreciation for those who do it everyday. Mydad, when I was growing up, was a single father for a number of years. He worked full-time and raised me. I couldntimagine. Many women who work outside of the home and have children find themselves with the lions share of thework to do at home. I say this now from a place of condemnation myself: MEN STEP IT UP! I know you are tired whenyou get home, and you need a break, some down time. Do not allow your down time to dominate the home. You cantake five minutes to vacuum a room or twenty minutes to do the dishes. Fathers, you can change diapers and wipedown counters. We are counseled in scripture to treat our wives even as Jesus treated the church. If you recall, he gaveeverything for the church and we need to be willing and prepared to give everything for our wives. Now, women shouldnot use housework as a bartering tool for intimacy because it breeds resentment and hard feelings. However, I havefound a direct correlation to the amount of loven a man receives and the amount of work he does around the house. Itis just natural to be more affectionate in a clean environment with someone that your heart goes out to because theyhave treated you so well. Now a word for the women who stay home with the children. When your husband comeshome from work and he sees a thousand things to be done, it can be overwhelming and he wont know where to directhis main effort because he has not been in the battle over the course of the day. He will need some loving direction andunderstanding guidance after he regroups from the day. He is likely not going to want a massive list of things to do theminute he walks in the door. I have found an approach that can work for many is greeting each other with a hug and akiss no matter the chaos. Then, when the time is right, let him know a few things that you would like him to over thecourse of the evening. Many men like to plan out their evening and have no problem fitting in housework as long asthey know what is expected of them in advance. Men, do not wait until you are going to bed to do those few things.Your wives want to enjoy the quiet clean house before they go to bed. God bless you mothers and may God help us all.Godspeed,Chaplain James Willis

5. HHC 2BSTB27 April 2012 Page 5Hello Again to Avenger Family and Friends,Its great to be back from a great month of training at the Joint Readiness Training Center! The Avengers stayedextremely busy during this month supporting the battalion and brigade. Avengers worked in the dining facility, mannedthe gates, fixed trucks, ran the mayors cell, ran the detention center for captured Geronimo, and a host of othercritical tasks. We learned a lot from our successes and mistakes, and carefully reviewed our actions to ensure wecontinue to improve.Since weve returned, weve spent this month cleaning weapons and equipment, inventorying personal gear, receivingour vehicles back, and getting back to training here at Fort Drum. Weve conducted a rifle range, M320 grenadelauncher range, and a pistol range. The MP Platoon is currently in training to get ready for their time working the roadsof Fort Drum next month. The CBRNE platoon is preparing for next months FTX, and the infantry security section ispreparing for the Expert Infantrymans Badge testing and training in May. Maintenance continues to ensure thereadiness of our equipment, and the support platoon continues to support training across the battalion.Next month the unit is in Red Cycle, our rotation to provide Soldiers to support various requirements such as parades,range cleaning details, etc. Its not very glamorous but its part of sustaining the force, and a short break from trainingand ranges.Also, the Avengers movie is released on May 4, and the trailers make it look amazing. Unfortunately, no members ofthe HHC/2BSTB Avengers appear in the movie.Very Respectfully,CPT McCallCommandingHHC 2BSTB HHC BRIGADE COMPANY27 April 2012HHC/2BCT Soldiers and Families,As April comes to a close, we continue to recover from our rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). Yoursoldiers conducted themselves phenomenally down in Louisiana! The motivation and discipline they exhibited made meproud, and should make all of you proud as well. Thanks in part to the hard work and dedication of your HavocSoldiers, our Brigade rotation was hailed by the JRTC Cadre as one of the most successful theyd seen in years. Idalso like to thank everyone who contributed to the distribution of the goodie bags to our Soldiers as they headed toJRTC. The bags were much appreciated by our Havoc Soldiers. Also, thanks to all who supported the Gladiator SpringGames. The event was quiet a success. The Company took home the win in the Football Tournament. My hats off toour team.In addition to JRTC recovery, we are also preparing for my Change of Command in June. Captain Byler will be myreplacement. More to follow on that as the time draws closer. Thats it for this month.V/R,MATTHEW W. FREEBURGCPT, ADCommanding

6. WHAT IS HAPPENING: