1. 2ND BRIGADE SPECIAL TROOPS BATTALION, 2ND BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 10TH MTN DIV (LIGHT INFANTRY) BATTALION NEWS 29 MAY 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 29 May 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 This is my last note as your Battalion Commander. It has been an honor and privilege to serve Bravo Company 1SG with the Soldiers and Families of this great Battalion. The past 20 months have been the most re- 1SG Pasol 772-7412 warding time in my career. I cannot thank you all enough for your efforts to support our Soldiers C. Company Commander Highlander Family, and Families. CPT Tapia Charlie Company 1SG SFC Gruby 772-7429 Our Soldiers were extremely busy this month supporting red cycle tasks. I am proud of their pro- HHC BDE Company Sincerely, fessionalism carrying out these duties and the way they positively represented the Battalion, Bri- Commander gade, and Division at funerals, graduation ceremonies, various parades in the local area, the Syra- CPT Freeburg HHC BDE Company 1SG Ruddie Ibanez cuse Chiefs baseball game, the Armed Forces Day Luncheon, the Joint Service Open House at 1SG Maciag Joint Base Andrews, and the states inaugural 10th Mountain Division Declaration Day to name a Captain, Field Artillery 772-2492 Battalion Staff Duty: few. Additionally,Commander Company the spring maintenance tasks such as range clean up and post clean up were 772-5100 executed to the Gladiator Standard. We look forward to being able to get back at training and pre- Brigade Staff Duty: 774-2199 paring for future field exercises and eventual deployment to Afghanistan. FRSA: Decima Chiasson 772-9166 June is going to be a busy month as we bid farewell to three company commanders and transition both the Battalion Executive Officer and Battalion Operations Officer. MAJ Jaimie Leonard heads up to Brigade Headquarters to assume duties as the Brigade S2 and MAJ Silas Bowman will take Whos Who the Battalion Executive Officer position at the Warrior Transition Unit. CPT Eric McCall In the (HHC/2BSTB Commander) heads off to William and Mary to pursue a Masters Degree, CPT Bar- FRG clay Keay (B/2BSTB Commander) will be assigned to Molesworth, England and CPT Matt Free- Advisors burg heads out to Fort Sill, OK. The Battalion owes them all a debt of gratitude for their hard work Amy Cox taking care of Soldiers and the normal day to day running of an Army Battalion. We will end theHHC FRG Leaders month with River Fest, Commando Fest, Mountain Fest and Block Leave. I encourage everyone to Lori Bogutskie join the festivities and to take a much deserved block leave.Alpha FRG Leaders Kim Boyles Please join me in welcoming the incoming Battalion Commander, LTC Jason Bridges, his wifeBravo FRG Leaders Jennifer Limerick Christine and daughters Casey and Hallie. I request that you embrace him and his family with theCharlie FRG Leader same professionalism and warmth that you showed Amy and I when we arrived in November 2010. Teri Remillard HHC 2BCT FRG As always thank you to all the Family members for your steadfast support of our Soldiers, your Leader dedication is appreciated! Sarah Freeburg You can make a Strength and Honor! difference in your FRG!Call your FRG Leader to volunteer or for more information. RHETT R. COX LTC, MI CommandingPlease let the FRGknow if you havemoved or changedphone numbers so wecan keep ourrecords up to date!Thank You!

