1. 2ND BRIGADE SPECIAL TROOPS BATTALION, 2ND BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 10TH MTN DIV (LIGHT INFANTRY) BATTALION NEWS 28 FEB 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 February 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 Thank you to everyone that took the time to attend the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) pre Bravo Company 1SG -deployment brief. If you were unable to attend and did not receive the information please contact 1SG Pasol 772-7412 your FRG Leader or the FRSA to receive a copy of the slides and a handout with good resources C. Company Commander Highlander Family, and contact information. The Soldiers are in the final preparation stages for JRTC and will be fly- CPT Remillard Charlie Company 1SG ing out soon. There may be limited contact due to training times and the lack of cell phone recep- SFC Gruby 772-7429 tion at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The FRG is conducting a call out during the JRTC rotation and do not HHC BDE Company Sincerely, hesitate to contact your Key Caller or FRG Leader if you have any questions or concerns. Commander CPT Freeburg HHC BDE Company 1SG Ruddie Ibanez Our Soldiers have been working hard, to include many late nights, preparing for this JRTC rotation. 1SG Maciag Captain, Field Artillery Everyone has been pulling their share of the load from those conducting maintenance and inspec- 772-2492 Battalion Staff Duty: Company Commander tions, packing shipping containers with supplies and baggage, loading equipment and vehicles, to 772-5100 those who have spent hours in the Mission Training Center (MTC) conducting the tactical planning Brigade Staff Duty: 774-2199 for the exercise. I appreciate all of the hard work our Soldiers have done to get us ready to go and FRSA: the support of the Family members through this process. Decima Chiasson 772-9166 After JRTC, we will host our annual Gladiator Spring Games. We plan on having a Family run or walk followed by a competition consisting of various sports/events. Additionally, the FRG will host Whos Who childrens activities. We will barbeque hotdogs and hamburgers and Chaplain Willis will conduct a In the Good Friday service for those that wish to attend. The next week in April will consist of download- FRG ing trains and equipment that is returning from JRTC. Advisors Amy Cox In April and May, some of our Soldiers will attend schools like Mine Resistant Ambush ProtectedHHC FRG Leaders (MRAP) Drivers training and other specialty courses. Best of luck to our two team participating in Lori Bogutskie the Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, 1LT Mize/1LT Ensley and SFC Moffitt/SSGAlpha FRG Leaders Goduco. Kim BoylesBravo FRG Leaders Jennifer Limerick April, May, and June will be a busy time with a lot of transition in leadership in the Battalion. FourCharlie FRG Leader of our Company Commanders change command with the Battalion Change of Command sched- Teri Remillard uled for June. HHC 2BCT FRG Leader As always thank you to all the Family members for your steadfast support of our Soldiers, your Sarah Freeburg dedication is appreciated! You can make a difference in your Strength and Honor! FRG!Call your FRG Leader to volunteer or for more information. RHETT R. COX LTC, MIPlease let the FRG Commandingknow if you havemoved or changedphone numbers so wecan keep ourrecords up to date!Thank You!

2. ALPHA COMPANY Page 228 February 2012Dear Sapper Families and Friends,With February being the last month before our units deployment to JRTC, it has been an extremely busy andproductive period. Over the last four weeks the Company has conducted a heavy demolition range,prepared and shipped multiple pieces of equipment, and conducted route clearance training. All of theseevents took a tremendous amount of effort and dedication on the part of each and every member of thecompany. These Soldiers have done a great job and without them this deployment would not be possible.The Family Readiness Group is back into full swing again, providing baked goods to the Soldiers onValentines Day and also conducting OPSEC training in preparation for the deployment. I cant say enoughabout the outstanding support all of the spouses have shown and I am very grateful for all of you.The Company also had the opportunity to conduct its first organizational day, as we participated in training atThompsons Park in downtown Watertown. The event was a great success and gave the Soldiers a chanceto work together in learning about basic engineer and warrior tasks, as well as enjoy a relaxed trainingenvironment.Finally, last month I was remiss in failing to mention that SSG Trevin Sparks and his wife Amanda welcomeda new baby girl to their family during the winter block leave period. Hailey Michelle Sparks was bornDecember 22nd at 7 pounds and 10 ounces. Congratulations from all of us in Alpha Company.Next month is sure to be a very stressful but no doubt beneficial time for our battalion and this company.Thank you for your support as we have prepared to deploy and in the upcoming month. Until next time,Mountain Sappers!CHESTER D. BOYLESCPT, ENCommandingSappers Training Photos at Demo Range

