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416th THEATER ENGINEER COMMAND, DETACHMENT 23

FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP NEWSLETTER

August 15, 2012 Issue #2

COMMANDER’S CORNER SERGEANT MAJOR’S CORNER

CHANGE – from an online website dictionary [thank goodness for the

internet], the definition of CHANGE as a transitive [ok, I had to

look that one up too] verb is:

“to make different in some particular; alter”

“to give a different position, course, or direction to”

As we approach the half-way mark of our 9-month tour, are we

really at that milestone, CHANGE, is evident all around us.

Here, we see CHANGE in several ways:

1. The Afghan Security Forces are taking more and more lead

responsibility in security and planning and developing next

year’s plans as they move into the lead.

2. US Forces Reorganization. As the U.S. Surge Recovery

drawdown continues towards the next milestone by mid September

to redeploy more than 23,000 troops, approximately 1/3 of the

US forces, the engineer staff sections that we belong to are

also being reorganized to merge and co-locate with the ISAF

Joint Command engineers.

Along with this engineer reorganization and in alignment with the

U.S. Surge Recovery reduction of 1/3, our Detachment will also see

a reduction in our size.

With the large number of troops scheduled to leave, for our

Detachment this will be accomplished in two groups to leave; one

in early August and the other in early September.

The August group is – LTC Crawley, SFCs Armstrong and Ponce and

SGT Aguilar.

The September group is still being finalized as some potential

vacancies and mission requirements may affect the final list.

My personal thanks is extended to not only the Soldiers

listed above, and to LTC Cline and SGT Arroyo who earlier

redeployed, but to the families and friends who have

supported us and provided the strong foundation in this

important mission being accomplished here in Afghanistan

– CHANGE is good.

“Faramoosh nakon keh bazi vaghtha beh man nameh bedahi.” Family and friends, as you can see we are enhancing our language skills while experiencing the culture. None of this will ever take the place of missing our love ones, or planning our return home. On another note, we recently finished the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) with the Sergeant’s Major Coin going to CPT Sherman, 300 points, for High Officer score and SFC Conrad, 294 points, for High NCO score. Getting acclimated to the climate was a challenge, but we adapted, and over came to complete the task. Also, the Soldiers have shown a vast improvement with weight control, not saying that we miss your good home cooking, but using our spare, and I mean spare time, in the gym and on the running course makes our time away constructive. I know that you all are wondering by now if I will get to the DARI translation, well here you go. “Don’t forget to write me back from time to time.” “Me” stands for “Your Loved Ones”……SGM

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NEWS FROM THE FRONT

Subh Bakhair Good Morning

Qabelish Ne-sst. You are welcome.

Awlaad Daar-eyn? Do you have children?

Chand Saalla Astee? How old are you?

May-Been-eym! See you!

The highest mountain range of Afghanistan is Hindu Kush, which rises above 18,000 feet.

Buzkashi, meaning "goat grabbing", is the national sport of Afghanistan.

The country is rich in the vibrant blue stone, lapis lazuli, which was used to decorate the tomb of Egyptian King Tut.

Afghanistan was first settled in approximately 7000 B.C.

Afghanistan is spread over an area of approximately 249,984 sq miles and forms the 41st largest country in the world.

Initially, the capital city of Afghanistan was Kandahar. It was later shifted to Kabul.

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The Detachment in Action!

SSG Gaddie and USMC General Allen, the

Big Man on Campus in all of Afghanistan!

Hey! Why aren’t you guys wearing your

reflective belts during broad daylight?

Are you talking to me? Am I here to amuse

you? I thought not!

SFC Johnson and a new friend.

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HEAR YE, HEAR YE…READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Greetings from the Airport!

The past 4 months have gone by very fast. I am

living on a NATO base working with many

different nations such as Spain, Czech Republic,

France, Germany, Italy and Mongolia. It is nice

to see many different types of uniforms

everyday. The weather is warm, windy and

dusty right now, good thing we are in an office.

Well take care and we will see you in December.

CPT Olk

We have been given the honor of training the

Afghanistan National Army (ANA) Engineers. SSG

Seeley, SSG Fittanto and I have been reassigned to

work with the Nato Training Mission-Afghanistan

(NTM-A).

We are located at a base approximately an hour

from Kabul. We refer to this as being at the “TIP OF

THE SPEAR.” We are currently training the 205th

Corps Engineer Kandak (Battalion) staff and will

begin training the vertical and horizontal platoons

in a couple weeks.

I am going to mentor the Kandak CSM and his

desire to learn is refreshing. I have come to better

appreciate what we American Soldiers have been

given.

We have the best equipment and training-BUT

most of ALL we have the BEST Families that Love &

Support US.

I pray for our Families because you are on a

battlefield there so we can be on this battlefield.

MSG JACKSON

Hello Families and friends.

I do hope that you are finding the FRG

website to be helpful and eventful. This

month we are holding our own Semi-Olympics

to go along with the 2012 Summer Olympics

in London. Our fist event, Coloring, was a

great success! I’m proud to announce our

medalist.

Gold goes to Kalay Mark age, age 11

Silver goes to Julia Kokaska, age 10

Bronze goes to Bibiana Martinez, age 3

Congratulations to you all!!!

YELLOW RIBBON EVENTS

Please keep in mind that September 15th is

our next Yellow Ribbon event. It will be

held in Austin Texas. WE do not have hotel

information but do know it will be in

Austin. Please make sure you email

Mr.Powelson, allen.powelson@usar.army.mil ,

to let him know you are interested in

attending this. Do this as soon as possible

so that we can start the process of travel

arrangements. Also if you can CC me as

well, dirky_84@yahoo.com so that I may keep

a head count of who will be attending. This next Yellow Ribbon is a very important

part for family members in preparation of

our soldiers returning home.

Thanks, Tiffany

I am the Theater Route Clearance (RC) NCOIC and

serve as a member of Assured Mobility Team with

the Engineers. As the RC NCOIC, my job is to ensure

the RCs have any and all vehicles, equipment or

enablers to perform RC duties.

It is my pleasure

and honor to serve.

SSG GADDIE

mailto:allen.powelson@usar.army.milmailto:dirky_84@yahoo.com

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Passing time!

Afghan girls having some fun.

A man selling “naan” or Afghan bread. It is

a staple of their diet…and it tastes great! The Parliament building in front of snow

covered mountains.

A modern city shopping center Friends hanging out in a park

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KID’S CORNER

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KID’S CORNER

Make a Groovy Lava Lamp

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The secret behind the lamp’s “lava” is science. Oil is lighter, or less dense, than water, so it rises to the surface. Salt is heavier, or more dense, than water, and sinks to the bottom. When you add the salt, blobs of oil attach to the grains and sink. Then the salt dissolves, and the oil returns to the top. The result? A liquid show for the eyes.

YOU WILL NEED

Clear jar with lid Water Food coloring Glitter Vegetable oil Salt Flashlight

Fill the jar three-quarters full of water. Add drops of food coloring until you like the color you see. A few drops go a long way! Sprinkle in glitter for extra sparkle. Fill the jar almost to the top with vegetable oil and let the mixture separate. Pour salt into the jar until you see the cool lava lamp effect. When the bubbles stop, add more salt to see it again. Shine a flashlight behind the jar to watch your lava lamp really glow!