2. A Word from the Chaplain Page 224 May 2012This was the Chaplain message at the battalion remembrance ceremony for Memorial Day:As we meet together, let us recognize that there is a certain sting to death. Even now; somehow, even for those whonever knew these men; feelings remain of loss, grief, pain, sorrow, confusion, and anger. These feelings penetratebecause of and through the common bond of humanity, spirit, community, military, and patriotism. However, thesefeelings are especially poignant for those of you who knew them, worked with them, laughed with them, and sufferedwith them, because your hearts have been knit together. These feelings need not be denied or unexpressed.These men, that we recognize today, were not only volunteer Soldiers willing to sacrifice and fight for Americanfreedoms and liberty, but they were also children of the Almighty. And as such, they qualify to be remembered not onlyfor their courage, loyalty, and sacrifices to their country, but also as members of our spiritual family.As tribute to those Service members that have fallen I will share some words from two former Presidents.President George W. Bush said this, In this place where valor sleeps, we acknowledge our responsibility as Americansto preserve the memory of the fallen. He continued, Our nation is free because of brave Americans like these, whovolunteer to confront our adversaries abroad so we do not have to face them here at home. Our nation mourns the lossof our men and women in uniform.President Clinton gave these remarks, The United States will always honor and never forsake its fallen heroes. We willnot abandon their families. . . . I give thanks to all those who have stood their ground to defend freedom and democracyand human dignity.As tribute to their immortal spirits I will share some words from ancient scripture:And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and manbecame a living soul.All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and thystaff they comfort me.Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runnethover.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.Death is swallowed up in victory.Brothers and Sisters, Soldiers, let us turn our hearts from death to victory. In the name of Him who conquered death, Ileave you these words; let us pray: Our Eternal Father, we thank thee for inspiring the minds of leadership to set asidetime for us to reflect, ponder, remember, and honor the heroes of this battalion and this nation established under God.We pray that we may always remember, in the name of our Lord and Creator, Amen.Godspeed,Chaplain James Willis

3. Page 3 BRAVO COMPANY22 May 2012To the Badgers and their Families,It has been a busy, but still great last few weeks at Bravo Company. Majority of the Soldiers have been heavily involved in theongoing property accountability valued just over $24 million. As most of you are aware we are conducting a change of command inthe month of June. CPT Paul Kubik will be taking over on 15JUN12 and continues our training glide for the future deployment toAfghanistan. He was previously the 2-14 Battalion S2. In 2011 we had the opportunity to work at Kandahar Airfield together inAfghanistan for a few months and I am pleased and fortunate to have him as a replacement as he will make a proper assessment andcontinue the Companys forward progress to be as absolutely ready as can possibly be when all Soldiers are expected to performtheir jobs, and even throughout these meticulous inventories Soldiers have stilled continued training. SIGINT has 5x Soldiers (SSGLyse, SPC Devera, SSG Carpenter, SPC Teague and SPC Montillo) attending language school throughout the month. SSG Lyseand SPC Devera will take their DLPT (language test) on 24MAY and we wish them luck in renewing their language qualifications. LTEdward Pecoraro, the SIGINT Platoon Leader, will be transitioning his duties and responsibilities to 2LT Hunter Hutcheson sometimenext month. 2LT Hutcheson is already down here training and hell be attending the SGA 101 (intro to SIGINIT capabilities) classesfor a couple weeks. Our ISR Platoon has been extremely busy as well. They have been preparing for the Trojan vehicle softwareupgrades and training on the most recent DCGS computer software they will be utilizing down range. ISR has also received a newPlatoon Leader, 2LT Jessica Bashaar has joined our ranks and is now the fully functioning ISR Platoon Leader. UAS has beensupporting our Cavalry Battalion (1-89) while they execute their Platoon STX training at Range 37. In early June they will receivetheir upgraded Unmanned Aerial Systems, which will offer better capabilities, but comes a very busy time within our Company. Ontop of all the recent leader transitions there has been an additional requirement for our Company to meet from our Army ForcesCommand of a FET (Female Engagement Team). So as of 14MAY we have added a Platoon comprised of currently 19 females fromacross the Brigade formation to meet the needs of the FET mission. They will be similar to the HUMINT Platoon in the fact that theywill train together and be dispersed across the Brigade operating environment when this unit deploys. Integrating the FET Platoonhas been a great experience so far and allowed leaders to innovate new ways of enabling this Platoon. Additionally, this past monthwas red cycle responsibilities on FT Drum for our Battalion. This entailed our Soldiers contributing to all types of unique (and somenot so great) tasks to include funerals, parades and color guard details. Though not always the duties of choice they are duties thatare a part of our Army and important for Soldiers to do from time to time in order to appreciate the other things.That summarizes most of the events and I apologize if this is already too long, but I would like to say a final thank you to all the Familymembers that made our FRG what it currently is (you know who you are). I wish you all well in the future. Take care Badgers andcontinue to move forward,CPT Keay, BarclayCommandingB Co/2 BSTB29 May 2012 HHC BRIGADE COMPANY29 May 2012Dear Havoc Families-This is my last month in command, and your Soldiers continue to impress me with their hard work and dedication. The company hasbeen extremely busy conducting change of command inventories. We will continue to do these until June 20th, when I officiallyswitch out with Captain Byler.After my Change of Command, we will be headed to some much needed block leave. Enjoy your rest, because as soon as we comeback were headed to the field for Mountain Peak. After Mountain Peak, the Brigade is off to California for a month to train at NTC. Iknow the Havoc Soldiers will excel at any task given to them.I am going to miss my time in Command of HHC 2BCT. It has been an honor to command this company. I know HAVOC Companywill continue to do great things in the future.HAVOC 6 OutMATTHEW W. FREEBURGCPT, ADCommanding