3. Page 3 BRAVO COMPANY22 February 2012To the Badgers and their Families,An entire month has passed since the Commanders last write up and I hadnt thought about it until Decima reminded usthe other day. This month has gone by remarkably fast, meaning weve been busy. The main focus has been centered,on JRTC out load and planning/preparation but we have also been continuing our training tempo towards the Soldierscore competencies and collective tasks that will need to be executed at JRTC. Its much easier for us to cancel trainingas days get over come by events than to just simply not schedule training and run the risk of Soldiers not havinganything to progress on throughout the days leading up to JRTC. Our HQ Platoon and the Companys ExecutiveOfficer, 1LT Burke, have made the JRTC pack out as painless as possible allowing the Company to continue thistraining tempo. UAS got a couple more flights in this month supporting 2-14 Infantry Battalions field exercise beforethey packed up all their equipment to get inspected for out load. In the picture PV2 Sabie loads his second Shadow since he has been with us while SPC Lovelace supervises and ensures PV2 Sabie is running through the sequence of events properly with his crew to launch the Shadow in the air. HUMINT finished their 2 week mobile training team course which was a general coverage of all topics HUMINT related. This past week covered source operations, meeting mechanics, and refining their report writing skills. The younger Soldiers conducted graded capabilities briefs to leaders across the Brigade formation and Mr. Limerick and SSG Pennell gave a capabilities brief to all the Platoon Leaders in 2-14. SIGINT had three Soldiers attend the three week long SGA 101 course at foundry (on post) to be properly equipped/trained on whatthey will be doing at JRTC. The other SIGINT Soldiers stayed busy packing for JRTC and providing capabilities briefs toother commanders across the Brigade formation while ISR has had Soldiers training all over the country, but this hasbecome somewhat normal to them. Three of the imagery analysts had the opportunity to attend the advanced GEOINTProduction Course at the Washington Naval Yard from 7-24FEB. Two of the imagery analysts attended theFundamentals of Thermal Infrared Exploitation and Analysis at Ft Belvoir and the remaining analysts stayed at Ft Drumand conducted a two week course at the Brigade SCIF on their DCGS-A software. Additionally, there are still someFRG events planned before we will leave (most of us between 4-6MAR timeframe). As I write this we currently have anFRG meeting planned for this evening 23 FEB and 24FEB will be our Company Lunch. Soldiers, and whichever Familymembers would like, are bringing in sides to contribute to a turkey pot luck type meal. On the 25th Jen Limerick has asingle Soldiers meal planned for the Soldiers living in the barracks. This is going to take involvement of others as well.If you feel you can contribute to an event like this, you can. Anything helps contribute to making a more successfulevent. These FRG events are most important because they help take care of Soldiers and families. General Odiernosaid it well: The strength of our Nation is our Army; the strength of our Army is our Soldiers; the strength of our Soldiersis our Families. We must maintain the bond of trust between every Soldier and Family member and the Army as aninstitution that we are all a part of. These events that our FRG plans will help families better endure the month servicemembers will be at JRTC. I look forward to seeing you all partake. Until next write up,V/RCPT Keay, BarclayCommander, B Co/2 BSTB

4. CHARLIE COMPANY Page 423 February 2012Dear Families and Friends,First I would like to thank everyone for their participation on February 16 during our Company Bowling Partyand FRG meeting. Every month we continue to get new Soldiers and families involved in these fun events.Over 40 people showed up to support the event, and 10 of them were family members. We will continue toschedule fun events and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. I hope it was a good time had by all.As we ramp up for our deployment to JRTC in March, your Soldiers are continuing to do fantastic thingsduring both duty hours and more importantly after hours. I know that we will be leaving soon, so I will domy best not to keep the company any later than absolutely necessary. Due to the hard work and dedicationof your Soldiers, I look forward to a productive JRTC rotation.It is very important we have a strong family support network for Soldiers and Families alike as ouroperational tempo continues to increase. I look forward to continuing to increase FRG involvement as wemove forward. Thank you for your support.Sincerely,Frank D. RemillardCPT, SCCommanding A Word from the Chaplain24 February 20122BSTB Families,This last month I held a leadership luncheon for key leaders in the Battalion in order to let them know aboutme as a chaplain, introduced and garnered support for chaplain lead programs, and provided training onethical leadership. As your chaplain, I look forward to getting to know you better through some of theseprograms. Coming up after JRTC on the 5th of April, we will be conducting Gladiator Games. This will be aday to bring the Family and have a good time. There will be company competitions, games for children, atwo mile run/walk, snacks and lunch, and for those who are interestedan Easter message. What awonderful way to celebrate coming home from JRTC. The month after, 18-20 March, we will be having amarried couples strong-bonds event. I am looking at going to Niagara Falls for the training. Each companywill be allotted a certain number of slots and sign-ups will be with the First Sergeants. We are allowed to take30 couples. Child care and most of the meals will likely be provided as we work out the funding and locationwith the contractors. You would need to provide your own transportation. I am very excited about theupcoming events and hope to see you there!Godspeed,Chaplain James Willis

5. HHC 2BSTB28 February 2012 Page 5Hello again to Avenger Family and Friends!I hope youve enjoyed the mild (for Fort Drum) winter weve had! The Avengers have stayed busythe past month, conducting quality training in preparation for JRTC.Earlier this month, the MPs conducted training on close quarters battle (CQB) using one of the"shoothouses" in the Fort Drum training area as well as part of an urban training area. Squads trained on avariety of tasks, such as clearing rooms, quick reaction force operations, and dealing with law enforcementscenarios they may see in the future. This training also included the infantry security section.The following week, the Company conducted a field training exercise (FTX) for the Military Police Platoon,CBRNE Platoon, Medics and IN security section. This FTX consisted of Situational Training Exercises (STX)lanes to build proficiency in mounted tactics.In addition, we conducted training on calling for artillery fire using the Call For Fire Trainer (CFFT) on post, aclassroom based simulator to allow Soldiers to practice calling for fire.Were ready for our rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center in March, and it should be qualitytraining.Thanks to the new FRG volunteers, and for everyones support aswe continue to train.Very Respectfully, Photo of Medics At C/210 Medic Training 28 FebCPT McCallCommandingHHC 2BSTB HHC BRIGADE COMPANY29 February 2012HHC/2BCT Soldiers and Families,As February comes to a close, we continue to prepare for our rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center(JRTC). Some of the Company is already gone and by the end of the first full week in March all of us will bein Louisiana. Thank you to everyone that came to the FRG meeting/bowling event earlier this month. Idalso like to thank everyone who donated snacks for the goodie bags that will be handed out to our Soldiersas they head to JRTC. For those of you that dont know, the rear detachment OIC is CPT Tim Dufner andNCOIC is SSG Julius Peres. They will be in charge of the Company while were gone in March. My wife,Sarah, is staying local and will be available for support and to answer questions as always. Thats it for now.Ill see everyone in AprilV/R,MATTHEW W. FREEBURGCPT, ADCommanding

6. WHAT IS HAPPENING: March 16-18 Watertown North Country Goes Green Irish Festival http://www.ncirishfest.com/ March 17 & 18 and 24 & 25 Lowville Area 16th Annual Maple Weekend, theres no better way to spend time with family and friends! Five maple producers in Lewis County, along with over 90 other maple producers across New York State, will be hosting open houses for the public to see how Maple Syrup and other related products are made. This family oriented event is sure to delight visitors of all ages. Participants will be boiling sap into maple syrup and many will demonstrate the making of other maple products...and of course, visitors can sample and purchase maple prod- ucts. In addition, some of the sugar houses will provide a variety of other activi- ties to make your visit more memorable. The following Lewis County Maple Producers will be participating: Swisser Sweet Maple - Open 3/19, 3/20, 3/26 & 3/27 from 10am to 4pm ~ Ja- son & Barbara Zehr at 6242 Swiss Rd, Castorland NY. (315) 346-1034 swis- ser@twcny.rr.com or visit: www.swissersweetmaple.com Tug Hill Sweets & Treats - Open 3/17,18,24 & 25 from 10am to 4pm ~ County Route 163, Copenhagen NY. (315) 408-8100 Golden Maple Shanty - Open 3/26 from 10am to 4pm ~ Marvin Widrick at 4836 Sharp Rd, Lowville NY. (315) 376-6310 sales@mapleshanty.com or visit: www.mapleshanty.com Pierces Sugar Spigot - Open 3/17,18,24 & 25 from 10am to 4pm ~ Karen & Carl Pierce at 11603 Route 812, Croghan NY. (315) 543-2980 kapier- ce3@hotmail.com or visit: www.lcida.org/sspigot.html