4. HHC 2BSTB COMPANY Page 429 May 2012Hello to Avenger Family and Friends!This month has been extremely busy! This month has involved testing for the Expert Infantrymans Badge, the begin-ning of testing for the Expert Field Medical Badge, and Division Safety Day.In addition, the Avengers have been inventorying equipment for our upcoming change of command in June. This hasmeant a lot of long hours, as the incoming commander has to inventory every piece of equipment and component--itdoesnt sound like much until you realize our inventory is 45 pages long and contains hundreds of different items. Thisinventory is in preparation for the change of command in June, when I will hand the guidon to Captain Braden Amigo.Captain Amigo was the commander for Bravo Company, 4-31 IN, before moving to 2BSTB. Hes an infantry officeroriginally from Ohio. I have no doubt that hell be an excellent commander and he looks forward to meeting all of youafter the transition.Have a wonderful summer!Very Respectfully,CPT McCallCommandingHHC 2BSTB CHARLIE COMPANY23 May 2012Hello Families and Friends,May was a bitter sweet month when the Cobras said goodbye to an exceptional leader, outgoing commander CPTFrank Remillard and his wonderful family and welcomed a new leader CPT Andres Tapia and his family. I would like tothank the Cobra family for the warm welcome, my family feels right at home. Additionally, I want to thank the Cobracompany for your outstanding effort throughout the change of command inventories. It is truly a great start and I lookforward to being your commander so we can learn, build, grow and take care of each other every dayOn June, 29th 2012 we look forward to seeing everyone for an FRG meeting in the Company Conference Room. Forthe summer we are planning aCompany White Water Raftingadventure on the Black River here inWatertown NY. We hope to seeeveryone there, and again, thank youfor all that you do!Sincerely,Andres TapiaCPT, SCCommanding

5. ALPHA COMPANY29 May 2012 Page 5Dear Sapper Families and Friends,Another busy month is in the books and again, Alpha Company Sappers continued to perform at a high level. Over thelast month Alpha Company Soldiers have supported the Division during various training and community service events,often resulting in long work days and weekend requirements. Despite it all, the Soldiers maintained their positiveoutlook and motivation. With the tasking cycle now complete, the company will transition to engineer specific training inpreparation for the upcoming deployments to NTC and Afghanistan.Additionally, the Light Equipment Section began repair work early this month on the Fort Drum Heavy DemolitionRange, utilizing heavy engineer equipment not organic to the company. This is the first time BCT Engineers haveutilized this type of equipment and it will pay dividends during our upcoming deployment. The hard work and expertiseof our operators is already showing, as Range 50 is looking much improved. Below are some pictures from the firstdays on the jobsite. Keep an eye out for the finished product in future newsletters.Next month we will conduct a series of major training events and evaluations in order to certify our Sapper Platoons andSquads to conduct mobility and counter mobility operations. The training will begin with individual events such as theSapper Fitness Challenge and conclude with the Squad Stakes Competition, where each squad will complete arigorous 12-mile course consisting of 12 different engineer tasks in continuous 24-hour operations.Finally, Alpha Company will have four stellar NCOsattend the Sapper Leader Course next week, theArmys premier engineer school. We expect greatthings from each of them and wish them the best.They will experience some of the toughest trainingthe Army has to offer over the next 31 days soplease keep SGTs Fry, Nicholson, Standish, andWalker in your thoughts.As always, thank you for the support and until nexttime, Mountain SappersCHESTER D. BOYLESCPT, ENCommanding

6. WHAT IS HAPPENING: